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MHN Coding

ccai-cmap edited this page Aug 27, 2025 · 16 revisions

Node Coding

Several domains are coded into the MHN to specifically control for the node attributes.

NODE

Node IDs in the MHN are restricted to <= 29999 (as nodes >= 30000 are reserved for the MRN).

Of the node IDs in the MHN, 1-3632 are special nodes which refer to zone centroids. 3633-3649 refer to point-of-entries (POEs).

SUBZONE

(From the travel model appendix) "Trip generation zones (or subzones) are the smallest level of geography used in the travel demand model. Subzones are quarter-section-sized geographies that CMAP uses for household and employment forecasting." There are 17418 subzones. A subzone of 0 means that there is no corresponding subzone for that node.

ZONE

There are 3649 modeling zones. 1-3632 are part of the CMAP region, while 3633-3649 are POEs (corresponding to the node IDs). The modeling zones were built by aggregating the subzones. A zone of 9999 means that there is no corresponding zone for that node.

CAPZONE

The capacity zones were also built by aggregating the subzones.

Code Description
0 Unassigned
1 Chicago CBD
2 Chicago central area
3 Chicago
4 Inner-ring suburbs
5 Chicago urbanized area (IL)
6 Chicago urbanized area (IN)
7 Other urbanized area (IL)
8 Other urbanized area (IN)
9 Rural CMAP region
10 Rural Lake County (IN)
11 External area
99 Point of entry

Link Coding

While physically, a road does not change throughout the day, the attributes of a road (such as the toll) might vary depending on the time-of-day (TOD). The MHN is set up so that the attributes are flexible enough to accommodate those variations.

TOD Description
1 Overnight: 8 PM - 6 AM
2 AM start shoulder: 6 AM - 7 AM
3 AM peak: 7 AM - 9 AM
4 AM end shoulder: 9 AM - 10 AM
5 Midday: 10 AM - 2 PM
6 PM start shoulder: 2 PM - 4 PM
7 PM peak: 4 PM - 6 PM
8 PM end shoulder: 6 PM - 8 PM

Several domains are coded into the MHN to specifically control for the link attributes. A few of these domains are expounded on below.

VDF

The facility type determines the volume displacement function.

Code Description
1 Arterial
2 Freeway (controlled-access)
3 Freeway-Arterial Ramp
4 Expressway (limited-access)
5 Freeway-Freeway Ramp
6 Centroid Connector
7 Toll Plaza
8 Metered Ramp

Centroid connectors are a special kind of link connecting the zone centroids to the highway network. They do not physically exist.

Toll plazas indicate a fixed-cost toll. Otherwise the toll is distance-based.

AMPM

Some roads are only open during a certain part of the day.

Code Description Open
0 N/A
1 Unrestricted 12345678
2 AM Only 2345
3 PM Only 1678
4 Off-Peak Only 15
5 Peak/Shoulder 234678

HWYMODE

The field "MODES" is a 3-digit code. It's a combination of the mode (1-digit) and the truck restriction (2-digit). It describes what kind of vehicles are allowed on the link.

Code Description Allowed
0 N/A
100 All vehicles ASHThmlb
2XX All vehicles + truck restrictions Varies
300 Trucks only AThmlb
400 Transit only (only called for transit networks) None
500 HOV only AH

The mode 2XX indicates that there is a truck restriction applied by XX. A truck restriction of 0 (code 200) indicates that the truck restriction is unknown. Otherwise, codes vary from 1-49. To see their meanings you can just look in the geodatabase because I will not be typing it all out.

Also, I cannot believe I need a table for this table but:

Mode Description
A Primary auto
S Single occupant auto (SOV)
H High occupancy (HOV)
T General truck
b B-plate truck
l Light truck
m Medium truck
h Heavy truck
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