Strategic Planning for Equitable RWIS Implementation:A Comprehensive Study Incorporating a Multi-variable Semivariogram Model

This paper extends the previously developed method of optimizing Road Weather Information Systems(RWIS)station placement by unveiling a sophisticated multi-variable semivariogram model that concurrently considers multiple vital road weather variables.Previous research primarily centered on single-variable analysis focusing on road surface temperature(RST).The study bridges this oversight by introducing a framework that integrates multiple critical weather variables into the RWIS location allocation framework.This novel approach ensures balanced and equitable RWIS distribution across zones and aligns the network with areas both prone to traffic accidents and areas of high uncertainty.To demonstrate the effectiveness of this refinement,the authors applied the framework to Maine’s existing RWIS network,conducted a gap analysis through varying planning scenarios and generated optimal solutions using a heuristic optimization algorithm.The analysis identified areas that would benefit most from additional RWIS stations and guided optimal resource utilization across different road types and priority locations.A sensitivity analysis was also performed to evaluate the effect of different weightings for weather and traffic factors on the selection of optimal locations.The location solutions generated have been adopted by MaineDOT for future implementations,attesting to the model’s practicality and signifying an important advancement for more effective management of road weather conditions.

Identification of crash hotspots using kernel density estimation and kriging methods:a comparison

This paper presents a study aimed at comparing the outcome of two geostatistical-based approaches, namely kernel density estimation （KDE） and kriging, for identifying crash hotspots in a road network. Aiming at locating high-risk locations for potential intervention, hotspot identification is an integral component of any comprehensive road safety management programs. A case study was conducted with historical crash data collected between 2003 and 2007 in the Hennepin County of Min- nesota, U.S. The two methods were evaluated on the basis of a prediction accuracy index （PAI） and a comparison in hotspot ranking. It was found that, based on the PAI measure, the kriging method outperformed the KDE method in its ability to detect hotspots, for all four tested groups of crash data with different times of day. Further- more, the lists of hotspots identified by the two methods were found to be moderately different, indicating the im- portance of selecting the right geostatistical method for hotspot identification. Notwithstanding the fact that the comparison study presented herein is limited to one case study, the findings have shown the promising perspective of the kriging technique for road safety analysis.

A Hybrid Geostatistical Method for Estimating Citywide Traffic Volumes - A Case Study of Edmonton, Canada

Traffic volume information has long played an important role in many transportation related works,such as traffic operations,roadway design,air quality control,and policy making.However,monitoring traffic volumes over a large spatial area is not an easy task due to the significant amount of time and manpower required to collect such large-scale datasets.In this study,a hybrid geostatistical approach,named Network Regression Kriging,has been developed to estimate urban traffic volumes by incorporating auxiliary variables such as road type,speed limit,and network accessibility.Since standard kriging is based on Euclidean distances,this study implements road network distances to improve traffic volumes estimations.A case study using 10-year of traffic volume data collected within the city of Edmonton was conducted to demonstrate the robustness of the model developed herein.Results suggest that the proposed hybrid model significantly outperforms the standard kriging method in terms of accuracy by 4.0%overall,especially for a large-scale network.It was also found that the necessary stationarity assumption for kriging did not hold true for a large network whereby separate estimations for each road type performed significantly better than a general estimation for the overall network by 4.12%.

Effects of winter weather on traffic operations and optimization of signalized intersections

Adverse winter weather has always been a cause of traffic congestion and road collisions.To mitigate the negative impacts of winter weather, transportation agencies are under increasing pressure to introduce weather responsive traffic management strategies.Currently, most traffic signal control systems are designed for normal weather conditions and are therefore suboptimal regarding efficiency and safety for controlling traffic during winter snow events due to changes in traffic patterns and driver behaviors. The main objective of this research is to explore how to modify pre-timed traffic signal control parameters under adverse weather conditions to increase traffic efficiency and road safety.This research consists of two main components. First, we examine the impacts of winter weather on three key traffic parameters, i.e., saturation flow rate, start-up lost time, and free flow speed. Secondly, we investigate the potential benefits of implementing weatherspecific signal control plans for uncoordinated intersections as well as coordinated corridors. Two case studies are conducted, each with varying levels of traffic demand and winter event severity, to compare the performance of different signal plans. Evaluation results from both Synchro and VISSIM show that implementing such signal plans is most beneficial for intersection with a medium level of traffic demand. It is also found that the benefit of implementing weather-responsive plans was more compelling at a coordinatedcorridor level than at an uncoordinated-intersection level.