25 arclongcap (tr2005)
TRANSCRIPT
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Macroscopic arc performance models with capacity constraints for within-day dynamic traffic assignment
Guido Gentile, Lorenzo Meschini and Natale Papola
Dipartimento di Idraulica, Trasporti e Strade
Universit degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza
ABSTRACT
In this paper, we present a new nonstationary link-based macroscopic arc performance model with
capacity constraints, derived from an approximate solution to the simplified kinematic wave theory which
based on the assumption, often introduced in the algorithms solving Dynamic Traffic Assignment, that the
arc inflows are piecewise constant in time. Although the model does not require to introduce any spatial
discretization, it is capable of taking implicitly into account the variability of the flow state along the arc
accordingly to any concave fundamental diagram. To appreciate the effect of the approximation introduced,
the model has been compared in terms of efficiency and effectiveness with three typical existing models,
which have been to this end suitably modified and enhanced.
Keywords: link-based travel time function, simplified kinematic wave theory, nonstationary macroscopic
flow model, running link, bottleneck, within-day dynamic traffic assignment.
1 INTRODUCTION
Within-day Dynamic Traffic Assignment (DTA), regarded as a dynamic user equilibrium, can be
formalized and solved as a fixed point problem in terms of arc flow and arc performance temporal profiles,
accordingly with the model presented in Bellei, Gentile and Papola (2004) and depicted synthetically in
Figure 1.
[Figure 1 here]
The network travel time pattern plays a double role in DTA: on the demand side, it constitutes the main
attribute in the context of users path choice; on the supply side, it determines the arc flow pattern for given
path choices (dashed arrow in Figure 1). Thus, it is crucial to devise an arc performance model which is both
satisfactorily representative of the real phenomenon, and efficient when used in DTA, which is complex of
its own.
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In this paper we will focus on nonstationary macroscopic arc performance models that are based on the
fluid paradigm, where vehicles are represented as particles of a mono-dimensional partly compressible fluid
(Cascetta, 2001). These models can be classified into two major groups.
The models belonging to the first group, referred to as space continuous (e.g. METANET, Messmer and
Papageorgiou (1990); Cell Transmission Model, Daganzo, 1994, 1995a), are formulated through differential
equations in time and space and solved through finite difference methods. Their algorithmic implementation
relies on a thick space discretization and for this reason they are also referred to aspoint-based. Such models
yield accurate results and allow any fundamental diagram to be used, but require considerable computing
resources.
The models belonging to the second group, referred to as space discrete, do not require any spatial
discretization, and for this reason are also referred to as link-based. Such models can be, in turn, subdivided
in whole linkmodels and wave models. Whole link models (e.g. Astarita, 1996; Ran et al., 1997), do not take
into account the propagation of flow states along the arc, since performances are assumed to depend on a
space-average state variable, such as density (Heydecker and Addison, 1998). This yields a poor
representation of travel times, which gets worse as the arc length increases (Daganzo, 1995b). Despite this
major deficiency, these models allow adopting any fundamental diagram, and are widely used in DTA
because of their simplicity (e.g. Friesz et al., 1993; Tong and Wong, 2000). Wave models, based on the
simplified kinematic wave theory of Lightill, Whitham and Richards (Daganzo, 1997), implicitly take into
account the propagation of flow states along the arc, yielding arc performances as a function of the traffic
conditions encountered while travelling throughout the link. So far, however, these models have been
developed only forbottlenecks; that is, when the fundamental diagram has a triangular shape and a capacity
constraint is introduced on the final section of the arc. In this case, only two speeds may occur on the arc: the
free-flow speed and the queue speed. Among them are the simplified kinematic wave model presented in
(Newell, 1993), the deterministic queuingmodels(Arnott, De Palma and Lindsey, 1990; Ghali and Smith,
1993), and the link-node model presented in Bellei, Gentile and Papola (2004). These models require
minimal computing resources, but yield realistic results only in urban contexts.
In this paper, we present a new wave model, named Average Kinematic Wave (AKW), which allows any
concave fundamental diagram to be used and presents a very favourable relation between the efficiency and
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the effectiveness. By comparing the performances of the proposed model with those of the existing ones, we
will provide an accurate idea about its advantages. To make this comparisons internally consistent, a specific
typical model for each group is chosen namely one Space Continuous (SC), one Whole Link (WL) and the
Simplified Kinematic Wave (SKW) and is opportunely modified and enhanced in order to deal with any
concave fundamental diagram and with explicit capacity constraints.
