Potential-based dynamic pedestrian flow assignment

This study proposes a potential-based dynamic pedestrian flow assignment model to optimize the evacuation time needed for all pedestrians to leave an indoor or outdoor area with internal obstacles and multiple exits, e.g., railway station, air terminal, plaza, and park. In the model, the dynamic loading of pedestrian flows on a two-dimensional space is formulated by a cell transmission model, the movement of crowds is driven by space potential, and the optimization of evacuation time is solved by a proportional swapping process. In this way, the proposed model can be applied to not only efficiently optimize the evacuation process of a crowd with large scale but also recognize local congestion dynamics during crowd evacuation. Finally, a set of numerical examples are presented to show the proposed model’s effectiveness for optimizing crowd evacuation process and its application to design a class of variable guide sign systems.     

Map-induced journey-planning biases for a simple network: A Docklands Light Railway study

A usability study was conducted to identify the most effective prototype Docklands Light Railway map for installation on trains. This comprised a series of tasks that required station finding and also planning of routes between pairs of stations, with response time and accuracy as measures of performance. In addition, subjective ratings of map design were collected via questionnaire-based evaluations, and also ranked preferences between designs. A clear best-option was easily identifiable as a result of this research. The existing design was associated with the most journey planning errors, and two of the prototypes were associated with inefficient journey choices. The latter finding suggested that respondents were using unsophisticated planning strategies that were put at a disadvantage by certain route depictions. This has wider implications for suggestions that schematic maps should maintain topographical relationships in order to facilitate appropriate journey choices, with the danger that the inevitable increased complexity of line trajectories for such designs would simultaneously reduce the ability of passengers to identify the most appropriate routes.     

Stability analysis on a dynamical model of route choice in a connected vehicle environment

Research on connected vehicle environment has been growing rapidly to investigate the effects of real-time exchange of kinetic information between vehicles and road condition information from the infrastructure through radio communication technologies. A fully connected vehicle environment can substantially reduce the latency in response caused by human perception-reaction time with the prospect of improving both safety and comfort. This study presents a dynamical model of route choice under a connected vehicle environment. We analyze the stability of headways by perturbing various factors in the microscopic traffic flow model and traffic flow dynamics in the car-following model and dynamical model of route choice. The advantage of this approach is that it complements the macroscopic traffic assignment model of route choice with microscopic elements that represent the important features of connected vehicles. The gaps between cars can be decreased and stabilized even in the presence of perturbations caused by incidents. The reduction in gaps will be helpful to optimize the traffic flow dynamics more easily with safe and stable conditions. The results show that the dynamics under the connected vehicle environment have equilibria. The approach presented in this study will be helpful to identify the important properties of a connected vehicle environment and to evaluate its benefits.     

A behavioural comparison of route choice on metro networks: Time,transfers, crowding,topology and socio-demographics

Understanding travellers’ behaviour is key element in transportation planning. This article presents a route choice model for metro networks that considers different time components as well as variables related to the transferring experience, train crowding, network topology and socio-demographic characteristics. The route choice model is applied to the London Underground and Santiago Metro networks, to make a comparison of the decision making process of the users on both cities. As all the variables are statistically significant, it is possible to affirm that public transport users take into account a wide variety of elements when choosing routes. While in London the travellers prefer to spend time walking, in Santiago is preferable to spend time waiting. Santiago Metro users are more willing to travel in crowded trains than London Underground users. Both user groups have a similar dispreference to transfers after controlling for the time spent on transfer, but different attitudes to ascending and descending transfers. Topological factors presented on a distorted Metro map are more important than actual topology to passengers’ route choice decisions.     

Variable guidance for pedestrian evacuation considering congestion,hazard, and compliance behavior

A methodology for optimizing variable pedestrian evacuation guidance in buildings with convex polygonal interior spaces is proposed. The optimization of variable guidance is a bi-level problem. The calculation of variable guidance based on the prediction of congestion and hazards is the upper-level problem. The prediction of congestion provided the variable guidance is the lower-level problem. A local search procedure is developed to solve the problem. The proposed methodology has three major contributions. First, a logistic regression model for guidance compliance behavior is calibrated using a virtual reality experiment and the critical factors for the behavior are identified. Second, the guidance compliance and following behaviors are considered in the lower-level problem. Third, benchmarks are calculated to evaluate the performance of optimized variable guidance, including the lower bound of the maximum evacuation time and the maximum evacuation time under a fixed guidance. Finally, the proposed methodology is validated with numerical examples. Results show that the method has the potential to reduce evacuation time in emergencies.     

