Transport Modelling for a Complete Beginner

What a wonderful introduction to transport modeling! In clear language, with great examples and colorful graphics, the book introduces the main considerations and constraints involved in transport planning projects. A great primer to those of us who use transportation (=all of us) and want to have a sense of how decisions get made about something so fundamental to our daily lives. The novelty is in that there's no math involved, no equations, no jargon (beyond the essentials) and the explanations are illuminating. And, as a bonus, there's some fun humor!

A very thoughtful, well written book that I would recommend both to the "complete beginner" and also to others of any other level! I have been testing this on my graduates (One loves that there are NO equations in the book!) and they find the book illuminates many ideas for them that I could not get across to them. The consideration on the ethical considerations associated with transport modelling is also particularly welcome. Well done Yaron! - Richard Isted

Models of transportation planning are extremely sophisticated mathematical tools which rely heavily on mathematical algorithms, statistical analysis and big data. They are used as a central tool to analyze present and future transportation systems. Their output is presented to political decision makers, urban planners and other social and economical experts to support their decisions in the transportation field. Because of their sophistication and complexity, they are treated by the decision makers as a complete truth generated by powerful computers. Too frequently decision makers lack the understanding of the basic building blocks of the modelling process, and the algorithmic logic used by them. This outstanding book by Y. Hollander presents without any previous mathematical knowledge a complete description of basic terms of transportation modelling, their structure, advantages, disadvantages, their strengths and weaknesses. Gaining the knowledge presented in this book is a basic requirement for the decision makers to understand in a deeper way the results and outcomes of the transportation modelling process. This book is unique and original in its outstanding ability to present this highly complex modelling system in a simple and attractive way with a help of many graphical illustrations. Professor of Transportation Planning, Joseph N. Prashker

Eccellent book! With a clear and plain language and supported by the "silly" pictures, the author drives the reader through the secrets of transport modeling never getting opinionated nor boring. The more you read, the more you want you discover! Mr Hollander shows expertise and ability to translate complex issue in understandable messages. Either you are an expert or a beginner, this book is a must have!

Beginners and experts alike should at least read the section on abuse and misuse of models.

This book by Dr Yaron Hollander is extremely good as an Introduction to Transport Modelling concepts, terms, and procedures. It gives a good general easy to understand overview of the modelling process and has some very nice graphical cartoon type drawings to help visually explain the various steps involved in modelling. Its clear, logical, simple style makes it an easy going and enjoyable read. As such it is an invaluable resource for Apprentices, Students and Young Professionals involved in the Transport Planning industry. Highly recommended. Dr F.

Yaron Hollander is an experienced transport modeller, previously at Transport for London and now an independent consultant. He has written and published a book for beginners, which I warmly recommend. The style is accessible, jokey even, with cute hand-drawn illustrations. I learned a lot both from the the main expository text, and also from Part II, which discusses critically the culture of transport modelling. Yaron argues that models work best for short term predictions of small scale interventions, such as fine-tuning traffic signal timings. But in practice models are mostly used to support investments in long lived infrastructure: here the modellers may understand the shortcomings, which their clients may prefer not to recognise provided the model outputs justify the planned investment. For me, this book both illuminates and disillusions at the same time, but no less valuable for that.

This is a very interesting book to read, especially if you are someone new to Transport Modelling. For Transport Modellers this book will help in getting brushed on key concepts and theories in a very simple way. Though this book do not have any mathematics, it has got some nice examples which will help us to relate to the concepts easily. I had been waiting to grab this book and I appreciate Yaron Hollander for writing this book.

Delivered on time and as advertised

Not very detailed