2 MATHEMATICAL FRAMEWORK
In this section we recall some significant results of traffic flow theory and introduce the mathematical
framework underlying the four models discussed in this work.
The following notation will be used throughout the paper:
L arc length
x[0,L] generic section of the arc
duration of the period of analysis
[0, ] generic instant of the period of analysis
q(x,) flow on arc sectionx at time
k(x,) density on arc sectionx at time
v(x,) speed on arc sectionx at time
(x,) = [q(x,), k(x,), v(x,)] flow state on arc sectionx at time
w(x,) speed of the kinematic wave on arc sectionx at time
0( , ) ( , )Q x q x d
= cumulative flow on arc sectionx at time
t(x, y,) time when the vehicle traversing sectionx at time reaches sectiony
Based on the fluid paradigm, the First In First Out (FIFO) rule holds (Cascetta, 2001); then we have:
( )( , ) , ( , , )Q x Q y t x y = (1.1)
or equivalently
( )( , , )
( , ) , ( , , )t x y
q x q y t x y
=
(1.2)
which is obtained differentiating (1.1) with respect to time.
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The simplified kinematic wave theory is based on the following relations:
( , ) ( , ) ( , )q x k x v x = (2)
( ) ( )0
k x, q x,
x
+ =
(3)
where (2), defining stationary traffic, is assumed to be valid also for nonstationary conditions, and (3) stems
from vehicle conservation. Moreover, the existence of a direct relation between speed and density is
assumed, which, being the arc a homogenous channel, does not depend directly on the arc section, i.e.
( )( , ) v ( , )v x k x = (4.1)
or equivalently
( )( , ) k ( , )k x v x = (4.2)
Based on (2), equations (4) define also a relation between flow and density, calledfundamental diagram:
( )( , ) q ( , )q x k x =
(5.1)
and a relation between flow and speed:
( )( , ) q ( , )q x v x = (5.2)
In the following, we assume relations (4) to be such that equation (5.1) is concave. In this case, the
density at which equation (5.1) takes its maximum value divides the flow states in hypocritical and
hypercritical. As it will be cleared later on, we need to model explicitly only hypocritical states; then,
referring to the latter states, it is possible to derive the following inverse relations as one-valued functions:
( )( , ) k ( , )k x q x =
(6.1)
( )( , ) v ( , )v x q x = (6.2)
It is shown in Newell (1989) that the solution in terms of flows to the system defined by (3) and (6.1) is
such that the generic hypocritical flow state:
( ) ( ( )) [ ( ) k( ( )) v( ( ))]x, q x, q x, , q x, , q x,= =
(7)
propagates forward along the arc at a constant speed (see Figure 2, left side):
( )1
( , ) w ( , )d k( ) d
w x q xq q
= = (8)
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When two different flow states propagating on the arc at different speeds collide, a shockwave is generated,
which separates the fields where the first flow state overwhelms the second one and vice-versa.
Consequently, not all the flow states occurring on the generic sectionx reach a given section y >x.
[Figure 2 here]
The instant u(x,y,) when a given state (q(x,)) present at time in sectionx would reach sectionyx
and the cumulative flow ( , , )G x y that would be observed at instant u(x,y,) on section y are given,
respectively, by (Daganzo, 1997):
( ) ( )( , , ) w ( , )u x y y x q x= + (9)
( ) ( ) ( )( , , ) ( , ) ( , ) 1 w ( , ) 1 v ( , )G x y Q x q x q x q x y x = + (10)
where the term ( , )q x , with [1/ w( ( , )) 1/ v( ( , ))] ( )q x q x y x = , is the number of vehicles
travelling at speed v( ( ))q x, w(q(x,)) that would pass an observer travelling at speed w(q(x,)), crossing
section x at time and section y at time u(x,y,) (see Figure 2, right side). The Newell-Luke minimum
principle (Daganzo, 1997 and Newell, 1993) states that, if the fundamental diagram is concave, among all
kinematic waves that pass through a given point in the time-space plane the one yielding the minimum
cumulated flow dominates the others; on this basis the actual cumulative flow on sectiony at time is given
by:
{ }( , ) inf ( , , ) : ( , , ) , [0, ]Q y G x y u x y x y= = (11)
By combining (10) and (11) it is possible to determine the cumulative flow temporal profile at a given
sectiony from the cumulative flow temporal profile at any previous sectionx
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with parameters v0 and kj representing, respectively, the free flow speed and the jam density. The linear
model (12) is plausible and, combined with equation (2), allows expressing in a closed form relations (5), (6)
and (8):
0
( , )( , ) ( , ) 1
j
k xq x k x v
k
=
(13.1)
0
( , )( , ) ( , ) 1j
v xq x v x k
v
=
(13.2)
0
4 ( , )( , ) 1 1
2
j
j
k q xk x
v k
=
(14.1)
0
0
4 ( , )( , ) 1 1
2 j
v q xv x
v k
= +
(14.2)
0
0
4 ( , )( , ) 1
j
q xw x v
v k
=
(15)
Based on (13.1), the maximum flow qmax, referred to as the arc capacity, is equal to 0.25 v0kj.
