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Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation
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Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2021) | Viewed by 168945

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Elżbieta Macioszek

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Transport Systems, Traffic Engineering and Logistics, Faculty of Transport and Aviation Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Krasińskiego 8 Street, 40-019 Katowice, Poland
Interests: road traffic engineering; road and intersections capacity analysis; measurements; traffic modeling; research and traffic flow analysis; transport infrastructure; functional analysis; transport systems and processes modeling; transportation engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Margarida Coelho

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Centre for Mechanical Engineering and Automation, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Interests: sustainable mobility; road transportation impacts; intelligent transportation systems; active transportation modes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Anna Grana

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Interests: sustainable geometric road design; road safet and remodeling; microscopic traffic simulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Raffaele Mauro

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, 77-38123 Trento, Italy
Interests: traffic management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will consist of papers describing the state of the art in road traffic engineering and sustainable transportation systems development areas. Activities in the field of road traffic engineering, including road traffic analysis and research, as well as the practical application of knowledge about road traffic in the planning, designing, and operation of transport systems and processes, contribute to ensuring sustainable transportation systems development. This is achieved by providing conditions for the safe, efficient, and economic transportation of people and goods that does not have a negative impact on the environment.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:

-Road traffic measurements, data analysing;
-Road traffic modelling (micro-, meso-, and macro modeling), simulation models;
-Roads and intersections capacity;
-Optimization, route choice;
-Human factor in road traffic and transportation engineering;
-Road traffic safety;
-Pedestrian and bicycle traffic and infrastructure;
-Public transport, parking;
-Contemporary problems of road traffic engineering and sustainable transportation;
-Intelligent transportation systems (ITS), traffic control and management;
-Impact of transportation systems;
- Life cycle analysis (LCA) of alternative energy vectors for road vehicles;
-Transport systems and processes modelling;
-Sustainable transportation development;
-Environmental impact, fuel consumption and emissions.

Prof. Elżbieta Macioszek
Prof. Margarida Coelho
Prof. Anna Grana
Prof. Raffaele Mauro
Guests Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Traffic engineering
  • Sustainable transportation;
  • Road traffic safety;
  • Traffic flow modelling;
  • Capapcity;
  • Public transport;
  • Parking;
  • Traffic control;
  • Traffic safety of vulnerable road users;
  • Fuel consumption and emissions;
  • Transport network;
  • Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS).

Published Papers (37 papers)

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20 pages, 4450 KiB  
Article
Application of the Hierarchy Analysis Method to Assess Interchanges in Cracow
by Katarzyna Solecka, Łukasz Dumanowski, Igor Taran and Yana Litvinova
Sustainability 2021, 13(19), 10593; https://doi.org/10.3390/su131910593 - 24 Sep 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1485
Abstract
We propose an assessment methodology of interchanges, which is based on one of four multi-criteria decision aid method, the AHP method, allowing the ranking of interchanges from best to worst with regard to specific criteria. The selected criteria account for different evaluation aspects [...] Read more.
We propose an assessment methodology of interchanges, which is based on one of four multi-criteria decision aid method, the AHP method, allowing the ranking of interchanges from best to worst with regard to specific criteria. The selected criteria account for different evaluation aspects (social, technical, functional, environmental, and economic ones). The final ranking of the interchanges from best to worst allows making conclusions related to assessed elements of interchanges, which should be improved to make interchanges friendlier to the passengers. The proposed interchange assessment method allows the identification of the weakest elements of the assessed interchanges, which require improvement in order to make the interchanges friendlier for passengers, with a view to increasing the number of passengers and boosting passengers’ willingness to use the interchanges. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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12 pages, 1745 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of the Use of a Road Diet Design: An Urban Corridor Case Study in Washington, DC
by Mohammad A. Aljamal, Derek Voight, Jacob Green, Jianwei Wang and Huthaifa I. Ashqar
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 8964; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168964 - 11 Aug 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3081
Abstract
A traditional road diet design converts a four-lane two-way road to a three-lane road consisting of two through lanes and a center two-way left turn lane. This paper introduces a new application of the road diet design in an urban corridor. Specifically, the [...] Read more.
A traditional road diet design converts a four-lane two-way road to a three-lane road consisting of two through lanes and a center two-way left turn lane. This paper introduces a new application of the road diet design in an urban corridor. Specifically, the new application converts a four-lane two-way road into a two-lane two-way road with full-time parking lanes in both directions. The paper analyzed the traffic impacts of the road diet application on the corridor of New Jersey Avenue, northwest, in the city of Washington, District of Columbia. The corridor included five signalized and one unsignalized intersections. Before-and-after analyses using Synchro 11 simulation and Site-Specific Empirical Bayes analysis were used to evaluate and compare existing and proposed scenarios. The proposed scenario provided various benefits including offering accessibility to the businesses in the area and acting as a traffic calming strategy. For signalized intersections, the overall performance remained the same for most intersections except for one intersection (on P Street), as it is significantly impacted by the road diet design due to the dramatic increase of traffic volumes in its minor streets as a result of diverting traffic volumes from the unsignalized intersection for left and through movements. Results showed that the use of a road diet design enhanced the unsignalized intersection performance due to the traffic volume divergence from its minor streets and enhanced the safety of the study area by decreasing the annual number of predicted crashes. To achieve better operational benefits and reflect traffic demands, the paper recommends to re-optimize signal timings when a road diet design is adopted. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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20 pages, 363 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of the Road Policy in the Light of Vision Zero in Jaworzno, Poland
by Paweł Pistelok and Daniel Štraub
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 8745; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168745 - 5 Aug 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1864
Abstract
Vision Zero (VZ) is a systematic approach whose goal is to reduce the fatalities and serious injuries suffered in road accidents to zero, which was first adopted in Sweden in 1997. Besides assessing the policy implementation in the Polish town of Jaworzno, this [...] Read more.
Vision Zero (VZ) is a systematic approach whose goal is to reduce the fatalities and serious injuries suffered in road accidents to zero, which was first adopted in Sweden in 1997. Besides assessing the policy implementation in the Polish town of Jaworzno, this paper applies VZ as a framework to describe transport policy development in Jaworzno. It concludes, that even without an explicitly defined strategical VZ document, the action taken by city officials in Jaworzno clearly overlaps with VZ, as evidenced in Sweden. Also, strong political commitment, clear leadership and a dynamic approach to adjust the development according to new evidence, show the city of Jaworzno to be a learning institution in its enhancement of road safety and its support of sustainable development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
16 pages, 1596 KiB  
Article
Evaluating the Effects of the A-Double Vehicle Combinations If Introduced to a Line-Haul Freight Transport Network
by Ahmed Karam and Kristian Hegner Reinau
Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8622; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158622 - 2 Aug 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2904
Abstract
One of the solutions to improve the eco-efficiency of road freight transport is to combine existing transport modules into Longer and/or Heavier Vehicles (LHVs). The scientific and industrial communities have paid increasing attention to an LHV, known as the A-double combination, consisting of [...] Read more.
