Lazy loading algorithm for traffic assignment of road networks under fixed charge condition

The measures of path charge are important considerations in traffic assignment of road networks. Factors, such as travel time, fixed charge and traffic congestion which affect road users＇ choices of trip paths, are analyzed. Travelers usually decide their trip paths based on their personal habits, preferences and the information at hand. By considering both deterministic and stochastic factors which affect the value of time （VOT） during the process of path choosing, a variational inequality model is proposed to describe the problem of traffic assignment. A lazy loading algorithm for traffic assignment is designed to solve the proposed model, and the calculation steps are given. Numerical experiment results show that compared with the all-or-nothing assignment, the proposed model and the algorithm can provide more optimal traffic assignments for road networks. The results of this study can be used to optimize traffic planning and management.

Resilience assessment and optimization method of city road network in the post-earthquake emergency period

The post-earthquake emergency period,which is a sensitive time segment just after an event,mainly focuses on saving life and restoring social order.To improve the seismic resilience of city road networks,a resilience evaluation method used in the post-earthquake emergency period is proposed.The road seismic damage index of a city road network can consider the influence of roads,bridges and buildings along the roads,etc.on road capacity after an earthquake.A function index for a city road network is developed,which reflects the connectivity,redundancy,traffic demand and traffic function of the network.An optimization model for improving the road repair order in the post-earthquake emergency period is also developed according to the resilience evaluation,to enable decision support for city emergency management and achieve the best seismic resilience of the city road network.The optimization model is applied to a city road network and the results illustrate the feasibility of the resilience evaluation and optimization method for a city road network in the post-earthquake emergency period.

Short-Term Traffic Flow Prediction Based on Road Network Topology

Accurate short-term traffic flow prediction plays a crucial role in intelligent transportation system (ITS), because it can assist both traffic authorities and individual travelers make better decisions. Previous researches mostly focus on shallow traffic prediction models, which performances were unsatisfying since short-term traffic flow exhibits the characteristics of high nonlinearity, complexity and chaos. Taking the spatial and temporal correlations into consideration, a new traffic flow prediction method is proposed with the basis on the road network topology and gated recurrent unit (GRU). This method can help researchers without professional traffic knowledge extracting generic traffic flow features effectively and efficiently. Experiments are conducted by using real traffic flow data collected from the Caltrans Performance Measurement System (PEMS) database in San Diego and Oakland from June 15, 2017 to September 27, 2017. The results demonstrate that our method outperforms other traditional approaches in terms of mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), symmetric mean absolute percentage error (SMAPE) and root mean square error (RMSE).

Traffic Signals Control with Adaptive Fuzzy Controller in Urban Road Network

An adaptive fuzzy logic controller (AFC) is presented for the signal control of the urban traffic network. The AFC is composed of the signal control system-oriented control level and the signal controller-oriented fuzzy rules regulation level. The control level decides the signal timings in an intersection with a fuzzy logic controller. The regulation level optimizes the fuzzy rules by the Adaptive Rule Module in AFC according to both the system performance index in current control period and the traffic flows in the last one. Consequently the system performances are improved. A weight coefficient controller (WCC) is also developed to describe the interactions of traffic flow among the adjacent intersections. So the AFC combined with the WCC can be applied in a road network for signal timings. Simulations of the AFC on a real traffic scenario have been conducted. Simulation results indicate that the adaptive controller for traffic control shows better performance than the actuated one.

Research on the Application of Wireless Network in Collecting Road Traffic Information

Due to the characteristics of variability and dispersion in traffic information, to get the reliable real-time traffic information has been a bottleneck in the development of intelligent transportation systems. However, with the development of wireless network technology and mobile Internet, the mobile phones are rapidly developed and more popular, so it is possible to get road traffic information by locating the mobile phones in vehicles. The system structure for the road traffic information collection is designed based on wireless network and mobile phones in vehicles, and the vehicle recognition and its information computation methods are given and discussed. Also the simulation is done for vehicle recognition and computation based on fuzzy cluster analysis method and the results are obtained and analyzed.

Traffic organization during urban road constructions

This research presented a bi-level programming approach to optimize the schedule of ur- ban road construction activities based on a hypothetical transport network, with an objective of mini- mizing the overall traffic delays. A heuristic algorithm was utilized to identify a set of road construction schedules, while PARAMICS was adopted to estimate the total travel time in the network under each road construction scenario. To test the performance of proposed heuristics-simulation methodology, a numerical test was implemented. The overall results suggested that the proposed methodol- ogy could quickly find the optimum solution with good convergence.

