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Traffic Flow Modelling and Simulation for Safe and Sustainable Transportation

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Transportation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2022) | Viewed by 22670

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Hao Wang

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Chief Guest Editor

School of Transportation, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Interests: traffic flow theory; traffic control; traffic simulation

Dr. Xiang Zhang

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Guest Editor

Research Fellow, Research Centre for Integrated Transport Innovation, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
Interests: transport modelling; operations research; traffic flow theory

Dr. Ye Li

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Guest Editor

School of Traffic and Transportation Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410075, China
Interests: traffic flow theory; traffic simulation; traffic safety

Dr. Yanyan Qin

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Guest Editor

School of Traffic and Transportation, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing 400074, China
Interests: traffic flow theory; connected and automated vehicles; intelligent transportation systems
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nowadays, the transportation system is confronted with serious challenges, such as traffic congestion, emission, and accidents. Many new ideas and technologies have been proposed to deal with the problems so as to make the transportation system more sustainable. These methods include advanced traffic control for traditional MV (manual driven vehicle) flow, CAV (connected and autonomous vehicle) technologies, and encouragement for nonmotorized travels.

This Special Issue will highlight new opportunities and challenges for sustainable transportation, focusing on how to improve and evaluate transportation system with traffic flow modelling and simulation. We welcome papers on the following topics:

Modelling and simulating the performance of traffic flow under various traffic control schemes or management measures, including variable speed limit control, ramp metering, traffic signal control, and application of exclusive lane/variable lane/reversible lane.
Modelling and simulating the CAV flow or CAV-MV mixed flow in various scenarios, including CAV platoon controlling, intersection controlling and other V2X applications.
Studies on nonmotorized flow modelling and simulation, including pedestrian flow and bicycle flow, especially on how to improve the capacity and safety of the nonmotorized flow by traffic designing and managements.
Optimizing the designs and operations of transportation facilities by traffic flow modelling and simulation. Evaluating the effectiveness of various measures on relieving traffic congestion, reducing traffic emission and improving traffic safety.

Prof. Dr. Hao Wang
Dr. Xiang Zhang
Dr. Ye Li
Dr. Yanyan Qin
Guest Editors

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Keywords

Traffic flow modelling
Traffic flow simulation
Traffic congestion
Traffic emission
Traffic safety

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 2926 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Modeling the Assessment of Intersections with Traffic Lights and the Significance Level of the Number of Pedestrians in Microsimulation Models Based on the PTV Vissim Tool

by Monika Ziemska-Osuch and Dawid Osuch

Sustainability 2022, 14(14), 8945; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14148945 - 21 Jul 2022

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2761

Abstract

The present article contains a microsimulation analysis of the impact of the number of pedestrians on pedestrian crossings controlled by traffic lights. To analyze the level of freedom of movement using the HCM 2010 method based on the level of service (LOS) implemented in the PTV VISSIM tool, a simulation of two interconnected intersections is performed. These crossings differ in the number of inlets as well as in the intensity of vehicles at each of the inlets. The microsimulation model was based on real data on the intensity of vehicles from an intelligent traffic control system as well as real traffic light programs. Eleven different variants of the same initial conditions were tested in which the number of pedestrians at pedestrian crossings was increased every 50 and the time of the right turn and the LOS of the right turn were compared. The result shows the impact of the number of pedestrians on the assessment of LOS traffic conditions at the entire intersection. The results consider the ranges in which the number of pedestrians has a significant impact and change the assessment of the entire intersection to the next worse level of freedom of movement. The article shows how it can be a mistake to overlook adding the exact number of pedestrians at traffic light intersections with PTV Viswalk in the microsimulation model. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Traffic Flow Modelling and Simulation for Safe and Sustainable Transportation)

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14 pages, 3176 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Underwater Camera Calibration Method Based on Improved Slime Mold Algorithm

by Shuai Du, Yun Zhu, Jianyu Wang, Jieping Yu and Jia Guo

Sustainability 2022, 14(10), 5752; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14105752 - 10 May 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1544