One of the solutions to improve the eco-efficiency of road freight transport is to combine existing transport modules into Longer and/or Heavier Vehicles (LHVs). The scientific and industrial communities have paid increasing attention to an LHV, known as the A-double combination, consisting of a tractor, two 13.5-m semitrailers, and a dolly converter. The present research contributes to the existing literature by developing a methodology based on a cost-benefit approach to quantify the effects of the A-double combinations if introduced to a line-haul transport system. Four implementation scenarios and sensitivity analyses of main variables were evaluated within a case study of 48,472 line-haul trips in Denmark. The results indicate that in the least beneficial scenario, the A-double combinations reduce transport cost by 9.65% while reducing trips, CO2 emissions, and road wear by 17.91%, 5.34%, and 9.55%, respectively. Besides, the use of A-double combinations can significantly reduce empty tractor-semitrailer trips. However, the benefits are relatively less in the case of just-in-time deliveries and cargo constrained by vehicle weight. Also, cost saving is highly sensitive to driver salaries, fuel prices, and driving speeds. This research provides valuable insights into the potentials of A-double combinations under different regulations and freight characteristics from a micro perspective. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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21 pages, 3437 KiB  
Article
Formation of the Traffic Flow Rate under the Influence of Traffic Flow Concentration in Time at Controlled Intersections in Tyumen, Russian Federation
by Viacheslav Morozov and Sergei Iarkov
Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8324; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158324 - 26 Jul 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2034
Abstract
Present experience shows that it is impossible to solve the problem of traffic congestion without intelligent transport systems. Traffic management in many cities uses the data of detectors installed at controlled intersections. Further, to assess the traffic situation, the data on the traffic [...] Read more.
Present experience shows that it is impossible to solve the problem of traffic congestion without intelligent transport systems. Traffic management in many cities uses the data of detectors installed at controlled intersections. Further, to assess the traffic situation, the data on the traffic flow rate and its concentration are compared. Latest scientific studies propose a transition from spatial to temporal concentration. Therefore, the purpose of this work is to establish the regularities of the influence of traffic flow concentration in time on traffic flow rate at controlled city intersections. The methodological basis of this study was a systemic approach. Theoretical and experimental studies were based on the existing provisions of system analysis, traffic flow theory, experiment planning, impulses, probabilities, and mathematical statistics. Experimental data were obtained and processed using modern equipment and software: Traficam video detectors, SPECTR traffic light controller, Traficam Data Tool, SPECTR 2.0, AutoCad 2017, and STATISTICA 10. In the course of this study, the authors analyzed the dynamics of changes in the level of motorization, the structure of the motor vehicle fleet, and the dynamics of changes in the number of controlled intersections. As a result of theoretical studies, a hypothesis was put forward that the investigated process is described by a two-factor quadratic multiplicative model. Experimental studies determined the parameters of the developed model depending on the directions of traffic flow, and confirmed its adequacy according to Fisher’s criterion with a probability of at least 0.9. The results obtained can be used to control traffic flows at controlled city intersections. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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27 pages, 5380 KiB  
Article
Method of Assessing Bus Stops Safety Based on Three Groups of Criteria
by Agnieszka A. Tubis, Emilia T. Skupień and Mateusz Rydlewski
Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8275; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158275 - 24 Jul 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3713
Abstract
Bus stops are an essential element of the public transport system and affect its users’ safety level. They are where the passengers gather who want to use bus transport, and where vehicles stop to exchange passenger flows. Most studies devoted to assessing bus [...] Read more.
Bus stops are an essential element of the public transport system and affect its users’ safety level. They are where the passengers gather who want to use bus transport, and where vehicles stop to exchange passenger flows. Most studies devoted to assessing bus stops’ safety focus on two evaluation methods: (1) statistical analysis of traffic crash data and (2) traffic conflict analysis. However, there is a need to develop a methodology to define priorities and scope for the improvement of increasing bus stops’ safety. For this reason, the aim of the article is to present a method of assessing bus stops’ safety, which is dedicated to the process of auditing and designing point infrastructure in the city. The use of the proposed method of evaluating bus stops is aimed not only at determining the current status, but above all at assigning priorities to actions aimed at increasing safety and improving the quality of life of residents. The article presents in detail the algorithm of the research procedure consisting of the proposed method and its implementation for the evaluation of stops in a selected city. In total, 151 bus stops serving all fast lines in the studied agglomeration were assessed. As part of the results, the ratings obtained by individual stops were presented. The level of fulfilment of individual evaluation criteria, divided into conducted classification procedures, was also analysed. The implementation of the method in the real system allowed us to assess the correctness of the procedure and the usefulness of the obtained results. The obtained results of the evaluation of bus stops and the fulfilment of individual criteria should constitute the basis for the created schedules of the required ongoing works related to the improvement of public transport passenger safety, but also the creation of long-term plans related to the improvement of the bus stop infrastructure and its adaptation to changing safety requirements and passengers’ expectations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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16 pages, 897 KiB  
Article
Improving the Performance of Single-Intersection Urban Traffic Networks Based on a Model Predictive Controller
by Sadiqa Jafari, Zeinab Shahbazi and Yung-Cheol Byun
Sustainability 2021, 13(10), 5630; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13105630 - 18 May 2021
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2556
Abstract
The use of a Model Predictive Controller (MPC) in an urban traffic network allows for controlling the infrastructure of a traffic network and errors in its operations. In this research, a novel, stable predictive controller for urban traffic is proposed and state-space dynamics [...] Read more.
The use of a Model Predictive Controller (MPC) in an urban traffic network allows for controlling the infrastructure of a traffic network and errors in its operations. In this research, a novel, stable predictive controller for urban traffic is proposed and state-space dynamics are used to estimate the number of vehicles at an isolated intersection and the length of its queue. This is a novel control strategy based on the type of traffic light and on the duration of the green-light phase and aims to achieve an optimal balance at intersections. This balance should be adaptable to the unchanging behavior of time and to the randomness of traffic situations. The proposed method reduces traffic volumes and the number of crashes involving cars by controlling traffic on an urban road using model predictive control. A single intersection in Tehran, the capital city of Iran, was considered in our study to control traffic signal timing, and model predictive control was used to reduce traffic. A model of traffic systems was extracted at the intersection, and the state-space parameters of the intersection were designed using the model predictive controller to control traffic signals based on the length of the vehicle queue and on the number of inbound and outbound vehicles, which were used as inputs. This process demonstrates that this method is able to reduce traffic volumes at each leg of an intersection and to optimize flow in a road network compared to the fixed-time method. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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22 pages, 12625 KiB  
Article
Carpooling as an Immediate Strategy to Post-Lockdown Mobility: A Case Study in University Campuses
by Ricardo Tomás, Paulo Fernandes, Joaquim Macedo and Margarida Cabrita Coelho
Sustainability 2021, 13(10), 5512; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13105512 - 14 May 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3441
Abstract
Carpooling is a mobility concept that has been showing promising results in reducing single occupancy use of private cars, which prompted many institutions, namely universities, to implement carpooling platforms to improve their networks sustainability. Nowadays, currently under a pandemic crisis, public transportation must [...] Read more.
Carpooling is a mobility concept that has been showing promising results in reducing single occupancy use of private cars, which prompted many institutions, namely universities, to implement carpooling platforms to improve their networks sustainability. Nowadays, currently under a pandemic crisis, public transportation must be used with limitations regarding the number of occupants to prevent the spread of the virus and commuters are turning even more to private cars to perform their daily trips. Carpooling under a set of precaution rules is a potential solution to help commuters perform their daily trips while respecting COVID-19 safety recommendations. This research aimed to develop an analysis of the road traffic and emission impacts of implementing carpooling, with social distancing measures, in three university campus networks through microscopic traffic simulation modeling and microscopic vehicular exhaust emissions estimation. Results indicate that employing carpooling for groups of up to three people to safely commute from their residence area to the university campus has the potential to significantly reduce pollutant emissions (reductions of 5% and 7% in carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides can be obtained, respectively) within the network while significantly improving road traffic performance (average speed increased by 7% and travel time reduced by 8%). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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21 pages, 20194 KiB  
Article
Synthesis and Feature Selection-Supported Validation of Multidimensional Driving Cycles
by Jakov Topić, Branimir Škugor and Joško Deur
Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 4704; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094704 - 22 Apr 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1877
Abstract
This paper presents the synthesis and validation of multidimensional driving cycles represented by vehicle velocity, vehicle acceleration, and road slope profiles. For this purpose, a rich set of city bus driving cycles has been recorded. First, a Markov chain model is established based [...] Read more.
