Development and calibration of a long-distance passenger traffic assignment model

This paper studies the assignment of long-distance passenger traffic on a highway corridor network. First, we propose a traditional model for the long-distance traffic assignment considering interactions with local commuter traffic. It addresses the effect of local networks on highway corridors. An iterative algorithm is developed to solve for the exact solution. Then, to address the potential computational issues that arise therein, a decomposition method is proposed by introducing a new concept of corridor elasticity. An assignment procedure for long-distance passenger traffic is developed accordingly. Numerical tests show that the proposed decomposition method makes significant improvements in computational performance at a small loss of optimality. This decomposition method well approximates the exact assignment from the traditional formulation, especially when the highway corridors are near-saturation. The proposed decomposition method appears practical for application.     

The identification and empirical characterization of vehicular (Lagrangian) fundamental diagrams in multilane traffic flow

Traditional macroscopic traffic flow modeling framework adopts the spatial–temporal coordinate system to analyze traffic flow dynamics. With such modeling and analysis paradigm, complications arise for traffic flow data collected from mobile sensors such as probe vehicles equipped with mobile phones, Bluetooth, and Global Positioning System devices. The vehicle‐based measurement technologies call for new modeling thoughts that address the unique features of moving measurements and explore their full potential. In this paper, we look into the concept of vehicular fundamental diagram (VFD) and discuss its engineering implications. VFD corresponds to a conventional fundamental diagram (FD) in the kinematic wave (KW) theory that adopts space–time coordinates. Similar to the regular FD in the KW theory, VFD encapsulates all traffic flow dynamics. In this paper, to demonstrate the full potential of VFD in interpreting multilane traffic flow dynamics, we generalize the classical Edie's formula and propose a direct approach of reconstructing VFD from traffic measurements in the vehicular coordinates. A smoothing algorithm is proposed to effectively reduce the nonphysical fluctuation of traffic states calculated from multilane vehicle trajectories. As an example, we apply the proposed methodology to explore the next‐generation simulation datasets and identify the existence and forms of shock waves in different coordinate systems. Our findings provide empirical justifications and further insight for the Lagrangian traffic flow theory and models when applied in practice. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessing the impact of reduced visibility on traffic crash risk using microscopic data and surrogate safety measures

Due to the difficulty of obtaining accurate real-time visibility and vehicle based traffic data at the same time, there are only few research studies that addressed the impact of reduced visibility on traffic crash risk. This research was conducted based on a new visibility detection system by mounting visibility sensor arrays combined with adaptive learning modules to provide more accurate visibility detections. The vehicle-based detector, Wavetronix SmartSensor HD, was installed at the same place to collect traffic data. Reduced visibility due to fog were selected and analyzed by comparing them with clear cases to identify the differences based on several surrogate measures of safety under different visibility classes. Moreover, vehicles were divided into different types and the vehicles in different lanes were compared in order to identify whether the impact of reduced visibility due to fog on traffic crash risk varies depending on vehicle types and lanes. Log-Inverse Gaussian regression modeling was then applied to explore the relationship between time to collision and visibility together with other traffic parameters. Based on the accurate visibility and traffic data collected by the new visibility and traffic detection system, it was concluded that reduced visibility would significantly increase the traffic crash risk especially rear-end crashes and the impact on crash risk was different for different vehicle types and for different lanes. The results would be helpful to understand the change in traffic crash risk and crash contributing factors under fog conditions. We suggest implementing the algorithms in real-time and augmenting it with ITS measures such as VSL and DMS to reduce crash risk.     

Tradable network permits: A new scheme for the most efficient use of network capacity

Akamatsu et al. (2006) proposed a new transportation demand management scheme called “tradable bottleneck permits” (TBP), and proved its efficiency properties for a single bottleneck model. This paper explores the properties of a TBP system for general networks. An equilibrium model is first constructed to describe the states under the TBP system with a single OD pair. It is proved that equilibrium resource allocation is efficient in the sense that the total transportation cost in a network is minimized. It is also shown that the “self-financing principle” holds for the TBP system. Furthermore, theoretical relationships between TBP and congestion pricing (CP) are discussed. It is demonstrated that TBP has definite advantages over CP when demand information is not perfect, whereas both TBP and CP are equivalent for the perfect information case. Finally, it is shown that the efficiency result also holds for more general demand conditions.     