3 ARC PERFORMANCE MODEL
In the following, the arc is divided into three parts: an initial bottleneck, which can be thought of as a link
with infinitesimal length located between the arc initial section 0 and section X= 0+; afinal bottleneck,
located between section Y=L- and the arc final sectionL; a running link, located between sectionsXand Y.
The initial bottleneck, with a constant capacity CX = qmax, maintains the inflow on the running link below
the arc capacity, and then guarantees the consistency of the traffic flow model in the context of DTA, where
the arc inflow may assume any non-negative value. In order to avoid spillback modelling and to obtain a
spatially separable arc performance model, we assume that, when the initial bottleneck is active,a vertical
queue is present.
Thefinal bottleneck, with a constant capacity CLqmax, models the one hypercritical flow state, referred
to as the queue, that is generated by a constant capacity reduction at the end of the arc. This is used in the
context of DTA to simulate the average effect of road intersections, since the details of the delay due to a
variable capacity constraint, such as a traffic light, can be ignored in most practical instances of the problem.
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When the final bottleneck is active, the queue propagates backward on the running link and becomes vertical
whenever it exceeds the arc length.
The running linkmodels the congestion due to vehicles interaction along the arc while travelling under
hypocritical conditions; it consists of a homogeneous channel where flow states are determined based on the
simplified kinematic wave theory.
Note that, due to the initial bottleneck and to the homogeneity hypothesis, no hypercritical flow state can
be generated on the running link. Moreover, it will be shown that when a queue is present on the final
bottleneck, the arc exit time temporal profile is completely determined by its capacity and by the arc inflow
temporal profile, while the outflow and the exit time of the running link loose their physical meaning.
In order to device a numerical method implementing the arc performance models at hand, the period of
analysis is divided intoItime intervals identified by a sequence of instants = (0 = 0, , i, , I= )
and, when needed, the running link is divided into Z sections identified by a sequence of progressives
x= (x0 = , ,xz, ,x Z=L-).
Let txidenote the exit time from sectionx{0,X, Y,L} for the vehicle entering the arc at time i, and qx
i
denote the flow on sectionx at time txi. In compact form it is: tx = (tx
0, , tx
I), qx = (qx
1, , qx
I), and clearly
holds: t0 = . We assume the following two hypotheses:
i) the arc inflow temporal profile is approximated through the following piece-wise constant function:
q(0,) = q0i, (i-1, i] , i = 1, ,I (16)
ii) the exit time temporal profile of the generic sub model (x, y){(0, X), (X, Y), (Y, L)} is approximated
through the following piece-wise linear function:
11 1
1( , , ) ( )
i iy yi i
y x i i
x x
t tt x y t t t t
= +
, (txi-1
, txi], i = 1, ,I (17)
Based on the above hypotheses and relation (1.2) it follows that for each sub model (x, y) the outflow
temporal profile is piece-wise constant and can be expressed as:
q(y, ) = qyi=
1
1
i ii x x
x i iy y
t tq
t t
, (ty
i-1, ty
i], i = 1, ,I (18)
In the following we present some numerical methods for determining the vectors ty and qy from the
vectors tx and qx for each sub model (x,y). On this basis, the arc exit time, which is by definition:
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( )( )(0, , ) , , , , (0, , )t L t Y L t X Y t X = (19)
can be evaluated, along with the arc outflow temporal profile, through the following procedure:
subarc_exit_time(t0, q0 ; tL, qL)
callbottleneck(CX, t0, q0 ; tX, qX)callrunning_link(tX, qX; tY, qY)callbottleneck(CL, tY, qY ; tL, qL)
end sub
The procedures bottleneckand running_linkwill be specified in sections 4 and 5, respectively.