This paper presents the synthesis and validation of multidimensional driving cycles represented by vehicle velocity, vehicle acceleration, and road slope profiles. For this purpose, a rich set of city bus driving cycles has been recorded. First, a Markov chain model is established based on velocity, acceleration, road slope and road slope time derivative states. Next, a large set of synthetic driving cycles is generated by using a corresponding 8D transition probability matrix, which is implemented in a sparse form based on a dictionary of keys to improve computational efficiency and reduce memory requirements. In support of synthetic driving cycles validation, a number of time- and frequency-domain statistical features are considered, including unique cross-correlation velocity–acceleration–road slope indicators. To predict fuel consumption related to synthetic driving cycles, an accurate neural network model is introduced which uses a fixed 3D histogram of counted discrete velocity, acceleration, and road slope inputs. The significance of each nominated statistical feature and its impact on fuel consumption is revealed by means of linear regression modelling and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) feature selection method. A model having only several most significant features as inputs and fuel consumption as output is proposed to be used for unambiguous single-criterion validation of synthetic driving cycles with respect to recorded ones. Finally, the proposed validation approach is verified against a widely used method relying on minimization of statistical feature deviations with respect to true values. The results point out that, by applying the proposed synthesis and validation method, it is possible to extract most representative synthetic driving cycles in a straightforward and computationally efficient way. The main anticipated applications include various simulation-based analyses that require representative synthetic driving cycles and/or accurate vehicle energy consumption predictions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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16 pages, 2731 KiB  
Article
Modeling Road Safety in Car-Dependent Cities: Case of Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia
by Mohammed Aljoufie and Alok Tiwari
Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 1816; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041816 - 8 Feb 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3173
Abstract
Investigating the connections between pedestrian crashes and various urban variables is critical to ameliorate the prediction of pedestrian fatalities, formulate advisories for the stakeholders, and provide an evidence base for policy change to mitigate the occurrence and intensity of pedestrian fatalities. In this [...] Read more.
Investigating the connections between pedestrian crashes and various urban variables is critical to ameliorate the prediction of pedestrian fatalities, formulate advisories for the stakeholders, and provide an evidence base for policy change to mitigate the occurrence and intensity of pedestrian fatalities. In this paper, we aim to explore the geographically varying association between the pedestrian fatalities and other associated factors of an urban environment in Jeddah city, which is a car-dependent city in Saudi Arabia. At first, Global Moran’s I and Local Indicators of Spatial Association (LISA) were applied to visualize the clustering of pedestrian fatalities in the various districts of Jeddah. Subsequently, we developed Poisson regression models based on their geographically weighted indicators. Both the global and geographically weighted regression models attempt to assess the association between the pedestrian fatalities and the geographically relevant land use and transport infrastructure factors. The results indicate that geographically weighted Poisson regression (GWPR) performed better than the global Poisson counterparts. It is also revealed that the existing transportation infrastructure in Jeddah was significantly associated with the higher pedestrian fatalities. The results have shown that the proposed model in this study can inform transport policies in Jeddah in prioritizing more safety measures for the pedestrians, including expanding pedestrians’ infrastructure, and cautious monitoring of pedestrian footpaths. It can facilitate the analysis and improvement of road safety for pedestrians in car-dependent cities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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21 pages, 2306 KiB  
Article
Multi-Criteria Decision Making Process in Metropolitan Transport Means Selection Based on the Sharing Mobility Idea
by Maria Cieśla, Aleksander Sobota and Marianna Jacyna
Sustainability 2020, 12(17), 7231; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12177231 - 3 Sep 2020
Cited by 46 | Viewed by 4492
Abstract
The article presents the idea of modeling the decision-making process in the field of the metropolitan areas transport system. Due to the increasing process of metropolization and urbanization, which is predicted to be 68.4% worldwide and 83.7% in Europe in 2050, the issue [...] Read more.
The article presents the idea of modeling the decision-making process in the field of the metropolitan areas transport system. Due to the increasing process of metropolization and urbanization, which is predicted to be 68.4% worldwide and 83.7% in Europe in 2050, the issue will be even more sophisticated. The problem of depletion of transport network capacity as well as the implementation of modern technology solutions forces metropolitan committees to apply tools for metropolitan passenger transport system optimization. Significantly, the policy and regulations on sustainable urban mobility management are based on the mobility demand predictions and understanding of the travel decision-making process of citizens. The scientific purpose of this article is to build a mathematical model, as a tool supporting the multi-criteria decision-making process regarding the choice of means of transport in a developing metropolis. The issue raised in this article considers the most important research areas of the metropolitan transport means selection, which includes transport safety, qualitative, financial, and ecological aspects. The model was implemented in Silesian Metropolis in Poland with a particular emphasis on sharing mobility transport means users. As a result, a ranking of sharing transport means was developed, which is a piece of significant information for planners and future investors in the development of the metropolitan transport system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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16 pages, 1620 KiB  
Article
The Dynamical Decision Model of Intersection Congestion Based on Risk Identification
by Xu Sun, Kun Lin, Pengpeng Jiao and Huapu Lu
Sustainability 2020, 12(15), 5923; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12155923 - 23 Jul 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2470
Abstract
The paper focuses on the problem of traffic congestion at intersection based on the mechanism of risk identification. The main goal of this study is to explore a new methodology for identifying and predicting the intersection congestion. Considering all the factors influencing the [...] Read more.
The paper focuses on the problem of traffic congestion at intersection based on the mechanism of risk identification. The main goal of this study is to explore a new methodology for identifying and predicting the intersection congestion. Considering all the factors influencing the traffic status of intersection congestion, an integrated evaluation index system is constructed. Then, a detailed dynamic decision model is proposed for identifying the risk degree of the traffic congestion and predicting its influence on future traffic flow, which combines the traffic flow intrinsic properties with the basic model of the Risking Dynamic Multi-Attribute Decision-Making theory. A case study based on a real-world road network in Baoji, China, is implemented to test the efficiency and applicability of the proposed modeling. The evaluation result is in accord with the actual condition and shows that the approach proposed can determine the likelihood and risk degree of the traffic congestion occurring in the intersection, which can be used as a tool to help transport managers make some traffic control measures in advance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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23 pages, 7642 KiB  
Article
Real-Time Traffic Flow Forecasting via a Novel Method Combining Periodic-Trend Decomposition
by Wei Zhou, Wei Wang, Xuedong Hua and Yi Zhang
Sustainability 2020, 12(15), 5891; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12155891 - 22 Jul 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2228
Abstract
Accurate and timely traffic flow forecasting is a critical task of the intelligent transportation system (ITS). The predicted results offer the necessary information to support the decisions of administrators and travelers. To investigate trend and periodic characteristics of traffic flow and develop a [...] Read more.
Accurate and timely traffic flow forecasting is a critical task of the intelligent transportation system (ITS). The predicted results offer the necessary information to support the decisions of administrators and travelers. To investigate trend and periodic characteristics of traffic flow and develop a more accurate prediction, a novel method combining periodic-trend decomposition (PTD) is proposed in this paper. This hybrid method is based on the principle of “decomposition first and forecasting last”. The well-designed PTD approach can decompose the original traffic flow into three components, including trend, periodicity, and remainder. The periodicity is a strict period function and predicted by cycling, while the trend and remainder are predicted by modelling. To demonstrate the universal applicability of the hybrid method, four prevalent models are separately combined with PTD to establish hybrid models. Traffic volume data are collected from the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) and used to conduct experiments. Empirical results show that the mean absolute error (MAE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and mean square error (MSE) of hybrid models are averagely reduced by 17%, 17%, and 29% more than individual models, respectively. In addition, the hybrid method is robust for a multi-step prediction. These findings indicate that the proposed method combining PTD is promising for traffic flow forecasting. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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15 pages, 2930 KiB  
Article
Sustainable Design of Diverging Diamond Interchange: Development of Warrants for Improving Operational Performance
by Meshal Almoshaogeh, Hatem Abou-Senna, Essam Radwan and Husnain Haider
Sustainability 2020, 12(14), 5840; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145840 - 20 Jul 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3117
Abstract
Conventional diamond interchanges are facing ever-growing challenges related to traffic operations and safety risks due to increasing traffic volumes and worsening congestions. The agencies are well aware of the high socioeconomic (e.g., user delay cost, fuel cost, and high accident rates) and environmental [...] Read more.
