GMNS Learning Session: Multimodal Accessibility

Session Overview

This session featured insights from leading researchers and practitioners who are actively using the General Modeling Network Specification (GMNS) to develop standardized data formats for modeling transportation networks across different software platforms and regions.

GMNS enables seamless integration of tools, datasets, and workflows in travel demand modeling, while also supporting collaboration across disciplines. It provides a uniform, open, and extensible format for sharing routable network data that is both human-readable and machine-readable. Read more https://zephyrtransport.org/projects/2-network-standard-and-tools/

Session Topic

General Modeling Network Specifications , GMNS+ Multimodal Network Modeling for Accessibility Analysis

Speakers

Dr. Andre Carrel

Dr. Andre L. Carrel is an associate professor of transportation and the director of the OSU Travel Behavior Research Group. Dr. Carrel’s areas of expertise are travel behavior, travel demand forecasting, automatic travel data collection technologies, and public transportation. His research focuses on modeling the travelers’ adaptation to reliability and trip quality, the impact of vehicle electrification and automation on travel behavior, dynamics of travel behavior, and the impact of information and communication technologies such as online shopping and remote working on travel demand. He incorporates elements from marketing research and social psychology, notably satisfaction and well-being, into the traditional economic concepts in travel behavior. Dr. Carrel is jointly appointed in Civil Engineering and City and Regional Planning and is a core faculty member of the OSU Translational Data Analytics Institute.

Dave Dixon

Dave Dixon is Director of Data Analytics & Strategy at the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC), where he leads data-driven initiatives to support regional planning and public policy in Central Ohio. Dave Dixon holds a Master of Public Administration from The Ohio State University’s John Glenn School of Public Affairs and a bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University. His work supports MORPC’s role as a trusted regional voice and catalyst—leveraging data and analytics to advance transportation systems, community development, and a more sustainable future for Central Ohio.

Facilitator

Joe Castiglione

Joe Castiglione is the Executive Director of the Zephyr Foundation, whose mission is to improve travel analysis to support public decision-making through efforts such as the GMNS standard and the open source ActivitySim activity-based model platform. Joe has over 25 years experience developing, implementing, and applying advanced travel forecasting models, and holds degrees in architecture and urban planning.

Upcoming Webinar Series

Session #4 –Taste of MoMo 2025 #2 Date: Thursday July 23, 2026

Session #5 –Traffic assignment, Traffic signal representation, GTFS2GMNS (Arizona State University) Date: Thursday August 20, 2026

Session #6 –Taste of MoMo 2025 #3 Date: Thursday September 17, 2026

Session #7 –NetworkWrangler (Metropolitan Transportation Commission) Date: Thursday October 14, 2026