Control algorithms used for deciding on the speed limits in variable speed limit systems are crucial for the performance of the system. Today, many of the control algorithms used are based on fixed thresholds in speed and/or flow for lowering and increasing the speed limit. The algorithms are not necessarily reflecting the conditions on the road, which might lead to low traffic efficiency. Our hypothesis is that by use of a simple and efficient control algorithm that is better in reflecting the conditions on the road, both traffic efficiency and traffic safety could be increased. In this study, four control algorithms used in variable speed limit systems, and fulfilling the above criteria, are evealuted through microscopic traffic simulation. Performance indicators related to traffic safety, traffic efficiency and environmental impacts are presented. The results show that the design of, and the objective with, the control algorithm have a great impact on the performance. Moreover, the time needed for incident detection, the duration of and the size of the speed limit reduction and the location of the congestion are of importance for the performance of the control algorithms. These results will be of importance for design and implementation of future efficient variable speed limit systems.

This paper presents a micro-simulation model that takes flared design of rural intersections into consideration. The intersection model is designed with input parameters that describe the geometric conditions of the flare. The behavior model includes both a traditional gap-acceptance sub-model and a passage model for modelling of vehicles’ possibility to pass other vehicles using the flare. The intersection model developed has been implemented in the traffic micro simulation model RuTSim. The gap-acceptance part of the model has been calibrated using data for stop and yield 3-way intersections. The validation was performed by using video recordings to calculate delay for the yield regulated intersection and time in queue and service time for the stop regulated intersection. The results from the validation simulations correspond well with the empirical validation data. The effect of the flare on delay has been studied by using 3 different intersection lay-outs and different levels of minor and major flow. The result shows that the delay is decreasing with increasing intersection radius.

Variable speed limit systems where variable message signs are used to show speed limits adjusted to the prevailing road or traffic conditions are installed on motorways in many countries. The objectives of variable speed limit system installations are often to decrease the number of accidents and to increase traffic efficiency. Currently, there is an interest in exploring the potential of cooperative intelligent transport systems including communication between vehicles and/or vehicles and the infrastructure. In this paper, we study the potential benefits of introducing infrastructure to vehicle communication, autonomous vehicle control and individualized speed limits in variable speed limit systems. We do this by proposing a cooperative variable speed limit system as an extension of an existing variable speed limit system. In the proposed system, communication between the infrastructure and the vehicles is used to transmit variable speed limits to upstream vehicles before the variable message signs become visible to the drivers. The system is evaluated by the means of microscopic traffic simulation. Traffic efficiency and environmental effects are considered in the analysis. The results of the study show benefits of the infrastructure to vehicle communication, autonomous vehicle control and individualized speed limits for variable speed limit systems in the form of lower acceleration rates and thereby harmonized traffic flow and reduced exhaust emissions.

To improve road safety on parts of the road network carrying low traffic volumes, road designs are proposed including single-lane road segments and periodic overtaking lanes. These roads have been proven to contribute to substantial benefits in terms of road safety. However, overtaking of slower vehicles is only possible on segments including an overtaking lane and not on the single-lane road segments. Driver and vehicle heterogeneity resulting in differences in desired speeds are consequently decisive for the traffic performance. Sufficient quality of service is relying on an appropriate design and distribution of single-lane segments and overtaking lanes. In this paper, we study the effect of the desired speed distribution on traffic performance on single-lane road segments. Expressions are derived for the travel time, delay and percent time spent following. The derived expressions link the desired speed distribution, the single-lane segment length and the traffic flow to the resulting traffic performance. The results are verified through comparison with measures based on microscopic traffic simulation. The conclusion is that there is a good agreement between derived measures and simulation results. The derived measures should therefore not only be of theoretical interest, but also of practical use to estimate traffic performance on single-lane road segments.