Perspective of Adaptive CN System for Forecasting Congestion of Road Traffic Flow

Basing upon the Weber-Fechner Law with respect to the stimulus (distance-headway) to the vehicle driver and the driver’s sensation (speed), the characteristic speed Vβ is defined, which is the critical vehicles flow speed just before going to congestion in road traffic flow. From the information of real time measurement of traffic flow speed (V) and time-headway (T) at the specific positions along the road, the value of Vβ is calculated and used for forecasting the flow. Discussed is how to use each Vβ to forecast the congestion. The CN system devoted to the management of road traffic flow is proposed. The idea may contribute not only to easing the traffic flow but also to optimizing it to get high efficient traffic flow.

Dynamic evaluation of traffic flows on city roads

This paper presents an analysis of the random fluctuations, deferred conduction effect and periodicity of road traffic based on the basic features of road networks. It also discusses the limitations of road network evaluation theories based on road "V/C". In addition, it proposes a set of theoretical and technical methods for the real-time evaluation of traffic flows for entire road networks, and for solving key technical issues, such as real-time data collection and processing in areas with no blind zones, the spatial-temporal dynamic analysis of road network traffic, and the calibration of key performance index thresholds. It also provides new technical tools for the strategic transportation planning and real-time diagnosis of road traffic. The new tools and methodology presented in this paper are validated using a case study in Beijing.

Cars as a Diffuse Network of Road-Environment Monitoring Nodes

The present paper aims to describe the conceptual idea to use cars as sensors to measure and acquire data related road environment. The parameters are collected using only standard equipment commonly installed and operative on commercial cars. Real sensors and car sub-systems (e.g. thermometers, accelerometers, ABS, ESP, and GPS) together with other “implicit” sensors (e.g. fog lights, windscreen wipers) acquire and contain information. They are shared inside an in-vehicle communication network using mainly the standard CAN bus and can be collected by a simple central node. This node can also be available on the market without too expensive costs thanks to some companies which business is devoted to car fleet monitoring. All the collected data are then geolocalized using a standard GPS receiver and sent to a remote elaboration unit, exploiting mobile network technologies such as GPRS or UMTS. A large number of cars, connected together in a diffuse Wireless Sensor Network, allow the elaboration unit to realize some info-layers put at the disposal of a car driver. Traffic, state of the road and other information about the weather can be received by car drivers using an ad hoc developed mobile application for smartphone which can give punctual information related to a specific route, previously set on the mobile phone navigator. The description of some experimental activities is presented, some technical points will be addressed and some examples of applications of the network of cars “as sensors” will be given.

A Novel Network Screening Methodology for Rural Low-Volume Roads

Low-volume roads (LVRs) are an integral part of the rural transportation network providing access to remote rural areas and facilitating the movement of goods from farms to markets. These roads pose unique challenges for highway agencies including those related to safety management on the highway network. Specifically, traditional network screening methods using crash history can be effective in screening rural highways with higher traffic volumes and more frequent crashes. However, these traditional methods are often ineffective in screening LVR networks due to low traffic volumes and the sporadic nature of crash occurrence. Further, many of the LVRs are owned and operated by local agencies that may lack access to detailed crash, traffic and roadway data and the technical expertise within their staff. Therefore, there is a need for more efficient and practical network screening approaches to facilitate safety management programs on these roads. This study proposes one such approach which utilizes a heuristic scoring scheme in assessing the level of risk/safety for the purpose of network screening. The proposed scheme is developed based on the principles of US Highway Safety Manual (HSM) analysis procedures for rural highways and the fundamentals in safety science. The primary application of the proposed scheme is for ranking sites in network screening applications or for comparing multiple improvement alternatives at a specific site. The proposed approach does not require access to detailed databases, technical expertise, or exact information, making it an invaluable tool for small agencies and local governments (e.g. counties, townships, tribal governments, etc.).

Optimization Strategy of Road Traffic System in Urban Renewal Area

At present,problems such as insufficient road infrastructure and supporting facilities,and limited parking spaces are increasingly prevalent,and there are large conflicts of interest in the process of urban renewal.Therefore,it is crucial to improve the quality of the road network.This paper presents an analysis on the current situation of the road traffic system in a completed area outside the Third Ring Road in Xindu District,Chengdu,and provides corresponding road traffic optimization strategies,with aims of solving the existing road traffic problems,improve road service levels,and promote the overall development of the area and improve the quality of urban space.