Abstract

The maritime transportation line is the lifeblood of the national economy. Transportation facilities and their construction equipment need to obtain the environmental parameters of relevant sea areas, and underwater robots are the first type of auxiliary equipment for underwater road construction. Considering that the construction of underwater transportation facilities puts forward higher requirements for the observation accuracy of underwater robots, the reliability of internal and external parameter calibration of underwater cameras directly affects the accuracy of underwater positioning and measurement. In order to improve the calibration accuracy of underwater cameras, this paper establishes a real underwater camera calibration image data set, integrates the optimal neighborhood disturbance and reverse learning strategy on the basis of the slime mold optimization algorithm, optimizes the calibration results of Zhang’s traditional calibration method, and compares the optimization results and reprojection error of the ORSMA algorithm with Zhang’s calibration method the SMA algorithm, SOA algorithm and PSO algorithm to verify the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Traffic Flow Modelling and Simulation for Safe and Sustainable Transportation)

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12 pages, 4278 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study on the Design of Variable Lane Demarcation in Urban Tunnels

by Song Fang, Linghong Shen, Jianxiao Ma and Chubo Xu

Sustainability 2022, 14(9), 5682; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14095682 - 08 May 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1417

Abstract

In order to alleviate the influence of low-speed vehicles on tunnel safety, this paper discusses the setting method of variable lane boundaries in urban tunnels. VISSIM simulation software is used to analyze the influence of low-speed vehicles on tunnel traffic flow when lane changes are allowed and when lane changes are prohibited. The results show that the influence of low-speed vehicles on the average speed of traffic flow in urban tunnels is the greatest, and the influence of low-speed vehicles on the average speed of traffic flow can be significantly alleviated when lane changes are allowed in the lane dividing line. When the speed of low-speed vehicles is 40 km/h and the variable lane is set, the average delay time is reduced by 30–50%. The existence of low-speed vehicles significantly increased the average delay time of the local lane, and the lower the vehicle speed and the greater the road traffic volume, the longer the average delay time. When the speed of low-speed vehicles is 40 km/h and the traffic volume is 1200 pcu/h, the traffic density of the right-hand lane decreases by 43.5% after the variable lane is set. While lane changing is prohibited, the presence of low-speed vehicles causes a backlog of vehicles in the rear of the lane, which leads to a significant increase in traffic density. Setting lane-changing permits can alleviate the impact of low-speed vehicles on traffic flow. The research results can provide a scientific basis for the operation and management of urban tunnels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Traffic Flow Modelling and Simulation for Safe and Sustainable Transportation)

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14 pages, 1283 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Parking Allocation Index Analysis of Office Building Based on the TOD Measurement Method

by Xiang Tang, Jianxiao Ma, Peng He and Chubo Xu

Sustainability 2022, 14(5), 2482; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14052482 - 22 Feb 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2577

Abstract

Under the overall strategic guidance of emission peaks and carbon neutrality, an increasing number of cities are focusing on sustainable transportation development as an important measure for sustainable transportation development. Transit-oriented development (TOD) can guide residents to green trip options and reduce the dependence on private cars. Many cities have qualitatively reduced the parking allocation index of office buildings around rail stations, and quantitative research on the influence area and degree of TOD is lacking. This paper selects office buildings in the rail transit station influence area as the research object, puts forward the TOD measurement method of rail transit stations based on the improved “Node-Place” model, and clusters the stations under different measurement indices by the K-means algorithm. For different types of stations, the multinomial logit (MNL) model is used to build different types of trip mode split models to put forward the reduction calculation method of the parking allocation index of office buildings in the rail transit station influence area. Finally, this paper applies the revision of Nanjing’s allocation index in 2019, and the TOD measurement is identified through the “Node-Place-Connection” model. The optimized calculation method of the parking allocation index for office buildings is proposed. The results indicate that the method can reduce parking allocations to encourage the use of green transportation and guide the construction of urban sustainable transportation systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Traffic Flow Modelling and Simulation for Safe and Sustainable Transportation)

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27 pages, 8025 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rapidex: A Novel Tool to Estimate Origin–Destination Trips Using Pervasive Traffic Data

by S. Travis Waller, Sai Chand, Aleksa Zlojutro, Divya Nair, Chence Niu, Jason Wang, Xiang Zhang and Vinayak V. Dixit

Sustainability 2021, 13(20), 11171; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su132011171 - 10 Oct 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3817

