Statistical and Econometric Methods for Transportation Data Analysis

As the field of transportation moves toward the "total quality management" paradigm, performance-based outcomes and quantitative measures have become increasingly important. Measuring performance in the field depends heavily on modeling trends and data, which in turn requires powerful, and flexible analytical tools. To date, however, transportation professionals have lacked a unified, rigorous guide to modeling the wide range of problems they encounter in the field. Statistical and Econometric Methods for Transportation Data describes the techniques most useful for modeling the many complex aspects of transportation, such as travel demand, safety, emissions, and the environment. Taking care not to overwhelm readers with statistical theory, the authors clearly and concisely present the relevant analytical methods in quantitative chapters built on transportation case studies. Mastering this material enables readers to: Formulate research hypotheses Identify appropriate statistical and econometric models Avoid common pitfalls and misapplications of statistical methods Interpret model results correctly Ideal as both a textbook and reference, this book makes three unique contributions to transportation practice and education. First, it presents a host of analytical techniques-both common and sophisticated-used to model transportation phenomena. Second, it provides a wealth of examples and case studies, and third, it specifically targets present and future transportation professionals. It builds the foundation they need not only to apply analytical models but also to understand and interpret results published elsewhere.

Table of Contents:
FUNDAMENTALS Statistical Inference I: Descriptive Statistics Statistical Inference II: Interval Estimation, Hypothesis Testing, and Population Comparisons CONTINUOUS DEPENDENT VARIABLE MODELS Linear Regression Violation of Regression Assumptions Simultaneous Equations Models Panel Data Analysis Time Series Analysis Latent Variable Models Duration Models COUNT AND DISCRETE DEPENDENT VARIABLE MODELS Count Data Models Discrete Outcome Models Discrete/Continuous Models APPENDIXES Statistical Fundamentals Glossary of Terms Tables of Distributions: t, Z, chi-Square, F, Durbin-Watson Variable Transformations

Review :
…With [an] evolution in methods comes a tremendous need for books that synthesize and extend the usual statistical theory presentation to one suitable for application-oriented audiences. Washington et al.’s book provides an excellent and needed addition to this genre of texts. … an excellent addition to a practicing transportation analyst’s library as well as a perfect companion to a first-year graduate modeling or methods course … this text adroitly fills a very important niche between practice and theory. … I recommend it for most transportation analysts and believe it to be a good, solid addition to the libraries of transportation graduate students. —Journal of Transportation Statistics, Vol. 7, Issue 2/3, 2005 It is well done and well organized, and provides good coverage of all the essential elements of statistical and econometric methods and models applied to transportation … I would highly recommend it to anyone engaged in transportation research. I suspect it will be the definitive text on statistics in transportation for some years to come … I am pleased to have had the opportunity to read the book and look forward to using it in my work in the future. —Technometrics, November 2004 In a time when transportation organizations are gathering unprecedented amounts of data on all aspects of the transportation system performance, transportation professionals need to equip themselves with analytical tools that can adequately handle the uncertainty of that data. This book is quite timely in meeting that need. This book presents the reader with an extensive set of analytical tools that are particularly well-suited for transportation data analysis. … an outstanding and unique contribution to the existing transportation literature. I have no doubt that the book will serve as an important resource for transportation practitioners and researchers, and will play a major role in improving the way in which statistical and econometric methods are currently employed in transportation research. The book is well-organized and well-written, and can serve as an excellent textbook for a number of graduate-level classes in transportation-related disciplines. —Journal of Transportation Engineering, September/October 2004