Interactive travel choices and traffic forecast in a doubly dynamical system with user inertia and information provision

This study models the joint evolution (over calendar time) of travelers’ departure time and mode choices, and the resulting traffic dynamics in a bi-modal transportation system. Specifically, we consider that, when adjusting their departure time and mode choices, travelers can learn from their past travel experiences as well as the traffic forecasts offered by the smart transport information provider/agency. At the same time, the transport agency can learn from historical data in updating traffic forecast from day to day. In other words, this study explicitly models and analyzes the dynamic interactions between transport users and traffic information provider. Besides, the impact of user inertia is taken into account in modeling the traffic dynamics. When exploring the convergence of the proposed model to the dynamic bi-modal commuting equilibrium, we find that appropriate traffic forecast can help the system converge to the user equilibrium. It is also found that user inertia might slow down the convergence speed of the day-to-day evolution model. Extensive sensitivity analysis is conducted to account for the impacts of inaccurate parameters adopted by the transport agency.     

Improving travel efficiency by parking permits distribution and trading

In this paper, we study various parking management schemes in a many-to-one network, where each origin is connected to the destination by a highway with a bottleneck and a parallel transit line. First, we derive a model to compute the morning commuting pattern when the destination has inadequate parking space to accommodate potential private cars. Second, we propose and compare the following three schemes of distributing parking permits to commuters residing in different origins: uniform, Pareto improving, and system optimum distribution of parking permits. Third, free trading of parking permits among commuters in a free market is introduced to better cater for commuters’ parking needs. Numerical examples show that parking permits distribution and trading are very efficient in traffic management.     

A three-dimensional macroscopic fundamental diagram for mixed bi-modal urban networks

Recent research has studied the existence and the properties of a macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD) for large urban networks. The MFD should not be universally expected as high scatter or hysteresis might appear for some type of networks, like heterogeneous networks or freeways. In this paper, we investigate if aggregated relationships can describe the performance of urban bi-modal networks with buses and cars sharing the same road infrastructure and identify how this performance is influenced by the interactions between modes and the effect of bus stops. Based on simulation data, we develop a three-dimensional vehicle MFD (3D-vMFD) relating the accumulation of cars and buses, and the total circulating vehicle flow in the network. This relation experiences low scatter and can be approximated by an exponential-family function. We also propose a parsimonious model to estimate a three-dimensional passenger MFD (3D-pMFD), which provides a different perspective of the flow characteristics in bi-modal networks, by considering that buses carry more passengers. We also show that a constant Bus–Car Unit (BCU) equivalent value cannot describe the influence of buses in the system as congestion develops. We then integrate a partitioning algorithm to cluster the network into a small number of regions with similar mode composition and level of congestion. Our results show that partitioning unveils important traffic properties of flow heterogeneity in the studied network. Interactions between buses and cars are different in the partitioned regions due to higher density of buses. Building on these results, various traffic management strategies in bi-modal multi-region urban networks can then be integrated, such as redistribution of urban space among different modes, perimeter signal control with preferential treatment of buses and bus priority.     

Evaluation of exclusive bus lanes in a bi-modal degradable road network

In this paper, we proposed an evaluation method of exclusive bus lanes (EBLs) in a bi-modal degradable road network with car and bus transit modes. Link travel time with and without EBLs for two modes is analyzed with link stochastic degradation. Furthermore, route general travel costs are formulated with the uncertainty of link travel time for both modes and the uncertainty of waiting time at a bus stop and in-vehicle congestion costs for the bus mode. The uncertainty of bus waiting time is considered to be relevant to the degradation of the front links of the bus line. A bi-modal user equilibrium model incorporating travelers’ risk adverse behavior is proposed for evaluating EBLs. Finally, two numerical examples are used to illustrate how the road degradation level, travelers’ risk aversion level and the front link’s correlation level with the uncertainty of the bus waiting time affect the results of the user equilibrium model with and without EBLs and how the road degradation level affects the optimal EBLs setting scheme. A paradox of EBLs setting is also illustrated where adding one exclusive bus lane may decrease share of bus.