DIGITAL ASSIGNMENT 2 Technical Answers for Real

World Problems (TARP)

MEEE 3999

Submitted to - Prof. Dr. YAGNA S MUKKAMALA

Submitted by: -
ADAM ISMAIL
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Topic
Conduct an extensive literature survey on traffic
congestion, causes of traffic congestion, traffic
monitoring, and regulatory hurdles. Prepare a brief
report with at least 25 references spanning the globe
suggesting solutions to alleviate this problem

Abstract
Traffic congestion is a temporal condition on networks that
occurs as utility increases and is characterized by slower
speeds, longer trip times, and increased queuing. When the
volume of traffic is high and so heterogeneous that the
interaction between vehicles slows down the speed of traffic,
traffic congestion is the result. As demand approaches the
capacity of a road (or of the intersections along the road),
traffic congestion sets in. When vehicles are fully stopped for
the time, this is colloquially known as a traffic jam.
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Introduction
Rapid economic development and reforms caused the rapid
growth of urbanization which is resulting into growth in urban
population and expansion of city which triggers a fast increase
in urban travel demand and growth in private vehicle
ownership.
However, urban transportation infrastructure and traffic
management fail to match the rapid growth rate of travel
demand and supply resulting into congestion on the road
along with traffic accident and pollution. With congestion
intensification, delay of computers has increased and
reliability of network has decreased.
Travel forecasting models are used in
transportation planning to evaluate the impact of future
changes in demographics, land use or transportation facilities
on the performance of city’s transportation system. The four-
stage travel demand model is generally applied which consists
trip generation, trip distribution, mode choice and trip
assignment. Trip generation methods are used to predict
production and attractions for given areas whereas trip
distribution models are used to forecast flows between origin
and destination.
With the congestion problem on
the road network, transportation planning has also focused on
improvement of management through application of
intelligent transportation system along with infrastructure
development. Network flow or route choice of traveller is
most useful output of travel demand model to understand and
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address the congestion and also application of Intelligent

Transportation System; Advanced Traveller Information
System and Advanced Traveller Management System.
Recent development of ATIS and ATMS and their
application have increased the attention towards the dynamic
traffic assignment.

Literature Survey
Types of Congestion
There are two overall types of traffic congestion, according to
the Department of Transportation: recurring and non-
recurring. The DOT states that about half of traffic congestion
is the recurring kind, which happens daily and is due to a lack
of capacity on the road — or in other words, there are more
vehicles travelling at a given time than can physically fit. The
other type of congestion, non-recurring, is what the DOT calls
“temporary disruptions” in travel, such as bad weather or a
vehicle collision.

Within these two types of traffic congestion, we’ll look at

four more specific categories:
1. Environment (non-recurring)
2. Mechanical (non-recurring)
3. Human (non-recurring)
4. Infrastructure (recurring)
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Taken together, these reasons account for why city-dwellers

are likely to see what should be a 30-minute commute turn
into a 45-minute commute.

1. Environment
A study by Dr. Jean Andrey and Daniel Unrau found that
traffic collisions increase by around 50 percent during snow
and rain. From rainy or foggy weather, to the extreme
snowstorm that stops drivers in their tracks, weather has an
uncontrollable affect on not just traffic but road conditions as
well. Even a gentle rain can make an impact if all drivers slow
down together.

Something more serious such as a sudden mudslide could not

only stop traffic but cause a collision if a driver happens to be
in the wrong muddy place at the wrong muddy time. This is
an example of how weather can have a compounding effect
on traffic by creating bad situations, or by making already
bad traffic situations even worse.

All in all, bad weather is the main culprit in 15% of traffic

congestion cases, according to the DOT.

2. Mechanical
Another factor that can cause traffic congestion is the case of
a mechanical failing. While arguably a mechanical failing
could fall into a human-caused category, such as if the person
failed to properly maintain the vehicle’s tires, this is not
always the case.
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Mechanical failings can also happen due to external factors

such as a sharp object on the road, and can happen suddenly
while driving, even if you just had your vehicle maintained.

