Project

EVAQ is a new traffic model for analyzing evacuation plans and evacuations of entire regions. For evacuations an accurate representation of reality is needed in terms of travel time and vehicle location. For this a Dynamic Network Loading (DNL) model is used. Many of these models use link travel time functions that base link travel time only on current conditions and not on experienced conditions along the way. In EVAQ a DNL model is used that explicitly keeps track of free flow and queue parts. This type of DNL is relatively new and it was indicated (not proven) that network… Read More »Improving evacuation modelling

Exceptional events, like natural disasters, attacks and extreme weather, cause much economic and social damage. However, casualties caused by these events could (partly) be avoided. Therefore, efficient evacuation of the population out of a threatened region is necessary. In this research the planning and management for exceptional circumstances will be researched. The focus is on evacuation, but besides it can give insights for less extreme situations wherein no evacuation is needed. To obtain an efficient evacuation, the evacuation can be controlled in several ways. In the first place, the authority therefore can give instructions to the evacuees including their departure… Read More »Planning and management for exceptional circumstances

When congestion occurs on a highway in an urban environment, an effective strategy is to use ramp metering. Ramp metering postpones or prevents a traffic jam on the highway and has proven to be an effective method. On the other hand, road users on the urban road may experience more delay because they are queuing the on-ramp, or delay occurs because the queue reaches and blocks the first upstream intersection. Even when taking this delay into account, the net result of the ramp metering is positive. Currently, the focus is to switch on the ramp metering when intensities on the… Read More »Coordination of controlled intersections and on-ramp metering

With continued improvements and large-scale maintenance planned for much of the Dutch highway network, a number of large-scale roadworks are planned to start in the coming years. In an effort to inform road users of the delays that they might face for future roadworks even before the works begin, a new method for a-priori travel time predictions is proposed. Using this, road users can be informed and plan in advance. To this extent extensive research will be performed to acquire a solid knowledge base for determining both capacities and traffic demand in the future situations under road works before the… Read More »Predicting travel times during road works

In urban areas usually there are a lot of on- and off-ramps on a relative short stretch of motorway. Large amounts of local traffic can hinder through traffic, especially during peak hours. These weaving conflicts occur on the most right-hand lane of the motorway, where entering vehicles from the on-ramp search for a gap in the main stream and exiting vehicles try to reach the next off-ramp. This turbulence causes a drop in capacity of the weaving area and eventually spreads out over all lanes of the motorway and may cause congestion. Congestion of the total roadway could have been… Read More »Segregation of traffic by dynamic lane allocation

The Dutch motorways become more and more congested because of the increasing mobility. The ambition of the national road network policy is to achieve more flexibility and increased performance of the existing road network. A possible way to do this is the use of dynamic speed limits. In this way, speed limits can be adjusted to unexpected situations such as weather conditions, congestions or incidents. Dynamic speed limits provide more flexibility than permanent speed limits. They offer a speed limit that matches with expectations of motorists and can take into account  the actual conditions of traffic, road, weather or the environment.… Read More »Effects of dynamic speed limits

In the past decades, traffic congestion on the Dutch motorway network has developed into a serious problem. The extension of the infrastructure supply has not kept up with the growth in traffic demand. Consequently, the network is very heavily loaded now, resulting in a lot of traffic congestion. Besides recurrent congestion, non-recurrent congestion takes an important part in this as well. As a result of its heavier loading, the network has become more vulnerable to disturbances (like incidents, bad weather conditions, and road works). The traffic congestion results in the road users experiencing substantial delays. Furthermore, they are faced with… Read More »Dealing with daily traffic congestion and its probabilistic nature

Beijing, the capacity city of China, is experiencing astonishing development in the past decade. Accompanied by economic development is the challenge of urban mobility. The number of car ownership in Beijing has hit 4 million at the end of 2009, and another 1.5 million is forecasted in the coming five year. Although supply of infrastructure is at tremendous speed as well, but seemingly all ended up in congestion as a vicious cycle. It is obvious that continuous building cannot be the final solution; an efficient use of current infrastructure through dynamic traffic management is called for. Moreover, practices and studies… Read More »Design and evaluation of integrated traffic management in Beijing

Every transportation infrastructure has a limited capacity and if there are too many vehicles attempt to use it, congestion will occur. The large amount of car users on the road leads to congestion, especially in rush hours, which increase of the travel time and pollution and reduction of safety. The A10 ring road around the city of Amsterdam is one of busiest freeways in The Netherlands. To improve the traffic situation and the reliability of the travel times on the southern part of the Amsterdam network, a project called traffic management trial Amsterdam (in Dutch: “Praktijkproef Verkeersmanagement Amsterdam”) has been proposed and… Read More »Simulating coordinated traffic management with DYNASMART

Congestion on freeways is a growing problem that nowadays can be seen all over the world. It occurs when the vehicle demand temporarily exceeds the available capacity. Congestion and queues on freeways cost money due to loss of time and therefore productivity. Currently, there are several approaches for defining and measuring congestion delay. Nevertheless there is a lack of consistent definition and measurement of the congestion and the parts that it consists of, using real-world data. Also in the Netherlands, Rijkswaterstaat (RWS) lacks of a clear and accurate review of the numerous causes of congestion and their contribution to vehicle… Read More »Assessment of non-recurrent congestion on Dutch motorways