An origin-destination model of recreational boating on the Twin Cities reaches of the Mississippi and St. Croix River

The 1991 river boating study focused on the Twin Cities
metropolitan area.  It encompassed the Mississippi River from Coon
Rapids Dam to Dam 5, and the commercially navigable reaches of the
lower St. Croix and Minnesota River.  The study was conducted from
July 3 to September 2.  The primary goal of the study was to
collect the information needed to construct a mathematical
origin-destination model of boat trips in the study area and,
ultimately, to build such as model.  The model would permit the
manipulation of boat access development (locations and sizes of
ramps and marinas) and would estimate the resultant impact of
these manipulations on summer boating patterns on different
reaches of the rivers.  A similar model has been developed for
lakes.  It proved useful in access development planning, as well
as in the basic understanding of how riparian development affects
surface water use.  The lake model, however, deals with a simpler
case than the one here, because it treats the lake as the sole
origin and sole destination of boat trips.  The river model, to be
useful, has to deal with multiple origins and multiple
destinations, all within the context of different types of access
development and significant time periods (day of week and time of
day).  Since the study team had not constructed such a model
before, it took this study from the outset as a "pilot," which
recognized that surprises were likely to be encountered as the
study progressed.