Relevance of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) for bulk shipping

Some scholars consider that today’s market conditions are in favor of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) rather than the Suez Canal Route (SCR). However, the number of bulk carriers using the NSR remains extremely limited, despite higher fuel prices since 2009 and subsequent significant fuel savings. In 2013, there were 53 transits via the Arctic, out of which 27 by oil tankers and 6 by bulk carriers. In this article we show that this result might be attributable to a factor, which is not considered in most studies: the spot freight rate to fuel ratio which governs ship owners’ decisions regarding the sailing speed. Due to a low ratio since 2011, the speed of vessels on the SCR is at its lowest level, and potential NSR fuel savings are too limited to provide a viable alternative. We further argue that, contrary to most studies, internalizing NSR environmental benefits marginally improves the attractiveness of the NSR.     

A geometry-based algorithm to provide guidance for electric vehicle charging

Electric vehicles (EVs) have been regarded as effective options for solving the environmental and energy problems in the field of transportation. However, given the limited driving range and insufficient charging stations, searching and selecting charging stations is an important issue for EV drivers during trips. A smart charging service should be developed to help address the charging issue of EV drivers, and a practical algorithm for charging guidance is required to realise it. This study aims to design a geometry-based algorithm for charging guidance that can be effectively applied in the smart charging service. Geographic research findings and geometric approaches are applied to design the algorithm. The algorithm is practical because it is based on the information from drivers’ charging requests, and its total number of calculations is significantly less than that of the conventional shortest-first algorithm. The algorithm is effective because it considers the consistency of direction trend between the charging route and the destination in addition to the travel distance, which conforms to the travel demands of EV drivers. Moreover, simulation examples are presented to demonstrate the proposed algorithm. Results of the proposed algorithm are compared with those of the other two algorithms, which show that the proposed algorithm can obtain a better selection of charging stations for EV drivers from the perspective of entire travel chains and take a shorter computational time.     

Case studies of shipping along Arctic routes. Analysis and profitability perspectives for the container sector

Arctic sea routes have for long attracted interest from observers and shipping companies because of their shorter distances between the Atlantic and the Pacific. The prevalence of sea ice prevented the real development of a significant traffic, but did not prevent research from trying to assess the economic viability of these routes. With the actual present melting of sea ice in the Arctic, this effort at modeling the profitability of Arctic shipping routes received a new impetus. However, the conclusions of these studies vary widely, depending on the chosen parameters and their value. What can be said of these models, from 1991 until 2013, and to what extent can a model be drawn, capitalizing on twenty years of simulations?     

多源交通信息融合技术在重庆市智能交通诱导系统中的应用研究

由于特殊的地理条件和历史原因,重庆市道路交通信息采集设备形式多样,形成的交通信息数据格式和设备数据接口标准不尽相同,多源交通信息数据的存储、处理和使用过程中遇到了诸多困扰.为此,重庆市交通管理局与重庆市科委共同谋划了“重庆主城区交通诱导示范工程”项目,将多源交通信息数据融合技术作为项目研究的重点,采用数据融合技术对多源交通信息数据进行处理,通过判别算法实现对道路交通状态的实时判别,并利用VMS、WEB等多种形式进行道路交通状态的发布,从而实现对主城区路网交通流进行策略性分流的目标.     

基于车次径路约束下的客运径路生成算法优化

针对目前客票径路计算中径路信息与实际旅客出行径路之间存在的差异性,从分析径路生成的计算模型出发,结合铁路通票业务背景,提出一种车次约束机制下的径路生成计算方法。算法以选择性集中存储为径路存取方式,实现径路公共信息的全路共享与车站特殊径路的分布式存取,有效压缩径路信息存储空间,提高径路选择效率;以车站-车次邻接表为基本数据结构,将铁路路网图改进为列车约束下的列车可达图,保证车站生成个性化径路的合理性和有效性;算法摒弃原有径路计算只计算本站至全路各个结算站间最短K路径的方法,分车站特殊径路计算和公共径路计算两步实现径路的计算,从根本上保证径路计算的有效性,解决通票径路与列车走行径路不符问题,实现了对现有径路生成算法的优化。