Impact of earthquake-induced bridge damage and time evolving traffic demand on the road network resilience

Damage from recent earthquakes has shown that substandard bridges are particularly vulnerable to strong ground motions being the weakest components of a road network.Structural and foundation damages in bridges lead to a significant loss related to both repair process and a prolonged traffic disruption, which in turn results in large indirect loss in the affected area. Along these lines, the estimation of the overall loss related to earthquake-induced damage in highway bridges and overpasses must be based on a wider network analysis rather than on a single structural assessment. Key concept in such a comprehensive loss estimation procedure is the network resilience, expressing the extent of both direct and indirect loss, as well as the system's ability to quickly recover its preearthquake state. In this paper, a recently developed framework for assessing the loss and resilience associated with seismic impact on the structural and geotechnical components of a road network, as well as the relevant software developed are extended to further consider the implications of post-earthquake traffic demand variation. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis is conducted for a case study network to investigate the impact of traffic demand variation after a major earthquake event and the subsequent trip cancelations on the time-variant, cumulative cost at a network level. The results clearly highlight that not only the seismic resilience of a highway network should be assessed in a holistic manner coupling seismic hazard, structural and traffic analysis, but the latter shall include realistic scenarios with respect to the potential variation of origin-destination demand after the earthquake and during the recovery period.

Cognition-Driven Traffic Simulation for Unstructured Road Networks

Dynamic changes of traffic features in unstructured road networks challenge the scene-cognitive abilities of drivers,which brings various heterogeneous traffic behaviors.Modeling traffic with these heterogeneous behaviors would have significant impact on realistic traffic simulation.Most existing traffic methods generate traffic behaviors by adjust-ing parameters and cannot describe those heterogeneous traffic flows in detail.In this paper,a cognition-driven traffic-simulation method inspired by the theory of cognitive psychology is introduced.We first present a visual-filtering model and a perceptual-information fusion model to describe drivers'heterogeneous cognitive processes.Then,logistic regression is used to model drivers'heuristic decision-making processes based on the above cognitive results.Lastly,we apply the high-level cognitive decision-making results to low-level traffic simulation.The experimental results show that our method can provide realistic simulations for the traffic with those heterogeneous behaviors in unstructured road networks and has nearly the same efficiency as that of existing methods.

Bi-objective optimization models for mitigating traffic congestion in urban road networks

Traffic congestion in road transportation networks is a persistent problem in major metropolitan cities around the world.In this context,this paper deals with exploiting underutilized road capacities in a network to lower the congestion on overutilized links while simultaneously satisfying the system optimal flow assignment for sustainable transportation.Four congestion mitigation strategies are identified based on deviation and relative deviation of link volume from the corresponding capacity.Consequently,four biobjective mathematical programming optimal flow distribution(OFD)models are proposed.The case study results demonstrate that all the proposed models improve system performance and reduce congestion on high volume links by shifting flows to low volumeto-capacity links compared to UE and SO models.Among the models,the system optimality with minimal sum and maximum absolute relative-deviation models(SO-SAR and SO-MAR)showed superior results for different performance measures.The SO-SAR model yielded 50%and 30%fewer links at higher link utilization factors than UE and SO models,respectively.Also,it showed more than 25%improvement in path travel times compared to UE travel time for about 100 paths and resulted in the least network congestion index of1.04 compared to the other OFD and UE models.Conversely,the SO-MAR model yielded the least total distance and total system travel time,resulting in lower fuel consumption and emissions,thus contributing to sustainability.The proposed models contribute towards efficient transportation infrastructure management and will be of interest to transportation planners and traffic managers.

Effect of Residential Quarters Opening on Urban Traffic from the View of Mathematical Modeling

With the great prosperity of national economy, there has been a dramatic rise of vehicles on city road, which makes increasing pressure of road transportation. Currently, many countries are confronting the severe situation of traffic jam in different degrees. Nevertheless, there are many triggers contributing to this congestion, one of which is the blocking of residential quarters towards vital traffic line. Therefore, it is extremely necessary to study whether the opening of residential quarters can improve the road capacity of the entire city and remit the traffic pressure. Our paper is based on graph theory, density theory and random utility theory. First of all, we demonstrate a mathematical model of road traffic. Secondly, we explore the influence of residential quarters opening on urban traffic, taking three factors into account listed as road traffic capacity, road network density and network average running time. On the basis of above contents, the impact analysis of vehicle traffic caused by pedestrians is added afterwards. Finally, our paper takes three different types of residential areas into account as an example to empirically analyze the tangible impact of the opening, and finally come to the benefit of the traffic system after the opening.