4 BOTTLENECK MODEL
Based on the simplified kinematic wave theory and on the Newell-Luke minimum principle, the
cumulative outflow at time of the generic bottleneck (x,y) of infinitesimal length, for a given cumulative
inflow temporal profile, is given by:
( ){ }( , ) min ( , ) :yQ y Q x C = + (20)
which expresses the fact that the cumulative outflow cannot increase faster than the capacity.
On the basis of Figure 3, it is immediate that the exit time t(x,y, ), implicitly expressed by the system of
equations (1.1) and (20), can be made explicit as follows:
( ){ }( , , ) max ( , ) ( , ) :yt x y Q x Q x C = + (21)
[Figure 3 here]
Under hypotheses i) and ii) the outflow and the exit time temporal profiles are determined by means of
the following procedure:
subbottleneck(Cy , tx , qx ; ty , qy)
ty0
= tx0
+Ny0
/ Cyfori = 1 toI
{ }1 1max , ( )i i i i i iy x y x x x yt t t t t q C = + (22)1 1( ) ( )
i i i i i iy x x x y yq q t t t t
=
nexti
end sub
where it is assumed that at time tx0
there is a queue ofNy0
vehicles at the bottleneck.
When the final bottleneck is active, based on (22), by applying recursively (18) we have:
1 1 0( )i
i i i iL L
L
qt t
C
= + , (23)
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which shows, as previously stated, that when the queue is present at the final bottleneck the arc exit time
depends only on the final bottleneck capacity and on the arc inflow temporal profile, and thus depends
neither on the arc length, nor on the flow model adopted for the running link.
5 RUNNING LINK MODELS
In this section we specify the generic running link model (x,y) in four different ways. As initial condition,
a uniform flow state (q0) is considered on the whole running link.
5.1 Space Continuous model
The SC model considered here is a simplification of METANET (Messmer and Papageorgiou, 1990),
where the first order relation (12) is employed instead of the second order relation utilized by the authors.
The model is implemented by the following procedure:
subrunning_link_SC(tx , qx ; ty , qy)
Q0 = 0, 0E = 0 (24.1)
forz= 0 toZqz,0 = q0 (24.2)
( ),0 ,0 00.5 1 1 4 ( )z zj jk k q v k = (24.3)nextzfori = 1 toI
q 0,i= qx
i (24.4)
forz= 1 toZ, , 1 1 , 1 1, 1 1
( ) ( ) ( )z i z i i i z i z i z z
x xk k t t q q x x = (25)
, , ,0 (1 )
z i z i z ijq k v k k = (26)
nextz1 0, 1( )
i i i i ix xQ Q q t t
= + (27)1 , 1( )i i Z i i ix xE E q t t
= + (28)
nexti
callexit_time_and_outflow(tx , Q, tx , E; ty , qy)end sub
where both the cumulative inflow Q i = Q(x, txi) and outflow iE = Q(y, tx
i) are referred to the running link
entrance time, qz,i
= q(xz,
i), k
z,i= k(x
z,
i), withz= 0, ,Z, i = 0, ,I. (24) are the boundary conditions;
(25) and (26) result, respectively, from the discretization of (3) and (13.1) over a grid of points on the space-
time plane; (27) and (28) yield the cumulative inflow and outflow temporal profile through the couples of
vectors (tx , Q) and (tx , E), respectively.
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Note that, in order to achieve a correct propagation of flow states through equation (25), the discretization
grid must satisfy the following condition:
( ) [ ]{ }( )
1
max 01
1max w : 0
dk 0 d
z z
i i
x x
x xq q ,q v
t t q
= =
(29)
If, for example, we have v0 = 25 m/sec and (1z zx x ) = 25 m, then (tx
i- tx
i-1) must be smaller than 1 sec.
Clearly, such a thick time discretization is critical for DTA, where usually the period of analysis covers
several hours.
