New Approach for Calibrating Robertson’s Platoon Dispersion Model
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 144, Issue 5
Abstract
A new approach for calibrating Robertson’s platoon dispersion model (RPDM) is proposed for addressing the issue of overestimation of time span of downstream vehicle arrival as predicted by the model Instead of comparing the observed and predicted vehicle arrivals during different modeling time intervals, the new approach for calibrating RPDM concentrates on the time span of downstream vehicle arrivals to model the vehicle platoon dispersion. The new approach is demonstrated using vehicle platoon data collected from a signalized urban arterial. Vehicle arrival profiles as obtained using the new approach for calibrating RPDM and the traditional approach are further compared. The error related to overestimation of time span of downstream vehicle arrival is found to be lower for the new approach for calibrating RPDM than the traditional approach. Microsimulation models were used to evaluate the implications of the new approach to calibration on signal design. Three scenarios (SC-I, SC-II, and SC-III) were hypothesized with variations in link length between a pair of coordinated traffic signals. All three scenarios resulted in the reduction of vehicle delay along the coordinated links while adopting the new approach for calibrating RPDM to develop the signal timing plan using TRANSYT-7F. Although these are case-specific findings, they encourage further testing of the new approach to calibration on the design of coordinated traffic signal systems for several corridor and traffic conditions.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Bass, K. G., and Lefebvre, S. (1988). “Analysis of platoon dispersion with respect to traffic volume.” Transp. Res. Rec., 1194, 64–76.
Bie, Y., Liu, Z., Ma, D., and Wang, D. (2012). “Calibration of platoon dispersion parameters considering the impact of number of lanes.” J. Transp. Eng., 200–207.
Bonneson, J., Pratt, M., and Vandehey, M. (2010). “Predicting arrival flow profiles and platoon dispersion for urban street segments.” Transp. Res. Rec., 2173, 28–35.
Chang, E. C.-P., and Messer, C. J. (1986). “Warrants for interconnection of isolated traffic signals.”, Texas A&M Univ. System, College Station, TX.
Collins, J. F., and Gower, P. (1974). “Dispersion of traffic platoons on A4 in Hounslow.”, Transport and Road Research Laboratory, Crowthorne, U.K.
Day, C., and Bullock, D. (2012). “Calibration of platoon dispersion model with high-resolution signal event data.” Transp. Res. Rec., 2311, 16–28.
Denney, R. W. (1989). “Traffic platoon dispersion modelling.” J. Transp. Eng., 193–207.
El-Reedy, T. Y., and Ashworth, R. (1978). “Platoon dispersion along a major road in Sheffield.” Traffic Eng. Control., 19(4), 186–189.
Farzaneh, M. (2005). “Modelling traffic dispersion.” Ph.D. thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ., Blacksburg, VA.
Farzaneh, M., and Rakha, H. (2006). “Procedures for calibrating TRANSYT platoon dispersion model.” J. Transp. Eng., 548–554.
Geroliminis, N., and Skabardonis, A. (2005). “Prediction of arrival profiles and queue lengths along signalized arterials by using a Markov decision process.” Transp. Res. Rec., 1934, 116–124.
Glomb, A. J. (1989). “Dispersion of traffic platoons.” M.S. thesis, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
Guebert, A. A., and Sparks, G. (1989). “Timing plan sensitivity to changes in platoon setting.”, Univ. of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Hall, M. D., Van, W. D., and Willumsen, L. G. (1980). “SATURN—A simulation/assignment model for the evaluation of traffic management schemes.” Traffic Eng. Control., 21(4), 168–176.
Hillier, J. A., and Rothery, R. (1967). “The synchronization of traffic signals for minimum delay.” Transp. Sci., 1(2), 81–94.
Hunt, P. B., Robertson, D. I., Bretherton, R. D., and Winton, R. I. (1981). “SCOOT—A traffic responsive method of coordinating signals.”, Road Research Laboratory, Wokingham, U.K.
Jiang, Y., Li, S., and Shamoc, D. E. (2006). “A platoon-based traffic signal timing algorithm for major-minor intersection types.” Transp. Res. Part B:Methodol., 40(7), 543–562.
Lam, J. K. (1977). “Studies of a platoon dispersion model and its practical applications.” Proc., Seventh Int. Symp. on Transportation and Traffic Theory, Kyoto, Japan.
Lieberman, E. B., and Andrews, B. J. (1980). “TRAFLO—A new tool to evaluate transportation management strategies.” Transp. Res. Rec., 772, 9–15.
Lighthill, M. J., and Whitham, G. B. (1955). “On kinematic waves: 2. A theory of traffic flow on long crowded roads.” Proc., R. Soc. London, Ser. A, 229, 317–345.
Manar, A., and Bass, K. (1996). “Traffic platoon dispersion modelling on arterial streets.” Transp. Res. Rec., 1566, 49–53.
McCoy, P. T., Balderson, E. A., Hsueh, R. T., and Mohaddes, A. K. (1983). “Calibration of TRANSYT platoon dispersion model for passenger cars under low-friction traffic flow conditions.” Transp. Res. Rec., 905, 48–52.
Pacey, G. M. (1956). “The progress of a bunch of vehicles released from a traffic signal.”, Road Research Laboratory, London.
Paul, B., Mitra, S., and Maitra, B. (2016). “Calibration of Robertson’s platoon dispersion model in non-lane based mixed traffic operation.” Transp. Dev. Econ., 2, 11.
Qiao, F., Yang, H., and Lam, W. H. K. (2001). “Intelligent simulation and prediction of traffic flow dispersion.” Transp. Res. Part B., 35(9), 843–863.
Rakha, H., and Farzaneh, M. (2005). “Macroscopic modelling of traffic dispersion: Issues and proposed solutions.” Transportation Research Board, 84th Annual Meeting, Washington, DC.
Robertson, D. I. (1969). “TRANSYT: A traffic network study tool.”, Road Research Laboratory, London.
Rouphail, N., Tarko, A., and Li, J. (1992). “Traffic flow at signalized intersections.” Chapter 9, Revised monograph on traffic flow theory, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, DC.
Rumsey, A. F., and Hartley, M. G. (1972). “Simulation of a pair of intersections.” Traffic Eng. Control., 13, 522–525.
Seddon, P. A. (1972). “Another look at platoon dispersion: 3. The recurrence relationship.” Traffic Eng. Control, 13(10), 442–444.
Tarnof, P. J., and Parsonson, P. S. (1981). “Guidelines for selecting traffic signal control at individual Intersections.”, Georgia Tech.
TRANSYT-7F [Computer software]. Univ. of Florida Transportation Research Center, Gainesville, FL.
VISSIM version 8.0 [Computer software]. PTV Group, Karlsruhe, Germany.
Wallace, C. E., Courage, K. G., Reaves, D. P., Schoene, G. W., Euler, G. W., and Willbur, A. (1984). “TRANSYT-7F user’s manual.” Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
Yu, L. (2000). “Calibration of platoon dispersion parameters on the basis of link travel time statistics.” Transp. Res. Rec., 1727, 89–94.
Yu, L., and Van Aerde, M. (1995). “Implementing TRANSYT′s macroscopic platoon dispersion in microscopic traffic simulation models.” Transportation Research Board, 74th Annual Meeting, Transportation Research Record, Washington, DC.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 144 • Issue 5 • May 2018
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 19, 2017
Accepted: Nov 2, 2017
Published online: Mar 13, 2018
Published in print: May 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Aug 13, 2018
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.