Microscopic simulation of pedestrian traffic is an important and increasingly popular method to evaluate the performance of existing or proposed infrastructure. The social force model is a common model in simulations, describing the dynamics of pedestrian crowds given the goals of the simulated pedestrians encoded as their preferred velocities. The main focus of the literature has so far been how to choose the preferred velocities to produce realistic dynamic route choices for pedestrians moving through congested infrastructure. However, limited attention has been given the problem of choosing the preferred velocity to produce other behaviors, such as waiting, commonly occurring at, e.g., public transport interchange stations. We hypothesize that: (1) the inclusion of waiting pedestrians in a simulated scenario will significantly affect the level of service for passing pedestrians, and (2) the details of the waiting model affect the predicted level of service, that is, it is important to choose an appropriate model of waiting. We show that the treatment of waiting pedestrians have a significant impact on simulations of pedestrian traffic. We do this by introducing a series of extensions to the social force model to produce waiting behavior, and provide predictions of the model extensions that highlight their differences. We also present a sensitivity analysis and provide sufficient criteria for stability. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The global aim of the ecoDriver project is to increase the fuel efficiency by 20% by optimising the driver-powertrain-environment feedback loop and delivering effective advice to drivers. In the course of the project, field experiments will take place with a wide range of vehicles — e.g. cars, light trucks and vans, medium and heavy trucks and buses — covering both individual and collective transport. The last step of the project (Sub Project 5; SP5) is to scale up the results from these tests and analyse costs and benefits for a number of futurescenarios.

The aim of SP5 is to predict the impact of the ecoDriver systems and solutions in the future, drawing on all the evaluations carried out in the project. With the results of SP5 it will be possible to make estimates about the costs and benefits of the suggested green driving support systems on a global (EU-27) level, both for society as a whole and for sub-groups like manufacturers and consumers. SP5 will construct a set of possible scenarios for the future depending on various road maps envisioned today. The predictions for future years will be made based on available data from within and outside of the project, and on advanced microscopic traffic modelling. SP5 takes the following steps to meet the objectives:

• Collect data needed for scaling up and developing scenarios
• Create a range of scenarios
• Assess the network implications of green driving support systems for future networks
• Predict the global impacts for a range of systems and scenarios
• Carry out a cost benefit analysis for a range of systems and scenarios

This deliverable describes the data needs for each step. It also contains a description of the approaches proposed for the scenario building, the microscopic traffic simulations, the scaling up and the cost-benefit analysis.

Syftet med föreliggande handbok är att beskriva hur trafiksimulering kan användas som en alternativ metod eller komplement till analytiska metoder för att bestämma kapacitet och framkomlighet. Liksom metodbeskrivningarna i TRV2013/64343 är beskrivningarna avsedda att kunna användas för att med hjälp av trafiksimulering uppskatta effekterna av en given utformning i samband med planering, konsekvensanalys, projektering och drift av vägtrafikanläggningar. Simulering kan användas som ett komplement till de analytiska metoderna, eller som ersättning i fall som inte täcks av dessa metoder. Härigenom minskas risken för onödiga kostnader förorsakade av såväl över- som underkapacitet.

Efficient interchange stations, where travelers are changing lines and/or travel modes, are essential for the functionality of the whole public transport system. By studying pedestrian movements, the level of service and effectiveness imposed by the design of the interchange station can be evaluated. We address the problem by microsimulation, where a social force model is used for the phenomenological description of pedestrian interactions. The contribution of this paper is the proposal of measures describing the density, delay, acceleration and discomfort for pedestrian flows. Simulation experiments are performed for the movements in two canonical pedestrian areas, a corridor and a corridor intersection. Clearly, each of the four measures gives a description for how pedestrians impede each other, and hence for the efficiency at the facility. There is, however, different information provided by each measure, and we conclude that they all are well-motivated for quantifying the level of service in a pedestrian flow. We also illustrate the outcome for a railway platform, with two trains arriving in parallel.

Variable Speed Limit Systems (VSLS) where variable message signs show speed limits based on traffic or road conditions exist on motorways in many countries. The purpose of the VSLS is to decrease the number of accidents while increasing efficiency of traffic system. Cooperative systems are a type of intelligent transport system that has received increasing interest lately. The central part of a cooperative system is communication between vehicles and/or vehicles and the infrastructure. In this paper, a cooperative systems extension of a VSLS is proposed and evaluated by means of microscopic traffic simulation. In the proposed cooperative VSLS, communication between the vehicles and the infrastructure is made available via a roadside unit communicating the speed limits to vehicles upstream on the road. Both aggregate and micro-scale emission models are used to estimate emission from vehicle states in traffic flow. The results of the study show that the cooperative VSLS has a potential to contribute to flow harmonization and to reduce environmental impacts. The emission estimates in the study are dependent on the emission models being applied.