Abstract

A traffic assignment model is a critical tool for developing future transport systems, road policies, and evaluating future network upgrades. However, the development of the network and demand data is often highly intensive, which limits the number of cases where some form of the models are available on a global basis. These problems include licensing restrictions, bureaucracy, privacy, data availability, data quality, costs, transparency, and transferability. This paper introduces Rapidex, a novel origin–destination (OD) demand estimation and visualisation tool. Firstly, Rapidex enables the user to download and visualise road networks for any city using a capacity-based modification of OpenStreetMap. Secondly, the tool creates traffic analysis zones and centroids, as per the user-specified inputs. Next, it enables the fetching of travel time data from pervasive traffic data providers, such as TomTom and Google. With Rapidex, we tailor the genetic-algorithm (GA)-based metaheuristic approach to derive the OD demand pattern. The tool produces critical outputs such as link volumes, link travel times, OD travel times, average trip length and duration, and congestion level, which can also be used for validation. Finally, Rapidex enables the user to perform scenario evaluation, where changes to the network and/or demand data can be made and the subsequent impacts on performance metrics can be identified. In this article, we demonstrate the applicability of Rapidex on the network of Sydney, which has 15,646 directional links, 8708 nodes, and 178 zones. Further, the model was validated using the Household Travel Survey data of Sydney using the aggregated metrics and a novel project selection method. We observed that 88% of the time, the “estimated” and “observed” OD matrices identified the same project (i.e., the rapid process estimated the more intensive traditional approach in 88% of cases). This tool would help practitioners in rapid decision making for strategic long-term planning. Further, the tool would provide an opportunity for developing countries to better manage traffic congestion, as cities in these countries are prone to severe congestion and rapid urbanisation while often lacking the traditional models entirely. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Traffic Flow Modelling and Simulation for Safe and Sustainable Transportation)

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14 pages, 4796 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence Range and Traffic Risk Analysis of Moving Work Zones on Urban Roads

by Song Fang and Jianxiao Ma

Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4196; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13084196 - 09 Apr 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1637

Abstract

There is a body of literature on the influence range and traffic risk of fixed work zones. However, relatively few studies have examined the effect of ubiquitous moving operating vehicles, such as road cleaners, on urban roads. The influence of low speed moving work zones on road traffic flow and traffic risk is still unclear. In this work, we used simulations to establish an urban expressway three lanes VISSIM model, and selected the road traffic volume and speed of the moving work zone as the independent variables. We analyzed the range of influence of the moving work zone on the rear vehicles in the left, middle and right lanes of the urban expressway and the traffic risk variation law caused by the moving work zone. The results show that the left lane was indirectly affected by the moving work zone when the traffic volume reached 2000 pcu/h. The influence of the moving work zone on the middle lane was controlled by the traffic volume and the speed of the moving work zone. Both the left and middle lanes were mainly impacted by vehicles changing lane from the right lane. Regardless of the traffic volume and the speed of the moving work zone change, the vehicles 200 m behind a moving work zone will be directly affected in the right lane. Furthermore, the average traffic risk is the highest within 50 m of the moving work zone in the right lane. When the traffic volume decreases and the speed of the moving work zone increases, the average traffic risk decreases gradually. These results provide a scientific basis for the operation and management of moving working vehicles on urban roads. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Traffic Flow Modelling and Simulation for Safe and Sustainable Transportation)

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30 pages, 14942 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluating Operational Features of Three Unconventional Intersections under Heavy Traffic Based on CRITIC Method

by Binghong Pan, Shangru Liu, Zhenjiang Xie, Yang Shao, Xiang Li and Ruicheng Ge

Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4098; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13084098 - 07 Apr 2021