The exit time and outflow temporal profiles are determined on the basis of the cumulative inflow and
outflow temporal profiles, by means of the following procedure:
subexit_time_and_outflow(tx , Q, ,E; ty , qy)Q -1 = 0,EJ+1 = QI ,
J+1=
j = 1fori = 0 toI
do untilEjQi (30)
j =j + 1loop
ifQi = Qi-1then
{ }1 0max ,i i iy y xt t t L v= + (31)0iyq =
else
( ) ( )1 1 1 1( )i j i j j j j jyt Q E E E = + (32)
( ) ( )1 1i i i i iy y yq Q Q t t = (33)end if
nextiend sub
where Qi= Q(x, tx
i), i = 0, ,I, andE
j= Q(y,
j),j = 0, ,J; while the components Q
-1,
-1,E
J+1,
J+1
are introduced only for algorithmic reasons. The do loop cycle determines j such that Ej-1
< Q iEj, as
depicted in Figure 4; (31) enforces the FIFO rule when the inflow is null; (32) derives from (1.1) based on
hypothesis (17); (33) derives from (18). Note that, based on condition (30), in (32) it is always Ej
> Ej-1
,
while in (33), based on (32), because Qi > Qi-1 it is always tyj
> tyj-1
; this avoids divisions by zero.
[Figure 4 here]
The SC model gives very accurate results, so that in this paper it will be used as a term of reference to
evaluate the efficacy of the other models.
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5.2 Whole Link modelThe WL model considered here is based on the arc performance model proposed in Astarita (1996),
where the travel time of a vehicle entering the running link at time is determined as a function of the
average density along the running link at the same instant. The linear time-density function utilized by the
author is here replaced with the hyperbolic function that results from equation (12) assuming that the speed
corresponding to the average density is maintained throughout the running link.
The model is implemented by the following procedure:
subrunning_link_WL(tx , qx ; ty , qy)ty
-1= 0 , Q -1 = 0
Q 0 = 0 (34.1)
( )0 0 00.5 1 1 4 ( )j jK k q v k = (34.2)0 0
0 (1 )jV v K k =
0 0 0y xt t L V = +
j = 0fori = 1 toI
do untiltyjtx
i(35)
j= j +1
loop1 1
( )i i i i i
x x xQ Q q t t = +
1 1 1 1( ) ( ) ( )i j i j j j j jx y y yE Q t t Q Q t t = + (36)
( )i i iK Q E L=
0 (1 )i i
jV v K k =
i i iy xt t L V = +
iftyi= ty
i-1then (37)
0i
yq =
else
( ) ( )1 1i i i i iy y yq Q Q t t = (38)
end ifnextiend sub
where Ki
is the average density along the running link at time txi
, Vi
is the corresponding speed,
Q i = Q(x, txi) = Q(y, ty
i) and
i= Q(y, tx
i), with i = 0, ,I; while the components ty
-1and Q -1 are introduced
only for algorithmic reasons. (34) are the initial conditions; the do loop cycle determines j such that
tyj-1
< txi ty
j, (36) yields the cumulative outflow at time tx
ibased on the piece-wise linear cumulative
outflow temporal profile defined through the couple of vectors (ty , Q), as depicted in Figure 5. Note that,
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based on condition (35), within (36) it is always tyj
> tyj-1
, while, based on condition (37), within (38) it is
always tyi> ty
i-1; this avoids divisions by zero.
[Figure 5 here]
Note thatj must be always smaller than i, otherwise, when tyj needs, it is still unknown. This implies:
{ } { }1 10, 1,..., min : 0,..., max : 1,...,i i i i i iy x y x x xt t i I t t i I L v t t i I = = = = (39)
Condition (39) yields an upper bound for the duration of the time intervals, which is analogous to (29)
relative to the SC model.
5.3 Simplified Kinematic Wave modelWe here present a solution method of the simplified kinematic wave theory based on cumulative flows,
which is capable of handling any concave fundamental diagram. A similar approach can be found in Newell
(1996), where, however, the solution method is provided only for the triangular-shaped fundamental
diagram.
The approach consists in evaluating the cumulative flow temporal profile at a given section based only on
boundary or initial conditions, without evaluating any state variable at intermediate sections. Referring to the
fundamental diagram (13.1), the cumulative outflow temporal profile is evaluated here through equations (9),
(10) and (11).
The model is implemented by the following procedure:
subrunning_link_SKW(tx , qx ; ty , qy)Q 0 = 0, G 0 = 0 (40.1)
00 0 01 4 ( )jw v q v k = (40.2)
u0
= tx0
+L / w0
fori = 1 toI1 1
( )i i i i i
x x xQ Q q t t = +
0 01 4 ( )i i
x jw v q v k = (41)
i i ixu t L w= + (42)
( )0 00.5 1 1 4 ( )i ix jv v q v k = + (43)(1 1 )
i i i i ixG Q q w v L= + (44)
nexti
calllower_envelop(u, G; , )callexit_time_and_outflow(t
x, Q, , ; t
y, q
y)
end sub
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where ui
= u(x, y, txi), G
i= G(x, y, tx
i), w
i= w(x, tx
i) and v
i= v(x, tx
i), with i = 0, , I. (40) are initial
conditions are set in, (41), (42), (43) and (44) derive, respectively, from equations (15), (9), (14.1) and (10).
