Scheduling preferences, parking competition, and bottleneck congestion: A model of trip timing and parking location choices by heterogeneous commuters

This study examines the effects of location-dependent parking fees and time-varying congestion tolls on the behavior of heterogeneous commuters and their commuting costs. To this end, we develop a model of trip timing and parking location choices by heterogeneous commuters and characterize its equilibrium. By comparing the equilibrium with and without pricing policies, we obtain the following results: (1) without pricing policies, interactions among heterogeneous commuters yield an inefficient distribution of trip timing and parking locations; (2) imposing a parking fee and expanding parking capacity may concentrate the temporal distribution of traffic demand, thereby exacerbating traffic congestion and total commuting cost; (3) the social optimum is achieved by combining a parking fee with a congestion toll; and (4) the revenue obtained from pricing of parking and roads exactly equals the costs for optimal parking and bottleneck capacity; that is, the self-financing principle holds in the model

Bottleneck congestion and residential location of heterogeneous commuters

This study examines the effects of bottleneck congestion and an optimal time-varying congestion toll on the spatial structure of cities. We develop a model in which heterogeneous commuters choose departure times from home and residential locations in a monocentric city with a bottleneck located between a central downtown and an adjacent suburb. We then demonstrate that commuters sort themselves temporally and spatially on the basis of their value of travel time and their flexibility. Furthermore, we reveal that introducing an optimal congestion toll alters the urban spatial structure, which contrasts with the previous literature. We further demonstrate through an example that congestion tolling can cause the city to physically expand outward, which helps rich commuters but hurts poor commuters

Estimation of a Time Dependent OD Matrix from Traffic Counts Using Dynamic Traffic Simulation

ABSTRACT This study proposes a method of estimating a time dependent OD (Origin-Destination) matrix from traffic counts using dynamic traffic simulation and investigates how accurately the OD matrix can be estimated in relation to the simulation parameter values

Scheduling preferences, parking competition, and bottleneck congestion: A model of trip timing and parking location choices by heterogeneous commuters

This study examines the effects of location-dependent parking fees and time-varying congestion tolls on the behavior of heterogeneous commuters and their commuting costs. To this end, we develop a model of trip timing and parking location choices by heterogeneous commuters and characterize its equilibrium. By comparing the equilibrium with and without pricing policies, we obtain the following results: (1) without pricing policies, interactions among heterogeneous commuters yield an inefficient distribution of trip timing and parking locations; (2) imposing a parking fee and expanding parking capacity may concentrate the temporal distribution of traffic demand, thereby exacerbating traffic congestion and total commuting cost; (3) the social optimum is achieved by combining a parking fee with a congestion toll; and (4) the revenue obtained from pricing of parking and roads exactly equals the costs for optimal parking and bottleneck capacity; that is, the self-financing principle holds in the model

An Evaluation of Effects of Dynamic Route Guidance on an Urban Expressway Network”,

ABSTRACT This study evaluates impacts of dynamic route guidance by applying our traffic simulation model, SOUND, to the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway network. The focus is placed on how the information quality (present or predicted information) and a share of equipped vehicles of navigation systems influence on traffic condition. Proposing several scenarios with different compositions of driver types and with/without an accident, we examine the impacts qualitatively. In most cases of this study, the predicted information improves traffic condition more than the present one, especially in a case with an accident unexpectedly occurred

-XXX 1 TACTICAL LANE CHANGE MODEL WITH SEQUENTIAL MANEUVER PLANNING

The lane change models used in today's traffic simulators often do not determine lane change actions in terms of the evaluation of sequential plans, but rather in terms of the utility of the very next lane change action. This has the disadvantage of not being able to account for the influence of delayed rewards, such as the simulated vehicle moving across a slow lane to a better-performing non-adjacent lane. This research presents a lane change model which at every simulation time step, builds a tree of potential maneuver sequences, and selects the lane change action according to planning over a time horizon. The model was calibrated using a vehicle trajectory data set and shown to give improved realism of lane change actions of individual vehicles, compared to a lane change model without sequential planning

Does weather affect highway capacity

ABSTRACT Various studies on negative effects of rainfall on travel demand and accidents are well documented. However, there are fewer studies on the effect of weather on capacity. As capacity can only be measured on a short section with high traffic flow and it demands more localised weather information which are not easy to collect. The aim of this paper is to determine the effects of rain on capacity and speed and the effects of daylight on capacity. Traffic data from the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway (MEX) and weather data from the Tokyo Sewerage Bureau's radar rain gauge system (AMESH) are used. From the analysis of 5 highly congested sections of MEX, the effects of rain on capacity and speed are demonstrated. Further analysis of the capacity during the morning peak of the winter and summer months show a reduction in capacity due to effects of daylight. INTRODUCTION Researches into the effects of weather and travel demand were carried out as early as the 50s b

Optimal Location-dependent Pricing Policies on Railways and Roads in a Continuous City

This paper explores optimal location-dependent but time-invariant peak-load charges on a road and a train in a continuous closed city with bottleneck road congestion and rail overcrowding. In our model, rail and car commuters both choose their departure times, considering their schedule delay costs and dynamically changing transportation costs, and their residential locations. Our theoretical results show that when the bottleneck is located at the fringe of the CBD area (Situation 1), the optimal uniform toll and fares are determined by the difference in price distortions between the train and cars. When the bottleneck on the road is located some distance from the CBD (Situation 2), the optimal uniform toll and fares are represented by price distortions of the cars and train, respectively. Our quantitative results show that, in Situation 1, our toll and fares can achieve 25% of the first-best welfare gains, whereas, in Situation 2, our toll and fares can achieve approximately 30% of the first-best welfare gains

A Manual of Verification Process for Road Network Simulation Models - an Examination in Japan

SUMMARY This paper at first introduces an examination in Japan to standardize traffic simulation models. The basic idea of the standardization here is to estimate abilities of existing models how to reproduce traffic conditions through verification and validation. Verification implies qualifying tests using virtual data sets in order to make a connection between the simulation model and the traffic-engineering theory clear, while validation means an evaluation process with real world data. Subsequently to the general introduction, the verification process will be detailed with its philosophy and basic test configurations to verify models' functions concerning to 1) vehicle generation, 2) bottleneck capacity at simple road sections, 3) capacity of merging/diverging areas, 4) traffic jam growing/shrinking with propagation of shock waves, 5) capacity of left/right turn at an intersection, and 6) drivers' route choice behavior. In the last part of this paper, we briefly state the on-going project to compare some popular simulation models in Japan