While humans can help prevent and decrease mechanical

issues by inspecting vehicles before every trip and making
sure preventive maintenance cycles are followed, either way,
these issues require the driver to get off the road. When
you’re on a five-lane highway, this task can prove difficult.
When other drivers rush to get around the stopped vehicle, it
only further drags out the impact on traffic as drivers merge
into surrounding lanes instead of stopping to let the person
quickly get to the shoulder.

Again, while in some scenarios a driver may have been able

to prevent the issue, even some of the most seasoned and
responsible drivers can find themselves in these situations.

3. Human
The all-too-common cause of traffic is humans. From
distracted or drunk driving to drowsy driving or emotional
driving, there are many dangerous scenarios — even with our
opposable thumbs and large frontal lobes — that humans
trigger on the road. Just taking a quick look at some 2016
traffic fatality statistics from the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration gives a plain view at the chaos our
decisions can cause on the road:

• There were 29 alcohol-impaired driving fatalities per

day. This number has been steadily increasing over the
last few years.
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• In the passenger car segment, 21% of drivers involved in

a fatal collision had a blood alcohol content of .08 or
higher.
• Speeding-related accidents accounted for 27% of
fatalities.

The 2016 NHTSA report also found that distracted driving and
drowsy driving declined compared to 2015. While distracted
driving might not be causing as many fatalities, it is an area
where driver behaviour can impact traffic on a regular basis.
Consider this — in a AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety study
on the brain’s cognitive load during driving, it takes an
average of 27 seconds for the driver to become completely
focused on driving again.

Phantom Traffic Jams: It’s unsurprising then that drivers end

up making quick decisions and engage in behaviours like last-
minute braking. Once a driver slams on the brake because he
or she was distracted, a ripple effect begins. Depending on
other traffic conditions, this one mistake in braking could
slow traffic in that lane and surrounding lanes for hours. This
is what’s referred to as phantom traffic jams because as
drivers get through the sluggish spot, it will seem as though
absolutely nothing had caused the slowdown. Researchers
describe it as the same ripple effect that a bomb makes. The
even-worse situation is when that last-minute braking
scenario turns into a fender bender. Again, that time getting
off the road causes even more residual traffic, especially
when “rubbernecking” is present.

But the truth is that much of the congestion caused by

humans is due to a much simpler reason than any of those
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listed above — driver training. Many of our fleet readers who

have gone through driver training programs likely agree. To
get a license, a driver must show an understanding of the
rules of the road, not necessarily how to best merge onto a
freeway or use the accelerator instead of last-minute braking
to deal with stop-and-go traffic. If all drivers went through
the training and fleet safety coaching that many fleet drivers
do, it’s arguable that some traffic congestion could be
prevented.

4. Infrastructure
Another category that could also arguably be human-caused
is infrastructure.

However, while humans created it, infrastructure is so vast

and the world around it changing so rapidly, that’s it’s not
necessarily the fault of engineers who didn’t foresee the
demands which would-be put-on roads at exponential rates.

From potholes that cause slowdowns to bottlenecks in areas

that out-populated their roadways, infrastructure is the
hidden troll that amplifies traffic problems in many urban
and suburban areas.

Bottlenecks alone account for 40% of traffic congestion

causes, according to the DOT. Ironically, in our efforts to
improve infrastructure, construction also causes 10% of
traffic.
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STUDIES ON RISK PARAMETERS

A simple model was developed by Jack Mallinckrodt, 2009 on

regional average congestion delay, in a closed-form,
differentiable function of regional transportation system with
volume and capacity data. This model can be used to reduce
the risk generated due to congestion. Different views were
studied by Robert A. Johnston, Jay R. Lund, Paul P. Craig, 1995
on congestion generation and degeneration. Their study
revealed that, itis unlikely that roadway construction or
vehicle automation will be able to alleviate most major urban
congestion in the near future i.e. for another 5 –15 years.
Traffic congestion occurs when a volume of traffic or modal
split generates demand for space greater than the available
road capacity. There are a number of specific circumstances
which cause or aggravate congestion; most of them reduce
the effective capacity of a road at a given point or over a
certain length, or increase the number of vehicles required for
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a given volume of people or goods. Capacity allocation studies