The procedure exit_time_and_outflow is described in section 5.1. The procedure lower_envelop, described in
detail in Gentile, Meschini and Papola (2003), aims at determining the cumulative outflow temporal profile
by selecting a non-dominated subset of points from (u , G), yielding ( , ), with j = Q(y, j ), j = 0, ,J.
In order to ensure that a point is not dominated, all successive points must be examined, which implies in the
worst case 0.5(I-1)I checks. Finally, note that the solution of equation (11) for a triangular-shaped
fundamental diagram becomes trivial.
5.4 The Average Kinematic Wave modelThe proposed model is derived from an approximate solution to the simplified kinematic wave theory
which is valid in the case where the arc inflow temporal profile is piecewise constant, coherently with
hypotheses i) ii) and with equation (18). The main idea underlying this new model is to determine, at each
instant when the inflow changes, a fictitious flow state, which synthesizes previous flow states occurring
along the running link and is employed, in turn, for determining successive flow states.
[Figure 6 here]
Based on the simplified kinematic wave theory, vehicles change their speeds instantaneously. As depicted
in Figure 6, when the inflow temporal profile is piece-wise constant, vehicle trajectories are piece-wise linear
and the space-time plane comes out to be subdivided into flow regions characterized by homogeneous flow
states and delimited by linearshock waves. The slope Wij
of the shockwave separating two flow states (q i)
and (q j) is:
k( ) k( )
j iij
j i
q qW
q q
=
(45)
Expressing (45) in terms of the speeds v( )iq and v( )jq through (12.2) and (13.2), yields:
0v( ) v( )ij i j
W q q v= + (46)
In theory, given a piece-wise constant inflow temporal profile, using (14.2) and (46) it is possible to
determine the trajectory of a vehicle entering the running link at the generic instant , and thus its exit time
t(x,y,). However, Figure 6 shows that it may be extremely cumbersome to determine these trajectories, in
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fact: a) many shockwaves may be active on the generic running link at the same time; b) shockwaves may be
generated either at the initial section by flow discontinuities at times txi, i = 0, ,I, or on any running link
section at any time by shockwave intersections; c) the generic vehicle may cross many shockwaves while
travelling on the running link, and all the crossing points have to be explicitly evaluated in order to determine
its trajectory.
In order to overcome these difficulties, as depicted in Figure 7, we assume that at each instant
txi, i = 0, ,I, a fictitious shockwave is generated at sectionx separating the actual flow state (qx
i+1) and
thefictitious flow state corresponding to the average speed i=L /(ty
i- tx
i) of the vehicle entered at instant tx
i.
Fictitious shockwaves are very easy to deal with, in fact: a) they never meet each other, and thus are all
generated on the running link initial section only at time txi, i = 0, ,I; b) each vehicle meets at the most the
last generated fictitious shockwave, so that its trajectory is very easy to be determined, as it will be showed
in the computation procedure.
Based on (46), the slope Wiof the generic fictitious shockwave is:
10v( )
i i ixW q v
+= + (47)
[Figure 7 here]
Note that the trajectory of a vehicle entering the running link at time (txi
- txi+1] is directly influenced
only by the average trajectory of the vehicle entered at time txi
, which synthesizes the previous history of
flows states.
The approximation introduced has little effect on the model efficacy, as it will be showed in the next
section. Moreover, it has no effect with respect to the FIFO rule, which is still ensured between the running
link initial and final sections, while local violations that may occur within intermediate sections are of no
interest.
