Modified Volume-Delay Function Based on Traffic Fundamental Diagram: A Practical Calibration Framework for Estimating Congested and Uncongested Conditions
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 149, Issue 11
Abstract
Traffic congestion occurs when there is a mismatch between the demand for road use and the available capacity. The volume-delay function (VDF) can quantify the relationship between travel time and the volume of traffic on a particular link, and also provide insight into the state of a traffic system, such as whether it is congested or uncongested. In this paper, we present a VDF model that is based on the fundamental diagram and has two main components: (1) an improved VDF with fewer parameters that can handle both congested and uncongested traffic conditions, based on a fundamental diagram, and (2) a model-based VDF practical calibration framework for practical traffic applications that can determine key parameters for a link in a corridor. Our experiments using corridors in Los Angeles and Beijing demonstrate that our proposed analytical methods effectively calculate road impedance under congested conditions. The results indicate that the proposed model is superior to other existing models in terms of the root mean squared error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE). In addition, our calibrated results indicate that the travel time index (TTI) in Los Angeles is 2.12, in Beijing is 1.74. The model proposed in this paper provides a useful calibration tool for enhancing model performance and improving the accuracy of travel time and speed estimates in traffic assignment.
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Data Availability Statement
The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.
Acknowledgments
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Author contributions: Study conception and design: Yuyan (Annie) Pan and Han Zheng; data collection: Yuyan (Annie) Pan; analysis and interpretation of results: Yuyan (Annie) Pan; and draft manuscript preparation: Yuyan (Annie) Pan, Han Zheng, Jifu Guo, and Yanyan Chen. All authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.
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Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 149 • Issue 11 • November 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 9, 2023
Accepted: May 2, 2023
Published online: Sep 14, 2023
Published in print: Nov 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Feb 14, 2024
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