Vehicle class wise speed-volume models for heterogeneous traffic

Abstract

Link performance functions commonly used for traffic assignment are often based on Volume Delay Functions (VDF) developed for homogeneous traffic. However, VDFs relating stream speed to the volume of traffic based on homogeneous lane-based traffic are not adequate for traffic assignment in developing countries due to the heterogeneous nature of traffic that is characterized by a mix of a wide range of vehicle classes with significant differences in static and dynamic characteristics and an imperfect lane discipline. Unfortunately, the use of VDFs similar to those for homogeneous traffic flow situations imposes strong restrictions considering two respects: 1) travel times at path and link levels can be obtained for an aggregated stream but not for individual vehicle types; 2) the effect of varying composition and asymmetric interactions is captured only to a limited extent by converting all vehicles into equivalent Passenger Car Unit (PCU). Hence, this paper proposes the development of VDFs specific to different classes of heterogeneous traffic, as it is more realistic in traffic assignment than the use of the same VDF for all classes of vehicles in a link. This study is aimed at developing models to determine the speed of each vehicle class as a function of flow and composition for six lane roads with heterogeneous traffic based on data obtained from Chennai city, India. Heterogeneity in this study mainly refers to differences in vehicle types (two-wheeler, car, bus, etc.) participating in mixed traffic. To develop multiple user class VDFs, the speed and flow of each vehicle class for a wide range of traffic flow conditions need to be recorded. As this is not possible using field measurements, an established micro-simulation model (HETEROSIM) is used for determining speeds for each vehicle type by systematically varying the volume and composition levels over a range of values that represent relevant and practical traffic conditions observed in six lane divided roads in Chennai city. The proposed delay functions are different from standard single user class VDFs in three key respects: first, they enable more realistic behaviour by modelling differences in class wise speeds at a given volume and composition level; second, they allow for capturing asymmetric interactions of different vehicle types on an average speed of a given vehicle class. Finally, speed-flow relationships for each class are also allowed to vary across volume levels which enable the representation of differential interactions at different levels of congestion in mixed traffic. The need for homogenizing the volumes in terms of a single class is obviated. The models significantly outperformed single class VDFs in both calibration and validation datasets. Further, the proposed models are used for analyzing heterogeneous traffic characteristics. Empirical evidence of asymmetric interactions and the impact of composition on classwise performance are also found and quantified. Finally, two applications of the proposed models are demonstrated for the level of service analysis of different classes and impact analysis of excluding some classes. The proposed models may have applications such as determining class wise road user costs and performance measures (e.g. emissions) that depend on class-specific speeds.

First Published Online: 26 Jun 2012

Keyword : traffic flow, vehicle, speed, model, interaction, analysis