Conventional diamond interchanges are facing ever-growing challenges related to traffic operations and safety risks due to increasing traffic volumes and worsening congestions. The agencies are well aware of the high socioeconomic (e.g., user delay cost, fuel cost, and high accident rates) and environmental losses (traffic emissions due to vehicles queuing) associated with the conventional interchange design. This paper provides insight into the different factors that affect the sustainability performance (operational and safety) of a conventional interchange through its redesign into the Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) with the increased left-turn demand. It also assesses the need to redesign an interchange to improve the efficiency. Two interchanges that have DDI designs were selected for investigations, and the required data were collected from the relevant agency. The average delay and the capacity were used as the Measures of Effectiveness (MOEs) for data analysis. Numerous factors, that affected these MOEs, were used to design an experiment. This experiment included different levels of volumes, geometric designs, and signal plans. The micro-simulation software (VISSIM 8.0) was employed to calibrate and validate the existing conditions through several steps, including signal optimization and driving behavior parameter optimization. The analysis of the results detected the key thresholds of switching from the conventional design to the innovative design under 90 different scenarios. Finally, the sustainability evaluation of DDI and Conventional Design Interchange was conducted based on their operation and safety performance comparison. The results and findings of this research will act as a guideline for decision-makers regarding when they should consider switching from the conventional interchange design to an innovative design. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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25 pages, 2246 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Urban Transportation Infrastructure on Air Quality
by Yujing Guo, Qian Zhang, Kin Keung Lai, Yingqin Zhang, Shubin Wang and Wanli Zhang
Sustainability 2020, 12(14), 5626; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145626 - 13 Jul 2020
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 4131
Abstract
While previous study has confirmed significant correlation between infrastructure construction and air quality, little is known about the nature of the relationship. In this paper, we intend to fill this gap by using the Panel Smooth Transition Regression (PSTR) model to discuss the [...] Read more.
While previous study has confirmed significant correlation between infrastructure construction and air quality, little is known about the nature of the relationship. In this paper, we intend to fill this gap by using the Panel Smooth Transition Regression (PSTR) model to discuss the nonlinear relationship between transportation infrastructure construction and air quality. The panel data includes 280 cities in China for the period 2000-2017. We find that the transportation infrastructure investment is positively correlated to the air quality when the GDP per capita is below RMB 7151 or the number of motor vehicle population per capita is below 37 (vehicles per 10,000 persons) where the model is in the lower regime, and that the transportation infrastructure investment is negatively correlated to the air quality when the GDP per capita is greater than RMB 7151 or the number of motor vehicle population per capita is larger than 37 (vehicles per 10,000 persons) where the model is in the upper regime. The empirical results of the three sub-samples, including eastern, western and central regions, are similar to that of the national level. Furthermore, increasing transportation infrastructure investment is conducive to improving air quality. Urban bus services, green area, population density, wind speed and rainfall are also conducive to reducing air pollution, but the role of environmental regulation is not significant. After adding the instrumental variable (urban built-up area), the conclusions are further supported. Finally, relevant policy recommendations for reducing air pollution are proposed based on the empirical results. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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12 pages, 2532 KiB  
Article
Future Energy and Environmental Implications of Electric Vehicles in Palestine
by Fady M. A Hassouna and Khaled Al-Sahili
Sustainability 2020, 12(14), 5515; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145515 - 8 Jul 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3191
Abstract
During the last two decades, problems related to high-energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by the transportation sector have arisen. Therefore, several alternatives have been investigated, in order to reduce the dependence on the conventional fuels that are used by land transportation [...] Read more.
During the last two decades, problems related to high-energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by the transportation sector have arisen. Therefore, several alternatives have been investigated, in order to reduce the dependence on the conventional fuels that are used by land transportation modes. One of these promising alternatives is the electric vehicles (EVs), which seem to be the future replacement for conventional vehicles. Thus, this study aims to quantify the energy and the environmental implications of EVs in Palestine in 2030, considering that the current percentage of EVs is almost 0%. In this study, the needed parameters related to the number of vehicles and energy costs by source in Palestine were collected. Then, several prediction models have been developed in order to determine the energy and environmental implications of EVs in 2030, considering that 10% of conventional vehicles could be replaced by EV during the next 10 years (2020–2030). The results have showed that this could save USD 464.31 million in operating energy costs during 2030 (one year of saving). More specifically, this number is almost equal to 3.18% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of Palestine in 2018. Furthermore, significant amounts of GHG emissions could be reduced. The reduction (during 2030) in NH4, N2O, and CO2 emissions could be around 10.51%, 10%, and 6.86%, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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14 pages, 454 KiB  
Article
A Review on Handicap Sections and Situations to Improve Driving Safety of Automated Vehicles
by Chang-Gyun Roh and I-Jeong Im
Sustainability 2020, 12(14), 5509; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145509 - 8 Jul 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1873
Abstract
An automated vehicle performs self-driving by utilizing information gathered through sensors attached to the vehicle. Sensor accuracy is thus mentioned as the major technology for enhancing driving safety. However, since urban centers are replete with sections and situations that handicap driving such as [...] Read more.
An automated vehicle performs self-driving by utilizing information gathered through sensors attached to the vehicle. Sensor accuracy is thus mentioned as the major technology for enhancing driving safety. However, since urban centers are replete with sections and situations that handicap driving such as sensor recognition limitations and failures, it is necessary to conduct a study that prepares for driving handicaps. As such, this study aims to derive the sections and situations where driving safety is depreciated and review those problems via an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) analysis on driving handicap factors. The analysis result showed that the importance of these handicap situations is high, and it was confirmed that it is necessary to first review off-road sections, environmental factors (heavy rain or snow), merge sections, and sections with poor lane conditions. The result of this research has significance in reviewing road sections and potential situations that require primary verification for securing the driving safety of automated vehicles. It is expected to be utilized in the relevant studies as a basic study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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22 pages, 2949 KiB  
Article
Neural Networks Applied to Microsimulation: A Prediction Model for Pedestrian Crossing Time
by Chiara Gruden, Irena Ištoka Otković and Matjaž Šraml
Sustainability 2020, 12(13), 5355; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12135355 - 2 Jul 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2881
Abstract
Walking is the original form of transportation, and pedestrians have always made up a significant share of transportation system users. In contrast to motorized traffic, which has to move on precisely defined lanes and follow strict rules, pedestrian traffic is not heavily regulated. [...] Read more.