The model is implemented by the following procedure:
subrunning_link_AKW(tx , qx ; ty , qy)
( )0 0 0 00.5 1 1 4 ( )jv q v k = + (48)ty
0= tx
0+L /
0
fori = 1 toI
( )0 00.5 1 1 4 ( )
i i
x jv v q v k = + (49)1 1
0i i i
W v v = + (50)
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if ( ) ( )1 1 1i i i i i ix xt t W v L v W then (51)i i i
y xt t L v= +
else1 1 1
( ) ( )i i i i i i
x xt t W v W = (52)
( ) 1i i i i i iy xt t L v = + + (53)end if
iftyi= ty
i-1then
qyi= 0
else1 1( ) ( )i i i i i iy x x x y yq q t t t t
=
end if
( )i i i
y xL t t = (54)
nextiend sub
where vi
is the speed, corresponding to the inflow qxi
, of the vehicle entering the running link at time
txi, i = 0, ,I, and tx
i+
iis the instant when this vehicle reaches the fictitious shockwave. At this point, the
vehicle changes its speed from v i to i-1
. Condition (51) ensures that this happens before the end of the
running link; (49) is based on (14.2), (50) is based on (47), while (52), (53) and (54) are made clear by
Figure 8.
[Figure 8 here]
The generalization of this model to any concave fundamental diagram is trivial; in fact, since (45) holds
in general, (47) can be substituted by the following equation:
1
1
q( )
k( ) k( )
i ii x
i ix
qW
q
+
+
=
(55)
6 COMPARISON OF MODELS AND CONCLUSIONS
In this section we compare, with respect to their efficiency and effectiveness, the different models
presented in the paper. The effectiveness of the point based model presented in subsection 5.1 can be
reasonably assumed as a term of reference, as it yields results close enough to reality, while the efficiency
will be evaluated both analysing the complexity of the algorithms and comparing calculation times.
Each model has been used to simulate the traffic flow over an arc 10,000 meters long; the Greenshields
fundamental diagram was adopted with a free-flow speed of 90 km/h, a jam density of 0,09 veh/m, and thus
a capacity of 2025 veh/h. With reference to the point-based SC model, the arc was divided into Z = 40
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sections 250 meters long; this required, based on (29), to divide the period of analysis, 30 minutes long, into
ISC = 180 intervals of 10 seconds. With reference to the link-based models, where spatial discretization is not
necessary, the same number of time intervals was adopted in order to compare the efficiencies.
The different running link models have been tested with three inflow temporal profiles lower than the arc
incoming and outgoing capacities: flow gradually increasing, gradually decreasing, and fluctuating around an
average value. The relative output is depicted in Figures 10, 11 and 12, respectively.
[Figure 9 here]
[Figure 10 here]
[Figure 11 here]
The above results show that the SKW and AKW models behave much closer to the SC model than the
WL model, especially with reference to the arc travel time, which is the relevant variable when performing
DTA. In particular, the WL model shows a sort of inertia in representing travel times when the inflow
varies rapidly.
In order to investigate the effect of time discretization size on the solution quality, a varying inflow
temporal profile is processed with the AKW model assuming three different discretization sizes: I1 = ISC ,
I2 =ISC /3 = 60 intervals of 30 seconds, andI3 =ISC /9 = 20 intervals of 90 seconds. Results are compared in
Figure 12, showing a very favourable relation between effectiveness and efficiency, since large
improvements of the first determine small reductions of the second; this is important when applying the arc
performance model in real-size networks, where run time is a critical issue.
[Figure 12 here]
The complexity is equal to O(ISCZ) for the SC model, O(I) for the WL model, O(I2) for the SKW model
and O(I) for the AKW model; thus the AKW model has the least complexity. A numerical analysis aimed at
evaluating their actual efficiency has confirmed this theoretical evidence. In fact, the CPU time in seconds
needed to run 1,000,000 times each one of the four models for two different time discretization sizes, ISC / 6
and ISC, resulted to be respectively: 293 for the SC, 9 and 27 for the WL, 17 and 291 for the SKW, 6 and 21
for the AKW. The WL model and the AKW model are definitely more efficient than the SC model in both
cases, while the efficiency of the SKW model deteriorates rapidly when the number of time intervals
increases, due to its quadratic complexity.
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The average kinematic wave model developed in this paper can be considered an overcoming of the
simplified kinematic wave model obtained through the introduction of the concepts of fictitious flow state
and fictitious shockwave that allow improving markedly its performances while having a very favourable
relation between the efficiency and the effectiveness of the model, i.e., large improvements of the first in
exchange for small reductions of the second.
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REFERENCES
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Huber M.J. (1976) Traffic flow theory, Transportation and Traffic Engineering Handbook, Chapter 15,
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Dynamic Traffic Assignment.
Figure 2. Right side: fundamental diagram. Left side: Flow traversing a kinematic wave.
Figure 3. Cumulative outflow and exit time from a bottleneck of infinitesimal length.