Agent-based simulation framework for mixed traffic of cars,pedestrians and trams

In this paper, we report on the construction of a new framework for simulating mixed traffic consisting of cars, trams, and pedestrians that can be used to support discussions about road management, signal control, and public transit. Specifically, a layered road structure that was designed for car traffic simulations was extended to interact with an existing one-dimensional (1D) car-following model and a two-dimensional (2D) discrete choice model for pedestrians. The car model, pedestrian model, and interaction rules implemented in the proposed framework were verified through simulations involving simple road environments. The resulting simulated values were in near agreement with the empirical data. We then used the proposed framework to assess the impact of a tramway extension plan for a real city. The simulation results showed that the impact of the proposed tramway on existing car traffic would not be serious, and by extension, implied that the proposed framework could help stakeholders decide on expansion scenarios that are satisfactory to both tram users and private car owners.     

Japanese perspective of driver information systems

A perspective view of of Japanese R&D activities of Driver Information Systems is given from the standpoint of developing joint projects by public and private sectors. First, a brief history of the R&D activities is illustrated from above mentioned standpoint. Then, two major projects, AMTICS and RACS, and the social backgrounds of these projects are explained. In order to give a clear idea of both projects some technical details are treated.Based on the history and the present status of the developments, the basic design conceptions of Japanese Driver Information Systems are explained and several factors or reasons which have influenced to the design conception are discussed. Then, the promoting systems of the R&D activities are generally explained and present status of the projects and future problems in developing more advanced systems are also handled. A brief discussion on the establishment of international standard is also mentioned as a final comment.     

道路交通车辆检测技术及发展综述

基于对智能交通系统（ITS）最基本要素——交通信息采集技术的研究,以及对常用车辆检测器进行的分类、分析和研究,阐述固定型检测技术中较为典型的几种车辆检测器工作原理,分析各自的优势、不足和适用环境。结合当今科技的发展趋势及ITS的发展需求,分析探讨道路交通车辆检测技术的发展方向和交通信息融合技术。     

Rice公式外推桥梁荷载效应

在当今,如何对桥梁进行合理评估已成为桥梁工作者的一个重要课题。而在桥梁评估过程中,科研工作者往往需要定量描述评估周期内某座桥梁的交通车辆荷载大小,一般用荷载效应描述。就此根据动态称重系统实测的107国道路段交通荷载数据产生的模拟车流对评估周期内荷载效应极值的计算方法进行了初步研究,以各种跨径简支梁为例,利用Rice外推理论外推各个观测周期的荷载效应极值,并以此作为建立评估荷载模型的基础。     

高速公路改扩建作业区的合理布设

目前我国相关规范并没有对高速公路改扩建作业区的布设做出相应的规定,施工中的一些不合理设置大大降低了作业区的通行能力和运行效率,并且存在诸多安全隐患。针对这一问题,运用交通仿真技术对双向四车道高速公路基本路段的通行能力以及作业区各主要控制区段（如预告段、合流段等）的长度进行研究分析,得到高速公路改扩建期作业区的长度设置标准和布设要求,为今后高速公路改扩建工程作业区的设置提供参考。     

初始条件对驾驶员逐日路径选择行为和网络交通流演化的影响

从查阅到的文献可以看到,在驾驶员逐日路径选择行为及网络交通流演化的研究中,均假定驾驶员第1天对路径的理解行程时间相同,也即初始条件中没有考虑驾驶员的个体差异性。首先,对初始条件和驾驶员逐日路径选择过程建模,在2条平行路径的简单路网中,运用Agent仿真方法模拟了不同初始条件下驾驶员逐日路径选择过程。结果表明：路网达到平衡所需的时间与驾驶员对历史信息的依赖程度显著相关,而与第1天驾驶员对路径行程时间理解的相关差异性不显著;路网平衡和用户平衡的差别与两者均显著相关。虽然在不同情况下路网均能够达到近似的用户平衡状态,但是平衡时驾驶员对2条路径的理解行程时间存在较大差异。