Walking is the original form of transportation, and pedestrians have always made up a significant share of transportation system users. In contrast to motorized traffic, which has to move on precisely defined lanes and follow strict rules, pedestrian traffic is not heavily regulated. Moreover, pedestrians have specific characteristics—in terms of size and protection—which make them much more vulnerable than drivers. In addition, the difference in speed between pedestrians and motorized vehicles increases their vulnerability. All these characteristics, together with the large number of pedestrians on the road, lead to many safety problems that professionals have to deal with. One way to tackle them is to model pedestrian behavior using microsimulation tools. Of course, modeling also raises questions of reliability, and this is also the focus of this paper. The aim of the present research is to contribute to improving the reliability of microsimulation models for pedestrians by testing the possibility of applying neural networks in the model calibration process. Pedestrian behavior is culturally conditioned and the adaptation of the model to local specifics in the calibration process is a prerequisite for realistic modeling results. A neural network is formulated, trained and validated in order to link not-directly measurable model parameters to pedestrian crossing time, which is given as output by the microsimulation tool. The crossing time of pedestrians passing the road on a roundabout entry leg has been both simulated and calculated by the network, and the results were compared. A correlation of 94% was achieved after both training and validation steps. Finally, tests were performed to identify the main parameters that influence the estimated crossing time. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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14 pages, 2043 KiB  
Article
Effect of U-Turns and Heavy Vehicles on the Saturation Flow Rates of Left-Turn Lanes at Signalized Intersections
by Abdelrahman Abuhijleh, Charitha Dias, Wael Alhajyaseen and Deepti Muley
Sustainability 2020, 12(11), 4485; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114485 - 1 Jun 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2706
Abstract
The Saturation Flow Rate (SFR) is a primary measure that can be used when estimating intersection capacity. Further, the efficiency of signal control parameters also depends on the accuracy of assumed SFR values. Driver behavior, type of movement, vehicle type, intersection layout, and [...] Read more.
The Saturation Flow Rate (SFR) is a primary measure that can be used when estimating intersection capacity. Further, the efficiency of signal control parameters also depends on the accuracy of assumed SFR values. Driver behavior, type of movement, vehicle type, intersection layout, and other factors may have a significant impact on the saturation flow rate. Thus, it is expected that driving environments that have heterogeneous driver populations with different driving habits and cultures may have different SFRs. In practice, the proposed SFRs based on US standards (Highway Capacity Manual, 2016) have been adopted in the State of Qatar without validation or calibration to consider the local road environment and the characteristics of the driving population. This study aims to empirically analyze the saturation flow rates for exclusive left-turn lanes and shared left- and U-turn lanes at two signalized intersections in Doha city, while considering the effects of heavy vehicles and U-turn maneuvers. Empirical observations revealed that the average base SFR, i.e., when the influences from heavy vehicles and U-turns were excluded, could vary approximately from 1800 vehicles per hour per lane (vphpl) to 2100 vphpl for exclusive left-turning lanes and approximately from 1800 vphpl to 1900 vphpl for shared left- and U-turning lanes. Furthermore, this study proposed different adjustment factors for heavy vehicle and U-turn percentages which can be applied in practice in designing signalized intersections, particularly in the State of Qatar. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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15 pages, 6777 KiB  
Article
Operating Times and Users’ Behavior at Urban Road Intersections
by Laura Moretti, Fabio Palazzi and Giuseppe Cantisani
Sustainability 2020, 12(10), 4120; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12104120 - 18 May 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2101
Abstract
The safety of at grade road intersections is a relevant issue with social, economic, and environmental implications. It is related to the behavior of a driver approaching an intersection that, in its turn, is affected by kinematic and physiological variables. This study proposes [...] Read more.
The safety of at grade road intersections is a relevant issue with social, economic, and environmental implications. It is related to the behavior of a driver approaching an intersection that, in its turn, is affected by kinematic and physiological variables. This study proposes a model to calculate the intersection operation time (IOT) for typical non-signalized 4-leg and 3-leg (or T-leg) urban intersections. Data available in the literature have been considered in order to identify the points of interest and assess the number and the time of a driver’s eye fixation on them. When approaching an intersection, the probability of glancing in a particular area changes with the distance to the yield or stop line; for this reason, a probabilistic approach was used to model the phenomenon. All possible maneuvers have been considered: left turning, right turning, and through-movement. The proposed model allowed an objective comparison between time spent by drivers for various maneuvers and layout conditions, and identification of the critical conditions. Indeed, significant differences in terms of IOT were found: they could lead to modification of the traffic management considering different needs of road users, traffic demand, and geometrical and functional constraints. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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24 pages, 1194 KiB  
Article
Strategic Planning Based on Sustainability for Urban Transportation: An Application to Decision-Making
by Mustafa Hamurcu and Tamer Eren
Sustainability 2020, 12(9), 3589; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12093589 - 28 Apr 2020
Cited by 46 | Viewed by 7966
Abstract
Public transportation is one of the main goals of a developing city. This topic includes not only administrators, but also city residents and the environment, with economic, environmental, and social factors. This paper presents a multicriteria decision-making process for prioritizing alternative public transportation [...] Read more.
Public transportation is one of the main goals of a developing city. This topic includes not only administrators, but also city residents and the environment, with economic, environmental, and social factors. This paper presents a multicriteria decision-making process for prioritizing alternative public transportation projects in Kırıkkale, considering the urban type of a developing city. It outlines three planned projects for improvement: “electric municipality bus”, “light rail system”, and the “modernization of existing vehicles and network optimization”. In this study, we use the analytic hierarchy process and fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal situation (TOPSIS) application to prioritize transportation projects using economic, social, transportation, and environmental sub-criteria. The aim of this study is to select the most suitable project, based on sustainability, for more urban livability in Kırıkkale city. In the strategic decision-making process, the weights of each sustainability criteria have been determined using analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The fuzzy TOPSIS method has been applied for ranking the proposed alternative projects for Kırıkkale. Finally, the analytic decision process results are compared, and the electric municipality bus is selected as the best project alternative. The results of this study can not only offer a solution for current needs related to urban planning, but also ensure as a more transparent decision-making process for developing sustainability in developing cities in the near future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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18 pages, 4069 KiB  
Article
A New Integrated Scheme for Urban Road Traffic Flood Control Using Liquid Air Spray/Vaporization Technology
by Dawei Wu, Wenhui Zhang, Li Tang and Cunquan Zhang
Sustainability 2020, 12(7), 2733; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12072733 - 31 Mar 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2558
Abstract
With the rapid progress of urbanization, cities’ demands for traffic flood control are steadily on the increase, and people are gradually paying more attention to traffic safety and environmental issues. Considering the considerable convenience and service ability of liquid air and corresponding products, [...] Read more.
With the rapid progress of urbanization, cities’ demands for traffic flood control are steadily on the increase, and people are gradually paying more attention to traffic safety and environmental issues. Considering the considerable convenience and service ability of liquid air and corresponding products, people have begun to switch to using liquid air as an emergency coolant. However, this air’s cryogenic operation and vigorous vaporization expansion restricts its widespread application. Our study explores innovative applications based on liquid air spray/evaporation icing and natural melting, which can be applied to urban flood protection. This study also includes a brief introduction to the nature of liquid air and road icing, a conceptual design based on liquid air flash evaporation (for urban flood protection), and the modeling and solving of natural road ice melting. This paper introduces many innovative key technologies, which include the rapid solidification of floods to form emergency ice dams or diversion channels and the application of liquid air spray to form icy roads for the temporary passage of small cars or pickup trucks. Additionally, the economic estimations are performed by using downtown traffic flood control in Wuhan as an example to showcase our innovative scheme for applying liquid air spray/vaporization for urban traffic flooding control, which is practical, pollution free, and cost effective. Our innovative scheme will be promising for flood control in modern cities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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26 pages, 2978 KiB  
Article
Analysis of the Risk Factors Affecting the Severity of Traffic Accidents on Spanish Crosstown Roads: The Driver’s Perspective
by Natalia Casado-Sanz, Begoña Guirao and Maria Attard
Sustainability 2020, 12(6), 2237; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12062237 - 13 Mar 2020
Cited by 50 | Viewed by 9230
Abstract
Globally, road traffic accidents are an important public health concern which needs to be tackled. A multidisciplinary approach is required to understand what causes them and to provide the evidence for policy support. In Spain, one of the roads with the highest fatality [...] Read more.