reveal that approaches like laissez-faire allocation, allocation
by passenger load, ramp metering, road and parking pricing,
allocation by trip purpose, rationing, and mixed strategies can
be used for reducing congestion.
Quantification of congestion can be
done by incorporating the volume and operational
characteristics of traffic movement. Bhargab Maitra,
P.K.Sikdar and S.L.Dhingra, 1999 conducted a study on
quantification of congestion. Quantified congestion level can
be used as a logical and improved measure of effectiveness to
account for the conceptual definition of level of service in a
quantitative manner. Modelling congestion has provided a
quantitative basis for understanding the contribution of
different vehicle types in overall congestion, and it is useful for
evolving the policy for congestion mitigation.

Reducing Traffic Congestion

Interventions to reduce traffic congestion
• Optimise traffic-light management
• Use CCTV to monitor road conditions
• Enforce existing road traffic laws
• Improve perceptions of buses
• Extend residents’ parking zones
• Charge for workplace parking
• Improve cycling infrastructure
• Improve bus services
• Develop and refine park-and-ride
• Use Inbound Flow Control
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• Rationalise distribution and deliveries

• Existing rail network
• Light rail
• Strategic Road Network resilience
• Road pricing

As can be seen, these begin with interventions requiring only

a low level of capital investment, before moving on to those
which require an increasing degree of public and/or private
sector investment. We will look at each in turn, before
finishing by looking at the role of transport in health and
welfare and providing some concluding thoughts.
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one-hit solution
It is often incorrectly suggested that congestion may be
solved with one big idea, such as:

• Widen roads
• Narrow roads
• Add bus lanes
• Remove bus lanes
• Build tunnels
• Build a new ring road
• Build a light rail network
• Switch off traffic lights
• Ban cycling
• Ban cars from city centres
• Close through-routes to private vehicles
• Close car parks
• Build more car parks
• Build more park-and-rides
• Make buses free
• Make park-and-ride free
• Introduce a congestion charge/road pricing
None of these can deliver a complete solution, and most of
them provide only temporary relief until induced demand fills
up the road space once more. Road pricing (which we cover
later) is the nearest to a one-hit solution, but it still needs to
be paired with big improvements to public and active
transport options.

Heavy-engineering measures, such as bus lanes, street-

running trams, and tunnelling, can attract support from
politicians, mindful of their legacy. But such projects typically
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require years of highly disruptive work, destroy fragile

streetscapes, and undermine the viability of other public
transport options. Widening a road to add a bus lane makes
it more difficult for pedestrians to cross, and may
compromise the quality of cycling infrastructure that can be
accommodated. A tram line or park-and-ride can cannibalise
patronage of rural bus services. Business cases need to be
built up carefully, and only after ‘softer’ measures have been
implemented, or at least modelled in detail.

For those who believe that cycling causes congestion, the

Cambridge Cycling Campaign has a mischievous suggestion:
let’s have a no-cycle day! Experience is much more
persuasive than theory.

We need only look to cities in Europe that manage

congestion effectively, such as Copenhagen, Freiburg and
Groningen: they employ a wide range of complementary
measures, carefully balancing the needs of residents,
commuters, businesses, visitors and tourists.
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Traffic Monitoring Systems:

1. Optimise traffic-light management

Urban Traffic Management Control (UTMC) systems such as

SCOOT can be very effective in maximising road capacity by
varying the timing of traffic lights to match demand in real
time. When lights are all co-ordinated responsively to
demand, incidences of ‘blocking back’ (vehicles stuck in
junctions) leading to gridlock can be minimised. Traffic
planners can also prepare and model programs to cope with
specific scenarios (such as an incident on an arterial road),
which can then be loaded into the UTMC immediately they’re
needed.

UTMC can help prioritise buses by synchronising light phases

to the movements of buses. Modern systems can even see
whether a bus is running on or behind schedule, and vary the
amount of priority it gives accordingly (e.g. by limiting green
time from cross roads).

2. Use CCTV to monitor road conditions

Use of CCTV at junctions allows traffic managers to see

breakdowns, collisions and other causes of congestion.
Combined with good communication systems with Highways
England, the police and major road users (such as airports,
train stations, retail parks), this can ensure traffic managers
receive advance warning of issues that will impact their
network.