Cited by 31 | Viewed by 3053

Abstract

Conventional four-legged intersections are inefficient under heavy traffic requirements and are prone to congestion problems. Unconventional intersections with innovative designs allow for more efficient traffic operations and can increase the capacity of the intersection, in some cases. Common unconventional designs for four-legged intersections include the upstream signalized crossover intersection (USC), continuous flow intersection (CFI), and parallel flow intersection (PFI). At present, an increasing number of cities are using such unconventional designs to improve the performance of their intersections. In the reconstruction of original intersections or the design of new intersections, the question of how to more reasonably select the form of unconventional intersection becomes particularly critical. Therefore, we selected a typical intersection in Xi’an for optimization and investigated traffic data for this intersection. The traffic operations, with respect to the four solutions of a conventional intersection, USC, CFI, and PFI, were evaluated using the VISSIM software. Then, we evaluated the suitability of each solution under different situations using the CRITIC (CRiteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation) method, which is a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method that enables a more comprehensive and integrated evaluation of the four solutions by taking into account the comparative intensities and conflicting character among the indices. The results show that the conventional intersection is only applicable to the case of very low traffic volume; PFI has the advantage in the case of moderate and high traffic volume; CFI performs better in the case of high traffic volume; and USC is generally inferior to CFI and PFI, although it has greater improvement, compared with the conventional solution, in a few cases. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Traffic Flow Modelling and Simulation for Safe and Sustainable Transportation)

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14 pages, 2680 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Developing a Regional Drive Cycle Using GPS-Based Trajectory Data from Rideshare Passenger Cars: A Case of Chengdu, China

by Bing Han, Ziheng Wu, Chaoyi Gu, Kui Ji and Jiangang Xu

Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 2114; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13042114 - 16 Feb 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1756

Abstract

A drive cycle describes the microscopic and macroscopic vehicle activity information that is crucial for emission quantification research, e.g., emission modeling or emission testing. Well-developed drive cycles capture the driving patterns representing the traffic conditions of the study area, which usually are employed as the input of the emission models. By considering the potential of large-scale GPS trajectory data collected by ubiquitous on-vehicle tracking equipment, the objective of this study is to demonstrate the capability of GPS-based trajectory data from rideshare passenger cars for urban drive cycle development. Large-scale GPS trajectory data and order data collected by an app-based transportation vehicle was used in this study. GPS data were filtered by thresholds of instantaneous accelerations and vehicle specific powers. The micro-trip selection-to-rebuild method with operating mode distribution was used to develop a series of speed-bin categorized representative drive cycles. Sensitivity of the time-of-day and day-of-week were analyzed on the developed drive cycles. The representativeness of the developed drive cycles was verified and significant differences exist when they are compared to the default light-duty drive cycles coded in MOVES. The findings of this study can be used for helping drive cycle development and emission modeling, further improving the understanding of localized emission levels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Traffic Flow Modelling and Simulation for Safe and Sustainable Transportation)

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18 pages, 1859 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Crash Risk Assessment for Heterogeneity Traffic and Different Vehicle-Following Patterns Using Microscopic Traffic Flow Data

by Jiajun Shen and Guangchuan Yang

Sustainability 2020, 12(23), 9888; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12239888 - 26 Nov 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2360

Abstract

This paper investigates the impacts of heavy vehicles (HV) on speed variation and assesses the rear-end crash risk for four vehicle-following patterns in a heterogeneous traffic flow condition using three surrogate safety measures: speed variation, time-to-collision (TTC), and deceleration rate to avoid a crash (DRAC). A video-based data collection approach was employed to collect the speed of each individual vehicle and vehicle-following headway; a total of 3859 vehicle-following pairs were identified. Binary logistic regression modeling was employed to assess the impacts of HV percentage on crash risk. TTCs and DRACs were calculated based on the collected traffic flow data. Analytical models were developed to estimate the minimum safe vehicle-following headways for the four vehicle-following patterns. Field data revealed that the variation of speed first increased with HV percentage and reached the maximum when HV percentage was at around 0.35; then, it displayed a decreasing trend with HV percentage. Binary logistic regression modeling results suggest that a high risk of rear-end collision is expected when HV percentage is between 0.19 and 0.5; while, when HV percentage is either below 0.19 or exceed 0.5, a low risk of rear-end collision is anticipated. Analytical modeling results show that the passenger car (PC)-HV vehicle-following pattern requires the largest minimum safe space headway, followed by HV-HV, PC-PC, and HV-PC vehicle-following patterns. Findings from this research present insights to transportation engineers regarding the development of crash mitigation strategies and have the potential to advance the design of real-time in-vehicle forward collision warnings to minimize the risk of rear-end crash. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Traffic Flow Modelling and Simulation for Safe and Sustainable Transportation)

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