Report

The resilience of a road network indicates the magnitude and consequences of a disruption, which can be events such as a traffic accident or a flood. The literature is not in agreement about the exact definition of road network resilience, and the way to quantify it. A literature search was done to look for definitions and resilience metrics. Eleven metrics were found that quantify resilience in road networks to accidents. These eleven metrics are compared based on whether they are on a network level, and how many variables are used. Two metrics are chosen, one based on travel time, and… Read More »Resilience in road networks

The pre-signal is an additional traffic light (i.e. stop line) upstream of the main coordinated intersection that separates directional traffic flows upfront. The pre-signal allows vehicles with the same direction to proceed and the vehicles will utilize the entire cross-section of the main intersection while discharging the main intersection during its green phase. Pre-signals can yield a higher intersection capacity. However, behavioral assumptions in those studies regarding the spread behavior of drivers in the sorted area were not based on validated findings from behavioral science. Therefore, this research tries to investigate the spread behavior of drivers, with the objective of… Read More »Understanding Drivers’ Lane Choice Behavior at Pre-Signalized Intersections

During the previous century the transportation sector has been identified as one of the largest carbon footprint contributors. Emissions from the transportation industry originate from a range of sources, including vehicle operations as well as road construction and maintenance. With an increase in road users and an ageing infrastructure, new road infrastructure is being established and existing infrastructure is being managed with all kinds of measures. For the maintenance of their roads Rijkswaterstaat has initiated a program entitled ”Replacements and Renovations Program”, to enhance roadways so that they will always withstand increasing traffic and improve safety. Rijkswaterstaat strives for thorough… Read More »Greenhouse gas emissions from road works

Intersections are the bottleneck of traffic flow. Vehicle-actuated control improved the delay at an intersection by making the green phase variable based on the presence of vehicles as measured by detector loops. The duration of the yellow and red phase remains fixed, because intentions of specific human-driven vehicles (HDVs) are unknown, and measurements of the behaviour of HDVs at crucial moments can not be provided by detector loops. The introduction of connected autonomous vehicles (AVs) will bring a transition (hybrid) period, in which HDVs and AVs share the road. Intersection controllers for this period have been proposed, but none of… Read More »Shortening signal timings of vehicle-actuated controllers by using communicating, automated vehicles

Travel volumes on the Dutch main road network have been steadily increasing since 2013. The increase of traffic volumes resulted in more congestion and therefore more travel delays (travel time lost) and increased travel times. This increase was interrupted when in the beginning of 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic spread over the world. This led to a rapid increase in the use of teleworking, which resulted in large shifts in travel behaviour of Dutch travellers. Because of the decreasing impact of teleworking on congestion and consequently societal costs of delays, it would be a positive development if teleworking is continued. However,… Read More »Implementing policy strategies to stimulate teleworking

Growth of mobility for people and goods transportation has been increasing steadily over the years. With the perpetual increase in number of road vehicles, comes the inevitable problems of traffic and pollution. Various intelligent traffic technologies and strategies have been proposed and implemented over the years to overcome the road traffic problems. Platooning is identified as one of the ways to tackle transportation related problems efficiently. Even though platooning has been tested and implemented in highways, not much attention has been given to controlling the platoons at urban roads. When vehicles in the platoon are connected and automated, it helps… Read More »Energy efficient electric vehicle platooning at signalized intersections

In this thesis an investigation is performed into the effects of different speed limits on capacity. Much is known about factors that change the capacity of a roadway, but only very limited knowledge is available about the actual effects of a speed limit change on the capacity distribution. Several locations have been selected to be studied in this paper and two samples of locations have been generated. The first sample consists of a total of eight locations which have experienced a speed limit change from 120 to 130 km/h. The second sample consists of a total of seventeen locations, for… Read More »Speed limits and their effect on capacity

This report describes the possibilities of video monitoring in the Netherlands. The systems and algorithms for video detection have been improved a lot the last couple of years. However, it is still the question if they meet the requirements of Rijkswaterstaat. The application for congestion warning (AID) shows that the current loop detection method suffices. For other traffic management applications video detection can be useful in addition to the current detection system.

In practice, microscopic traffic simulation models are often used for the analysis and management of transport systems. These models simulate the movement of individual vehicles by using a carfollowing model for the longitudinal behaviour of drivers and lane change model for their lateral behaviour. However, current lane change models cannot simulate all driving behaviour that is seen in reality. Recent research revealed that drivers apply four different lane change strategies when driving on motorways: Speed leading: Drivers settle for a speed and try to keep that speed. When they encounter a slower vehicle in front of them in the current… Read More »Empirical investigation of strategy-based lane change choice

Bad traffic conditions can be improved by regulating traffic demand and network capacity. Dynamic Traffic Management (DTM) systems allocate temporal and spatial utilization of infrastructures and vehicle fleets by means of dynamic signals. By timely response to changing traffic conditions DTM goals, in terms of effective, safe and reliable use of the infrastructure, can be met. Two important trends in the field of DTM are: a shift from local control measures towards network-wide control and a shift from collective traffic information towards individual advice. Individual advice can be transmitted via in-car technology, however, up until now in-car systems are typically… Read More »Route guidance and signal control based on the back-pressure algorithm