Any CCTV equipment installed should comply with the

minimum standards required to support legal enforcement.
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3. Enforce existing road traffic laws

Illegal parking, waiting, loading/unloading obstructs traffic

flow, reduces capacity at junctions, holds up buses, and
increases danger to those walking or cycling. Blocking
junctions, which is illegal where there’s a yellow box, can
cause gridlock across a wide area of the road network.
There is currently an acceptance that it’s OK for delivery
vehicles to park up on the pavement outside a shop, even
when there’s a safer alternative. The convenience of the
delivery driver outweighs convenience and safety of
pedestrians, wheelchair users and those with infant buggies.

Enablement of Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004

would allow civil enforcement of a wide range of minor
moving vehicle offences, which currently the police have
neither the resources nor incentives to enforce.

4. Improve perceptions of buses

There is a perception (partly class-related) that trams are

more attractive than buses. Rather than pander to this bias –
potentially at huge expense – it makes sense to examine why
the perception exists. Some of the commonly-cited
objections are:

• All-electric buses, with quiet, battery-powered motors,

will be commonplace within a decade, so this advantage
of trams will diminish.
• Tickets are typically purchased before boarding a tram,
or there is contactless payment.
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5. Extend residents’ parking zones

This is exacerbating congestion and pollution in cities as more

commuters drive around looking for parking spaces. This in
turn makes walking and cycling less pleasant and safe for
residents. It also leaves no space for visitors (including those
providing health and personal care services) to park, and for
delivery vehicles to stop safely.

The answer is to extend parking controls much further out

from the centre of the city in a co-ordinated way. Adding new
residents’ parking zones in a piecemeal fashion simply pushes
problems to a new area. By co-ordinating the expansion it’s
possible to have one-hour residents’ parking zones, which
can be patrolled by one or two civil enforcement officers. A
patrol route can be designed through consecutive one-hour
restrictions: 10-11am in one area, 11-noon in the next, noon-
1pm in the next, and so on. Combined with ANPR (automatic
number plate recognition) technology, enforcement can be
quick and cheap.
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As part of a general review of parking allocation, space

should be allocated for short-stay parking for visitors and
loading bays for deliveries.

6. Charge for workplace parking

Free parking at employment sites attracts traffic and

therefore contributes indirectly to congestion. Nottingham
has led the way in introducing a workplace parking levy
(WPL). The effect on congestion is relatively small, but
significant. More importantly it incentivises employers to
help their employees find alternative ways to get to work.
Measures may include:

• Re-allocate car parking for cycle parking

• Set up or join a car-share scheme
• Pay for taxis as a back-up when car-sharing does not
work out
• Provide financial assistance (e.g. loans) to buy train or
bus season tickets
• Build a changing room and showers
• Assist with subsidising public bus services to extend the
hours of operation
• Where there is no (nearly) suitable public bus service,
run a works bus.
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Conclusion
Long-term reductions in congestion require people to switch
to more sustainable, space-efficient modes of transport:
walking, cycling, buses, trams and trains. Though some relief
may be gained from increasing the efficiency and capacity of
the road network, this will always be short-term: the iron law
of induced demand will see to that. People will simply adapt
to prevailing road conditions, choosing whichever route is
quickest, and increasing driving distances as road speeds
increase.

To achieve this in towns and cities we need to invest in

improving sustainable transport modes and, at the same
time, reduce capacity, access and convenience of urban road
networks for motor vehicles. This requires a revolution in
transport planning: no longer can the motor vehicle be king
of the city

we must find ways to filter motor vehicles so as to deter

people from driving who have alternatives, but without
severely inconveniencing those who, for personal or business
reasons, have no alternative. Transport professionals must
adjust the way they refer to people, not as ‘motorists’ or
‘cyclists’, but as people who drive, cycle, walk, take a bus,
etc.
Government and local authorities need to invest in
developing and articulating a positive vision of what low-car
cities will look like. It is essential that they involve urban and
landscape designers from the outset, and not bring them in
at the end of engineering.
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