Quantifying travel time variability at a single bottleneck based on stochastic capacity and demand distributions

Travel time reliability, an essential factor in traveler route and departure time decisions, serves as an important quality of service measure for dynamic transportation systems. This article investigates a fundamental problem of quantifying travel time variability from its root sources: stochastic capacity and demand variations that follow commonly used log-normal distributions. A volume-to-capacity ratio-based travel time function and a point queue model are used to demonstrate how day-to-day travel time variability can be explained from the underlying demand and capacity variations. One important finding is that closed-form solutions can be derived to formulate travel time variations as a function of random demand/capacity distributions, but there are certain cases in which a closed-form expression does not exist and numerical approximation methods are required. This article also uses probabilistic capacity reduction information to estimate time-dependent travel time variability distributions under conditions of non-recurring traffic congestion. The proposed models provide theoretically rigorous and practically useful tools for understanding the causes of travel time unreliability and evaluating the system-wide benefit of reducing demand and capacity variability.     

The performance of route modification and demand stabilization strategies in stochastic vehicle routing

A key concern in managing vehicle routing operations under stochastic demands is whether, on the basis of travel distance, route modification yields materially greater logistical efficiency than fixed routes. This research uses statistical calibration as the primary technique to develop a robust and tractable model for estimating this difference in logistical efficiency. Based on features such as the models predictive accuracy and generalizability, it constitutes a substantive improvement over existing models. The present study also expands the range of predictive models relevant to vehicle routing under stochastic demands with models to estimate the transportation and inventory effects of persuading customers to stabilize their ordering patterns.     

最大信干噪比准则下智能天线随机布阵效果研究

用最大信噪比准则，研究了在随机布阵条件下，智能天线应用于电子对抗环境中的可行性，得出了有用结论，对指导实际有重要意义。     

Reliability analysis of repairable systems using stochastic point processes

In order to analyze the failure data from repairable systems, the homogeneous Poisson process(HPP) is usually used. In general, HPP cannot be applied to analyze the entire life cycle of a complex, re-pairable system because the rate of occurrence of failures (ROCOF) of the system changes over time rather thanremains stable. However, from a practical point of view, it is always preferred to apply the simplest methodto address problems and to obtain useful practical results. Therefore, we attempted to use the HPP model toanalyze the failure data from real repairable systems. A graphic method and the Laplace test were also usedin the analysis. Results of numerical applications show that the HPP model may be a useful tool for the entirelife cycle of repairable systems.     

A stochastic analysis of highway capacity: Empirical evidence and implications

This paper presents a stochastic characterization of highway capacity and explores its implications on ramp metering control at the corridor level. The stochastic variation of highway capacity is captured through a Space–Time Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (STARIMA) model. It is identified following a Seasonal STARIMA model (0, 0, 2₃) × (0, 1, 0)₂, which indicates that the capacities of adjacent locations are spatially–temporally correlated. Hourly capacity patterns further verify the stochastic nature of highway capacity. The goal of this paper is to study (1) how to take advantage of the extra information, such as capacity variation, and (2) what benefits can be gained from stochastic capacity modeling. The implication of stochastic capacity is investigated through a ramp metering case study. A mean–standard deviation formulation of capacity is proposed to achieve the trade-off between traffic operation efficiency and robustness. Following that, a modified stochastic capacity-constraint ZONE ramp metering scheme embedded cell transmission model algorithm is introduced. The numerical experiment suggests that considering capacity variation information would alleviate the spillback effect and improve throughput. Monte Carlo simulation further supports this argument. This study helps verify and characterize the stochastic nature of capacity, validates the benefits of using capacity variation information, and thus enhances the necessity of implementing stochastic capacity in traffic operation.     

Signal coordination model for local arterial with heavy bus flows

Conventional Transit Signal Priority (TSP) controls often reach the limitation for arterials accommodating heavy bus flows since the priority function can significantly increase delay at minor streets. Under such conditions, a proper signal progression plan that accounts for the benefits of buses may offer the potential to improve the reliability of bus operations and increase the bus ridership. This study proposes a bus-based progression model to reduce the delay of buses on local arterials. Given the cycle length and green splits at each intersection, the bus-based progression model, grounded on the same notion as conventional signal progression methods, considers the operational characteristics of transit vehicles, such as the impact of bus dwell time and the capacity constraints at bus stops. Also, to deal with the stochastic nature of dwell time, this study introduces additional constraints to maximize the percentage of buses which can stay within the green band after leaving bus stops. Taking an arterial with five intersections and three two-way bus stops as an example, this study applies VISSIM as an unbiased tool for model evaluation. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed model can significantly reduce bus passenger delays and the average person delays for the entire arterial, compared with the conventional progression models.     

二阶随机需求条件下公交网络的服务可靠性研究

引入服务可靠性这一概念,以乘客出行成本和车行运营成本最小为目标建立随机需求下的 公交网络模型,并提出固定需求的服务方案模型和改进的二阶随机方案模型。该模型体现了乘客 公交出行的选择策略并反映了公交网络中不确定需求和服务可靠性的相互联系。在分析公交出行 网络中的服务设计,包括常规服务和特别服务的基础上,运用二阶下降法通过规定不确定的随机 变量（服务可靠性参数） 来求解二阶随机方案：首先在一阶段减少混合整数规划的数量以节省计 算时间,随后在二阶段中模拟出一个线性规划,以便有效地求解二阶随机方案。最后,通过实例 模型验证了该方案的可行性。     

公路桥梁随机车流的平稳性和各态历经性检验

根据6条公路桥梁28条车道上的WIM系统实测车辆信息,分别生成了各车道上的随机车流类型过程.用随机过程理论分别计算得到各随机车流类型过程的集合均值、集合相关函数、时间均值、时间相关函数等随机特性参数.进一步对比分析,验证了所建立的随机车流类型过程的平稳性和各态历经性.结果表明:从实际公路上调查一定数量的车辆,其统计特性能够代表总体样本的车流信息,对车辆各种特征的统计结果具有代表性,可为公路桥梁随机车辆荷载模型的建立提供参考.     

基于遗传算法的舰船舱段可靠性优化设计

遗传算法在引入动态自适应策略和"免疫算子"之后,其收敛效率有了较大的提高。对于以可靠性作为约束的随机结构系统优化问题,以罚函数法为基础,构造了有效的约束与目标函数向适应值函数的映射公式。建立合理的安全余量,采用随机有限元法处理结构分析中所涉及的有关参量的随机性,计算结构响应和敏度分析,并进行系统的可靠性计算。通过两种算法的结合,利用自适应免疫遗传算法、随机有限元法及可靠性的基本理论,建立了一套完整的基于遗传算法与随机有限元的结构系统可靠性优化设计方法。对舰船舱段结构梁系截面的优化计算结果表明,算法对多随机因素结构系统的可靠性优化具有良好的收敛效果。     

论常数变易法求解微分方程

常微分方程具有一般数学的特点:抽象性、严密性,又具有本身的特点,即与工程技术紧密相连,实用性强.而常数变易法是解线性微分方程行之有效的一种方法。