Simulation model based on Monte Carlo method for traffic assignment in local area road network

For a local area road network,the available traffic data of traveling are the flow volumes in the key intersections,not the complete OD matrix.Considering the circumstance characteristic and the data availability of a local area road network,a new model for traffic assignment based on Monte Carlo simulation of intersection turning movement is provided in this paper.For good stability in temporal sequence,turning ratio is adopted as the important parameter of this model.The formulation for local area road network assignment problems is proposed on the assumption of random turning behavior.The traffic assignment model based on the Monte Carlo method has been used in traffic analysis for an actual urban road network.The results comparing surveying traffic flow data and determining flow data by the previous model verify the applicability and validity of the proposed methodology.

Research on Traffic Accessibility and Transportation Integration Level of Chang-Zhu-Tan City Group in China

Aiming at the problem of lack of data model to analyze the level of transportation integration, the paper taking Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan City Group of China as the research object, based on the Gravity measurement model, transportation comprehensive distance model, weighted road density model, analysis of Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan City Group accessibility and transportation integration level. A new method to measure the level of traffic integration is proposed and verified by the road network data and socio-economic data of Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan City Group. The results show that: Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan City Group traffic accessibility was “point to surface” shape distribution, taking the core region of Changsha as the optimal, Xiangtan, Zhuzhou, Changsha County next, in remote Yanling County, Chaling county has the lowest accessibility;the correlation between traffic network connection degree and economic connection degree reached 0.871, indicating that the transportation integration level of urban agglomerations has a high degree of fit with the level of economic integration. The research results on the one hand for the Chang-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomeration traffic present situation to make an annotation;on the other hand, that provide a reference for further optimization of Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomeration traffic planning.

Characterizing Peak-Time Traffic Jam Incidents in Kampala Using Exploratory Data Analysis

Traffic congestion is associated with increased environmental pollutions, as well as reduced socio-economic productivity due to significant delays in travel times. The consequences are worse in least developed countries where motorized road transport networks are often inefficiently managed in addition to being largely underdeveloped. Recent research on traffic congestion has mostly focused on infrastructural aspects of road networks, with little or no emphasis at all on motorists’ on-the-road behavior (MB). The current study thus aimed to bridge this knowledge gap by characterizing traffic jam incidents (TJI) observed over a period of 80 days in Uganda’s Capital City, Kampala. MB as well as road network infrastructural factors such as road blockage (RB), were captured for each of the observed TJI. A total of 483 peak-time TJI were recorded, and exploratory data analysis (EDA) subsequently performed on the TJI dataset. EDA involved Hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) and K-means clustering of the TJI dataset, as well as a detailed descriptive statistical analysis of both the entire dataset and the emerging TJI clusters. A highlight finding of this study is that 48.2% of the observed TJIs were as a result of on-the-road motorist behavior. Furthermore, the intervention of traffic police officers in a bid to regulate traffic flow was equally responsible for 25.9% of the TJIs observed in this study. Overall, these results indicate that whereas road infrastructural improvement is warranted in order to improve traffic flow, introducing interventions to address inappropriate on-the-road motorists’ behavior could alone improve traffic flow in Kampala, by over 48%. Additionally, in-order to effectively regulate traffic flow in Kampala and other least developed cities with similar traffic congestion management practices, motorists’ on-the-road behavior ought to be factored into any data-driven mechanisms deployed to regulate traffic flow and thus potentially significantly curbing traffic congestion.

基于SA-Apriori的道路事故风险评估研究

道路事故风险评估是提高道路安全水平的有效方式。为实现在道路网络特征视角下的道路事故风险评估,融合线段分析与频繁集算法,提出SA-Apriori的特征提取算法,进而构建SA-Apriori道路事故风险评估模型,以重庆市大渡口区作为分析对象,建立以道路网络特征变量为指标的道路事故风险等级划分体系,评估其道路事故风险水平,结合商业点位分布情况对该评估方法的有效性进行验证。并针对大渡口区道路事故风险情况,提出道路事故风险的管理对策与建议。结果表明:该道路事故风险评估方法具有较高的可靠性,可为基于路网特征的道路事故风险评估提供参考。

基于ICAE算法的城市群高速公路网布局优化研究

为提升城市群高速公路网通达程度和可达性水平,建立了体现城市群特征的优化模型,并改进了帝国竞争算法,以哈长城市群为案例,探究布局优化效果。采用高速公路出行时间确定城市群可达性等级,通过考虑可达性、距离等参数建立优化模型;引入进化算子改进算法,构建进化帝国竞争算法;根据哈长城市群特征确定约束条件并求解,利用求解节点和周边道路网确定优化方案。研究表明:改进的算法收敛精度提高16.4%,时间缩短42.4%,共求解出6个节点,规划新建高速公路6条,改建高速公路14条,优化后的城市群高速公路2 h交通圈覆盖范围达到65.3%,14个县域交通圈等级上升,优化方案扩大了城市群2 h交通圈范围。