Globally, road traffic accidents are an important public health concern which needs to be tackled. A multidisciplinary approach is required to understand what causes them and to provide the evidence for policy support. In Spain, one of the roads with the highest fatality rate is the crosstown road, a particular type of rural road in which urban and interurban traffic meet, producing conflicts and interference with the population. This paper contributes to the previous existing research on the Spanish crosstown roads, providing a new vision that had not been analyzed so far: the driver’s perspective. The main purpose of the investigation is to identify the contributing factors that increment the likelihood of a fatal outcome based on single-vehicle crashes, which occurred on Spanish crosstown roads in the period 2006-2016. In order to achieve this aim, 1064 accidents have been analyzed, applying a latent cluster analysis as an initial tool for the fragmentation of crashes. Next, a multinomial logit (MNL) model was applied to find the most important factors involved in driver injury severity. The statistical analysis reveals that factors such as lateral crosstown roads, low traffic volumes, higher percentages of heavy vehicles, wider lanes, the non-existence of road markings, and finally, infractions, increase the severity of the drivers’ injuries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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20 pages, 9002 KiB  
Article
Commuting Pattern Recognition Using a Systematic Cluster Framework
by Rongrong Hong, Wenming Rao, Dong Zhou, Chengchuan An, Zhenbo Lu and Jingxin Xia
Sustainability 2020, 12(5), 1764; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12051764 - 27 Feb 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2338
Abstract
Identifying commuting patterns for an urban network is important for various traffic applications (e.g., traffic demand management). Some studies, such as the gravity models, urban-system-model, K-means clustering, have provided insights into the investigation of commuting pattern recognition. However, commuters’ route feature is not [...] Read more.
Identifying commuting patterns for an urban network is important for various traffic applications (e.g., traffic demand management). Some studies, such as the gravity models, urban-system-model, K-means clustering, have provided insights into the investigation of commuting pattern recognition. However, commuters’ route feature is not fully considered or not accurately characterized. In this study, a systematic framework considering the route feature for commuting pattern recognition was developed for urban road networks. Three modules are included in the proposed framework. These modules were proposed based on automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) data. First, the temporal and spatial features of individual vehicles were extracted based on the trips detected by ALPR sensors, then a hierarchical clustering technique was applied to classify the detected vehicles and the ratio of commuting trips was derived. Based on the ratio of commuting trips, the temporal and spatial commuting patterns were investigated, respectively. The proposed method was finally implemented in a ring expressway of Kunshan, China. The results showed that the method can accurately extract the commuting patterns. Further investigations revealed the dynamic temporal-spatial features of commuting patterns. The findings of this study demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in mining commuting patterns at urban traffic networks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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13 pages, 5895 KiB  
Article
Decelerations of Passenger Vehicles on Gravel Arrester Beds
by Miha Ambrož, Jovan Trajkovski and Robert Kunc
Sustainability 2020, 12(5), 1761; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12051761 - 27 Feb 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4162
Abstract
Gravel-filled arrester beds, also called safety-escape ramps or vehicle run-out areas, have long been a road-safety feature for safely stopping heavy road vehicles from running off the road. In the recent past, there has been consideration given to installing these features on highway [...] Read more.
Gravel-filled arrester beds, also called safety-escape ramps or vehicle run-out areas, have long been a road-safety feature for safely stopping heavy road vehicles from running off the road. In the recent past, there has been consideration given to installing these features on highway access ramps to provide safe areas to stop passenger cars driving at highway speeds. The work presented in this article was performed to investigate the behaviour of standard-size passenger cars on gravel-filled arrester beds, with a particular focus on the achievable vehicle decelerations and the ability of the arrester beds to safely stop a passenger car coasting in an uncontrolled manner. The findings show that the achievable average decelerations are in the range of 0.3 g for coasting vehicles and up to 0.9 g when the vehicles are braking. The results prove that more research is required to quantify the influence of the gravel parameters on the achievable decelerations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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18 pages, 3865 KiB  
Article
A Route Choice Model for Capturing Driver Preferences When Driving Electric and Conventional Vehicles
by Anders F. Jensen, Thomas K. Rasmussen and Carlo G. Prato
Sustainability 2020, 12(3), 1149; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12031149 - 5 Feb 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2695
Abstract
Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) play an important role in the needed transition away from fossil fuels and Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles (ICEVs). Although transport planning models and routing problem solutions exist for BEVs, the assumption that BEV drivers search for the shortest path [...] Read more.
Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) play an important role in the needed transition away from fossil fuels and Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles (ICEVs). Although transport planning models and routing problem solutions exist for BEVs, the assumption that BEV drivers search for the shortest path while constraining energy consumption does not have any empirical basis. This study presents a study of actual route choice behavior of drivers from 107 Danish households participating in a large-scale experiment with BEVs and at the same time driving their ICEVs. GPS traces from 8968 BEV and 6678 ICEV routes were map matched to a detailed road network to construct observed routes, and a route choice model was specified and estimated to capture behavioral differences related to the vehicle type. The results reveal that drivers had a higher sensitivity to travel time and trip length when driving BEVs, and to route directness after receiving the BEV, regardless of vehicle type. The results suggest the need to revise the assumptions of transport planning models and routing problems for BEVs in order not to fail to predict what drivers will do by ignoring differences and similarities related to vehicle type. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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21 pages, 2579 KiB  
Article
Environmental Effects of Electromobility in a Sustainable Urban Public Transport
by Krystian Pietrzak and Oliwia Pietrzak
Sustainability 2020, 12(3), 1052; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12031052 - 2 Feb 2020
Cited by 81 | Viewed by 14189
Abstract
This article has taken up an issue concerning the influence of the implementation of electromobility assumptions on reduction of air pollution in cities in terms of sustainable urban transport systems. The essential nature of the subject is confirmed by the following figures: transport [...] Read more.
This article has taken up an issue concerning the influence of the implementation of electromobility assumptions on reduction of air pollution in cities in terms of sustainable urban transport systems. The essential nature of the subject is confirmed by the following figures: transport is responsible for almost 25% of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe and is the main cause of air pollution in cities, almost 90% of city dwellers in the EU are exposed to levels of air pollutants deemed harmful by the WHO, and approximately 95% of vehicles on European roads still use fossil fuels. Therefore, the implemented transport policy, both in the international and domestic aspect of particular countries, is facing the need to significantly reduce the negative influence of transport on people and the environment. Electromobility has become one of the concepts that makes it possible to achieve this goal. Its main objective is to reduce emissions of harmful substances into the environment by deploying electric vehicles (EVs). Research conducted by the authors showed that public transport, apart from the obvious effect of decreased number of private vehicles and decreased congestion, can contribute to reduced air pollutant emissions and become a significant driver for the implementation of electromobility in cities. However, the achievement of this goal depends on taking appropriate actions not only in the transport branch but also in other sectors of economy. The following research methods were applied in the article: literature analysis, documentary method, case study, and mathematical methods. The research area was the city of Szczecin, Poland. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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18 pages, 3942 KiB  
Article
An Analysis of the Interactions between Adjustment Factors of Saturation Flow Rates at Signalized Intersections
by Yi Wang, Jian Rong, Chenjing Zhou, Xin Chang and Siyang Liu
Sustainability 2020, 12(2), 665; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12020665 - 16 Jan 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2622
Abstract
An insufficient functional relationship between adjustment factors and saturation flow rate (SFR) in the U.S. Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) method increases an additional prediction bias. The error of SFR predictions can reach 8–10%. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a comprehensive adjusted [...] Read more.