Figure 4. Evaluation of the running link exit time from the piece-wise linear cumulative flows.
Figure 5. Evaluation of pointi
E =Q(y, txi) from the piece-wise linear cumulative flows.
Figure 6. Flow pattern given by the simplified kinematic wave theory.
Figure 7. Flow pattern given by the Averaged Kinematic Wave model.
Figure 8. Running link exit time determined by the Averaged Kinematic Wave model.
Figure 9. Results for an increasing inflow.
Figure 10. Results for a decreasing inflow.
Figure 11. Results for a varying inflow.
Figure 12. Outflows and travel times obtained by the AKW model for different time discretization sizes.
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Figure 1. Dynamic Traffic Assignment.
networkloadingmap
arc
perf.
fun
ction
network flow
propagation model
arc performance
model
path performance
model
path
performances
arcperformances
path
flows
arc
flows
demand
OD flows
path choice
model
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Figure 2. Right side: fundamental diagram. Left side: Flow traversing a kinematic wave.
space
(y-x) / v
v
y
x
w
wv
density
flow
k
qk
(q)
hypercritical
flow states
hypocritical
flow states
qmax
kj
v0
u(x,y,)
time
(y-x) / w
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Figure 3. Cumulative outflow and exit time from a bottleneck of infinitesimal length.
vehicles
time
Q(y,) = Q(x,) + (-)Cy
Cy
t(x,y,)
Q(x,) = Q(y, t(x,y,))
Q(x,)
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Figure 4. Evaluation of the running link exit time from the piece-wise linear cumulative flows.
time
vehicles
txi ty
i
cumulative
inflow
Qi
j-1
j
cumulative
outflowEj
Ej-1
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Figure 5. Evaluation of point iE = Q(y, txi) from the piece-wise linear cumulative flows.
time
vehicles
txi ty
j
cumulative
inflow
Q j-1
cumulative
outflow
iE
Q j
Qi
tyj-1
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Figure 6. Flow pattern given by the simplified kinematic wave theory.
time
L
tx0 tx2 tx3tx1 tx4
qx1 qx
3 qx4
shockwaves
trajectory of the vehicle entering the running link at time txi, i = 0, ,I
outflow profile
qx5
tx5
W0,1 W4,5
W3,4
v 2 v3
v 4
v 5
W1,4
v0
inflow profile
W1,2
space
W2,3
qx2
v 1
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Figure 7. Flow pattern given by the Averaged Kinematic Wave model.
time
L
tx0 tx2 tx3tx1 tx4
qx1
qx2
qx3 qx
4
fictitious shockwaves
average trajectory of the vehicle entering the running link at time txi, i = 0, ,I
outflow profile
qx5
tx5
W0 W1 W2 W4W
3
3
5
0
2
1
0
v 1
v 2
1
inflow profile
4
space
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Figure 8. Running link exit time determined by the Averaged Kinematic Wave model.
timetxi-1
Wi-1 v
i
i
space
L
txi
tyi
i-1
i-1
tyi-1
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Figure 9. Results for an increasing inflow.
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.250.30
0.35
0.40
0.45
0.50
0 300 600 900 1200 1500 1800
outflowInflow SC WL SKW AKW
350
400
450
500
550
600
0 180 360 540 720 900 1080 1260 1440 1620 1800
time [sec]
travel timetravel time [sec]
flow
[veh/h]
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30
Figure 10. Results for a decreasing inflow.
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.250.30
0.35
0.40
0.45
0.50
0 300 600 900 1200 1500 1800
outflowInflow SC WL SKW AKW
350
400
450
500
550
600
0 180 360 540 720 900 1080 1260 1440 1620 1800
time [sec]
travel time
flow
[veh/h]
travel time [sec]
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Figure 11. Results for a varying inflow.
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.250.30
0.35
0.40
0.45
0.50
0 300 600 900 1200 1500 1800
outflowInflow SC WL SKW AKW
350
370
390
410
430
450470
490
510
530
550
0 180 360 540 720 900 1080 1260 1440 1620 1800
time [sec]
travel time
flow
[veh/h]
travel time [sec]
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Figure 12. Outflows and travel times obtained by the AKW model for different time discretization sizes.
Outflow
0
500
1000
1500
2000
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800
sec
veh/h
Inflow I = Isc I = Isc / 3 I = Isc / 9
Travel time
300
400
500
600
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800
sec
sec
I = Isc I = Isc / 3 I = Isc / 9