Methodology of data collection for traffic congestion in urban traffic flow

摘要

This paper presents an empirical study of traffic data acquisition for managing and controlling flow rates in urban areas using a remote traffic microwave sensor (RTMS) radar detector. Even though diverse non-contact sensing devices including inductive loop detector, CCD camera, and ultra sonic detector can measure t6raffic volume, vehicle speed and occupancy, most detectors have been applied to and focused on the highway systems. Obviously, the circumstances for collecting traffic information in urban areas are quite different from those in highway. Urban traffic flow rates depend on various factors such as peak-period, peak-direction work trips, intersections and traffic signals. Between six and ten o'clock in the afternoon on August 11 to August 23, 1997, traffic data were collected by two different ways in terms of the RTMS detector and manual. To measure and analyze the urban traffic congestion accurately and efficiently, several components like the level of traffic congestion and the detector location had been investigated.