An insufficient functional relationship between adjustment factors and saturation flow rate (SFR) in the U.S. Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) method increases an additional prediction bias. The error of SFR predictions can reach 8–10%. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a comprehensive adjusted method that considers the effects of interactions between factors. Based on the data from 35 through lanes in Beijing and 25 shared through and left-turn lanes in Washington, DC, the interactions between lane width and percentage of heavy vehicles and proportion of left-turning vehicles were analyzed. Two comprehensive adjustment factor models were established and tested. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of model 1 (considering the interaction between lane width and percentage of heavy vehicles) was 4.89% smaller than the MAPE of Chinese National Standard method (Standard Number is GB50647) at 13.64%. The MAPE of model 2 (considering the interaction between lane width and proportion of left-turning vehicles was 33.16% smaller than the MAPE of HCM method at 14.56%. This method could improve the accuracy of SFR prediction, provide support for traffic operation measures, alleviate the traffic congestion, and improve sustainable development of cities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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19 pages, 4562 KiB  
Article
Freeway Short-Term Travel Speed Prediction Based on Data Collection Time-Horizons: A Fast Forest Quantile Regression Approach
by Muhammad Zahid, Yangzhou Chen, Arshad Jamal and Coulibaly Zie Mamadou
Sustainability 2020, 12(2), 646; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12020646 - 16 Jan 2020
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 4886
Abstract
Short-term traffic speed prediction is vital for proactive traffic control, and is one of the integral components of an intelligent transportation system (ITS). Accurate prediction of short-term travel speed has numerous applications for traffic monitoring, route planning, as well as helping to relieve [...] Read more.
Short-term traffic speed prediction is vital for proactive traffic control, and is one of the integral components of an intelligent transportation system (ITS). Accurate prediction of short-term travel speed has numerous applications for traffic monitoring, route planning, as well as helping to relieve traffic congestion. Previous studies have attempted to approach this problem using statistical and conventional artificial intelligence (AI) methods without accounting for influence of data collection time-horizons. However, statistical methods have received widespread criticism concerning prediction accuracy performance, while traditional AI approaches have too shallow architecture to capture non-linear stochastics variations in traffic flow. Hence, this study aims to explore prediction of short-term traffic speed at multiple time-ahead intervals using data collected from loop detectors. A fast forest quantile regression (FFQR) via hyperparameters optimization was introduced for predicting short-term traffic speed prediction. FFQR is an ensemble machine learning model that combines several regression trees to improve speed prediction accuracy. The accuracy of short-term traffic speed prediction was compared using the FFQR model at different data collection time-horizons. Prediction results demonstrated the adequacy and robustness of the proposed approach under different scenarios. It was concluded that prediction performance of FFQR was significantly enhanced and robust, particularly at time intervals larger than 5 min. The findings also revealed that speed prediction error (in terms of quantiles loss) ranged between 0.58 and 1.18. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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32 pages, 15627 KiB  
Article
Effect of the Parking Lane Configuration on Vehicle Speeds in Home Zones in Poland
by Alicja Sołowczuk and Przemysław Gardas
Sustainability 2020, 12(2), 588; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12020588 - 13 Jan 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3687
Abstract
Nowadays, traffic calming measures that are designed to influence the drivers’ behaviour in the first place and thus make them slow down (and increase the safety of traffic as a result) are used increasingly often in traffic engineering. As a rule of thumb, [...] Read more.
Nowadays, traffic calming measures that are designed to influence the drivers’ behaviour in the first place and thus make them slow down (and increase the safety of traffic as a result) are used increasingly often in traffic engineering. As a rule of thumb, carefully planned street geometry and street furniture should advise the drivers of the traffic calmed area ahead of them, which makes them reduce the vehicle speed by influencing their perception. One of the most common treatments are road narrowings and horizontal deflections of the route of travel. The reduction of the vehicle speed increases the driver’s central visual area, which results in earlier and easier spotting of pedestrians that are about to cross the roadway. A reduction of noise and exhaust emissions is an additional benefit. However, the current sustainable design guidelines are not specific regarding how often the route should be deflected by alternate parking lanes and how frequently they should be placed in the home zones (woonerven in Dutch) in order to achieve the desired reduction of vehicle speed, noise, pollution, and exhaust emissions. This being so, the authors carried out a speed survey research on a chosen street that includes woonerf design features, as typically used in Poland, with carriageway narrowings being created by parking lanes differently sited along its length. Several speed measuring devices were deployed to automatically and simultaneously measure and record the vehicle speeds and volume of traffic at different test locations. The measurement data were subjected to statistical analyses, including conventional statistical tests. The alternative hypothesis, proposing that the vehicle speeds depend on the configuration of parking lanes and carriageway narrowings was confirmed in almost all cases. The results have confirmed that the siting of parking lanes is a relevant factor as far as speed reduction is concerned, with the degree of this reduction depending on the remaining travel lane width. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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12 pages, 2079 KiB  
Article
Modeling Impacts of Speed Reduction on Traffic Efficiency on Expressway Uphill Sections
by Xiaodong Zhang, Jinliang Xu, Qianqian Liang and Fangchen Ma
Sustainability 2020, 12(2), 587; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12020587 - 13 Jan 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2578
Abstract
Road geometric design is a key factor impacting driving safety and efficiency. In highway profile design, speed reduction is used to determine critical length of grade. Previous research generally concentrated on the relationship between speed reduction and crash involvement rate to establish the [...] Read more.
Road geometric design is a key factor impacting driving safety and efficiency. In highway profile design, speed reduction is used to determine critical length of grade. Previous research generally concentrated on the relationship between speed reduction and crash involvement rate to establish the recommended value. Limited research results have been reported at this point concerning speed reduction and traffic efficiency. This study aims to fill the gap by investigating tolerable speed reduction with different vertical slopes considering traffic efficiency. Firstly, appropriate experimental sections were determined after field survey. Traffic data including vehicle count, timely speed, vehicle type, and headway time were then collected on an expressway in Shaanxi Province. The associated traffic efficiency was derived from traffic volume and average speed. After this, the modeling between speed reduction and traffic efficiency was processed with different slopes. The correlation between speed reduction and traffic efficiency was therefore verified. Finally, the prediction model of optimum speed reduction concerning traffic efficiency under different vertical slopes was introduced. It was found that the critical length of grade can be longer with traffic efficiency as the major design control incorporated with slopes of 3–3.5%. The existing regulation in critical length of grade at 3.5–5% can benefit both safety and efficiency. The findings can provide a reference for vertical alignment design, leading to high-efficiency road systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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16 pages, 1059 KiB  
Article
Use of Life Cycle Cost Analysis and Multiple Criteria Decision Aid Tools for Designing Road Vertical Profiles
by Amara Loulizi, Youssef Bichiou and Hesham Rakha
Sustainability 2019, 11(24), 7127; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11247127 - 12 Dec 2019
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2202
Abstract
The current design practice for the vertical profile of roads in rolling and mountainous terrains is to follow the existing grades in order to minimize earthwork costs. This means that the only criterion considered during the design phase is the initial cost. It [...] Read more.
The current design practice for the vertical profile of roads in rolling and mountainous terrains is to follow the existing grades in order to minimize earthwork costs. This means that the only criterion considered during the design phase is the initial cost. It would be preferable to include other criteria that are directly related to sustainability, particularly fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Therefore, this paper describes a proposed design procedure that starts by finding feasible alternatives with different grades. Then, a microsimulation traffic tool is used to simulate the movement of predicted vehicles (volume and type) over the different alternatives. The microsimulation tool provides reliable estimates of travel times, fuel consumption, and CO2 emissions for the different alternatives. With these data, it is possible to use life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) or multiple criteria decision aid (MCDA) tools to select the “optimal” alternative. The proposed procedure was used on a case study involving a 6-km highway section with different proposed grades ranging from 2% to 8%. Using LCCA and an MCDA tool, it was revealed that the current design alternative is not the optimal alternative in most considered scenarios (various fuel values for LCCA and different “Cost” weights for MCDA). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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15 pages, 2556 KiB  
Article
Car-Following Modeling Incorporating Driving Memory Based on Autoencoder and Long Short-Term Memory Neural Networks
by Pengcheng Fan, Jingqiu Guo, Haifeng Zhao, Jasper S. Wijnands and Yibing Wang
Sustainability 2019, 11(23), 6755; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11236755 - 28 Nov 2019
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3697
Abstract
Although a lot of work has been conducted on car-following modeling, model calibration and validation are still a great challenge, especially in the era of autonomous driving. Most challengingly, besides the immediate benefit incurred with a car-following action, a smart vehicle needs to [...] Read more.
