Date/Time: Thursday, September 24, 2026 10:00-11:30am
Location: MAG - 586 E 800 N, Orem, Utah 84097
Virtual option available through the calendar appointment. Email utahMUG@gmail.com to request the calendar appointment.
Agenda
Welcome & Introductions
- Introductions
- User Spotlights led by Tim Baird, Fehr & Peers
Discussion Topics
- Utah-Specific resources:
- January 2027 UtahMUG Presentation solicitations (link) – due by November 9, 2026
- Others
Presentations
Why Did the Model Do That?
Fiona Dunn and Kwasi Donkor, Fehr & Peers
Regional travel demand models are increasingly used to evaluate project-level impacts, but they don’t always behave as expected. Drawing from a recent statewide Caltrans study, this presentation introduces a practical framework for evaluating model reasonableness and sensitivity, highlights common pitfalls, and offers guidance for improving confidence in project-level applications.
Fiona Dunn is a transportation planner with Fehr & Peers who works on travel demand modeling, forecasting, and multimodal transportation planning across Utah.
Kwasi Donkor is a Principal with Fehr & Peers specializing in travel demand modeling, VMT analysis, and project-level forecasting, with over 20 years of experience.
Half-Time Break
Jared Lillywhite, Mountainland Association of Governments
The Trips We Don’t See: Suppressed Travel and Unmet Demand in Household Travel Surveys
Matthew Palm, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Sarah Grajdura, University of Illinois Chicago
Most travel analyses focus on trips that occur—but what about trips people wanted or needed to make but couldn’t? Using data from the 2023 Utah Moves Travel Survey, this presentation examines “suppressed travel,” identifies the populations and barriers most associated with missed trips, and explores how hidden travel demand can improve our understanding of transportation equity and travel behavior.
Matthew Palm is an Assistant Professor of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill whose research focuses on transportation planning, accessibility, travel behavior, and transportation equity.
Sarah Grajdura is an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois Chicago whose research focuses on transportation equity, accessibility, travel behavior, and transportation system resilience. The work presented here was conducted while she was at Utah State University.
Next meeting
Date/Time: Thursday, January 21, 2027, 10:00-11:30 am @ UDOT.
🍽 lunchiMUG
Gather with us at Kneaders in the Riverwoods, 4833 N Edgewood Drive, Provo, UT 84604