01334450

Component

Network user equilibrium or user optimum is an ideal state that can hardly be achieved in real traffic. More often than not, every day traffic tends to be in disequilibrium rather than equilibrium, thanks to uncertainties in demand and supply of the network. In this paper the authors propose a hybrid route choice model for studying non-equilibrium traffic. It combines pre-trip route choice and en-route route choice to solve dynamic traffic assignment (DTA) in large-scale networks. Travelers are divided into two groups, habitual travelers and adaptive travelers. Habitual travelers strictly follow their pre-trip routes which can be generated in the way that major links, such as freeways or major arterial streets, are favored over minor links, while taking into account historical traffic information. Adaptive travelers are responsive to real-time information and willing to explore new routes from time to time. The authors apply the hybrid route choice model in a synthetic medium-scale network and a large-scale real network to assess its effect on the flow patterns and network performances, and compare them with those obtained from Predictive User Equilibrium (PUE) DTA. The results show that PUE-DTA usually produces considerably less congestion and less frequent queue spillback than the hybrid route choice model. The ratio between habitual and adaptive travelers is crucial in determining realistic flow and queuing patterns. Consistent with previous studies, we found that supplying a small number of travelers real-time information is more beneficial to network performance than supplying the majority of travelers with real-time information. Finally, some suggestions are given on how to calibrate the hybrid route choice model in practice.

The DVD lists the title of this paper as: Hybrid Route Choice Model for Dynamic Traffic Assignment.

01329018

11-3509

English

20p

2011

Transportation Research Board 90th Annual Meeting

DVD

Figures (3) ; References (29) ; Tables (2)

Dynamic traffic assignment; Real time information; Route choice; Traffic flow; Traffic queuing; Travel patterns; Traveler information and communication systems

Spillback effects (Traffic); Trip planning; User equilibrium

Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2011 Paper #11-3509

TRIS, TRB

Feb 17 2011 6:32PM