Although a lot of work has been conducted on car-following modeling, model calibration and validation are still a great challenge, especially in the era of autonomous driving. Most challengingly, besides the immediate benefit incurred with a car-following action, a smart vehicle needs to learn to evaluate the long-term benefits and become foresighted in conducting car-following behaviors. Driving memory, which plays a significant role in car-following, has seldom been considered in current models. This paper focuses on the impact of driving memory on car-following behavior, particularly, historical driving memory represents certain types of driving regimes and drivers’ maneuver in coordination with the variety of driving regimes. An autoencoder was used to extract the main features underlying the time-series data in historical driving memory. Long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network model has been employed to investigate the relationship between driving memory and car-following behavior. The results show that velocity, relative velocity, instant perception time (IPT), and time gap are the most relevant parameters, while distance gap is insignificant. Furthermore, we compared the accuracy and robustness of three patterns including various driving memory information and span levels. This study contributes to bridging the gap between historical driving memory and car-following behavior modeling. The developed LSTM methodology has the potential to provide personalized warnings of dangerous car-following distance over the next second. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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15 pages, 2980 KiB  
Article
Simulation-Based Analysis of the Effect of Significant Traffic Parameters on Lane Changing for Driving Logic “Cautious” on a Freeway
by Danish Farooq and Janos Juhasz
Sustainability 2019, 11(21), 5976; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11215976 - 28 Oct 2019
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3929
Abstract
Lane changing of traffic flow is a complicated and significant behavior for traffic safety on the road. Frequent lane changing can cause serious traffic safety issues, particularly on a two-lane road section of a freeway. This study aimed to analyze the effect of [...] Read more.
Lane changing of traffic flow is a complicated and significant behavior for traffic safety on the road. Frequent lane changing can cause serious traffic safety issues, particularly on a two-lane road section of a freeway. This study aimed to analyze the effect of significant traffic parameters for traffic safety on lane change frequency using the studied calibrated values for driving logic “conscious” in VISSIM. Video-recorded traffic data were utilized to calibrate the model under specified traffic conditions, and the relationship between observed variables were estimated using simulation plots. The results revealed that changes in average desired speed and traffic volume had a positive relationship with lane change frequency. In addition, lane change frequency was observed to be higher when the speed distribution was set large. 3D surface plots were also developed to show the integrated effect of specified traffic parameters on lane change frequency. Results showed that high average desired speed and large desired speed distribution coupled with high traffic volume increased the lane change frequency tremendously. The study also attempted to develop a regression model to quantify the effect of the observed parameters on lane change frequency. The regression model results showed that desired speed distribution had the highest effect on lane change frequency compared to other traffic parameters. The findings of the current study highlight the most significant traffic parameters that influence the lane change frequency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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24 pages, 2613 KiB  
Article
Transport Infrastructure Interdependency: Metro’s Failure Propagation in the Road Transport System in Mexico City
by Jaime Santos-Reyes, Diego Padilla-Perez and Alan N Beard
Sustainability 2019, 11(17), 4757; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11174757 - 30 Aug 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3102
Abstract
On Friday, 3 March 2017, at about 18:19 h, a metro track failed, prompting about 50% of Mexico City’s metro line-C to a halt. The track failure occurred at a peak hour when tens of thousands of commuters were heading to their homes. [...] Read more.
On Friday, 3 March 2017, at about 18:19 h, a metro track failed, prompting about 50% of Mexico City’s metro line-C to a halt. The track failure occurred at a peak hour when tens of thousands of commuters were heading to their homes. Given the interdependency among the modes of transportation in the capital city, the incident caused heavy disruption; it is believed that about 45,000 commuters were affected. A systemic safety management system (‘SSMS’) model has been used for the analysis. The results showed that: a) the model demonstrated its potential to the analysis of the transport system interdependency; it has been found that failure propagates vertically and horizontally; b) the model highlighted that failure propagation has to do with a coordination function; c) in relation to the case study, it has been found that the actions taken by the decision-makers during the emergency were less than adequate; d) the commuters traveling patterns should be considered when designing emergency plans; and, e) more generally, there is a need for the creation of a system to manage critical infrastructure protection in the context of Mexico. It is hoped that by conducting such analyses, we may gain a better understanding of the complexity of cities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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Review

Jump to: Research, Other

23 pages, 4144 KiB  
Review
A Survey of Road Traffic Congestion Measures towards a Sustainable and Resilient Transportation System
by Tanzina Afrin and Nita Yodo
Sustainability 2020, 12(11), 4660; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114660 - 7 Jun 2020
Cited by 198 | Viewed by 37621
Abstract
Traffic congestion is a perpetual problem for the sustainability of transportation development. Traffic congestion causes delays, inconvenience, and economic losses to drivers, as well as air pollution. Identification and quantification of traffic congestion are crucial for decision-makers to initiate mitigation strategies to improve [...] Read more.
Traffic congestion is a perpetual problem for the sustainability of transportation development. Traffic congestion causes delays, inconvenience, and economic losses to drivers, as well as air pollution. Identification and quantification of traffic congestion are crucial for decision-makers to initiate mitigation strategies to improve the overall transportation system’s sustainability. In this paper, the currently available measures are detailed and compared by implementing them on a daily and weekly traffic historical dataset. The results showed each measure showed significant variations in congestion states while indicating a similar congestion trend. The advantages and disadvantages of each measure are identified from the data analysis. This study summarizes the current road traffic congestion measures and provides a constructive insight into the development of a sustainable and resilient traffic management system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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Other

Jump to: Research, Review

18 pages, 3649 KiB  
Protocol
Development of a Methodology for Estimating the Availability of ADAS-Dependent Road Infrastructure
by Sujanie Peiris, Janneke Berecki-Gisolf, Stuart Newstead, Bernard Chen and Brian Fildes
Sustainability 2021, 13(17), 9512; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179512 - 24 Aug 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1653
Abstract
Advanced driver assist systems are being promoted with the expectation that enhanced driver support will mitigate road trauma. While these technologies are optimised for certain road and traffic conditions, not all roads across Australasia are equipped with ADAS-supportive infrastructure. This study developed a [...] Read more.
Advanced driver assist systems are being promoted with the expectation that enhanced driver support will mitigate road trauma. While these technologies are optimised for certain road and traffic conditions, not all roads across Australasia are equipped with ADAS-supportive infrastructure. This study developed a desk-top methodology for using road classes (disaggregated by remoteness levels) to estimate the presence of quality roads, road delineation and speed signage in Victoria, Australia. Aerial imagery and mapping data were used to assess a number of random locations based on a developed protocol. The methodology demonstrated that in Victoria, major and arterial roads across all remoteness levels had high-quality sealed surfaces but 42% of all remote roads were unsealed. Delineation (crucial for lane support systems) were absent across 73% of sub-arterial roads independent of remoteness, and absent across 96% of sub-arterial roads in regional and remote areas. Speed sign availability across remote and regional areas was sparse, with only 65% of all roads assessed having signage. Results are reflective of Victoria’s road funding model and consistent with on-road audits conducted by other researchers. This methodology enables the proportion ADAS-ready roads to be estimated so the benefits of ADAS technologies can be quantified and investments into ADAS-supportive infrastructure be readily allocated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Road Traffic Engineering and Sustainable Transportation)
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