Comparison of Two Novel Travel Time Estimation Techniques Based on Probe Vehicle Data: Kriging versus Non-linear Programming Based Approaches

摘要

This study proposes and compares two novel approaches for estimating link travel timesusing data collected by an electronic toll collection system deployed on a closed roadwaysystem instead of sensors and AVI readers specifically deployed for traffic monitoring.This dual use of toll readers for travel time estimation can be an attractive approach sinceit eliminates additional costs of deploying and maintaining sensors. However, readers arenot located on the mainline, but instead on the ramps. Aside from the fact that the specialconfiguration of the readers can present an important challenge in terms of accuracy ofthe estimates, the demand level associated with particular OD pairs is not always enoughto obtain accurate average travel times. This study proposes two distinct statistical andmathematical programming based approaches to estimate link travel times, and studiespros and cons of each approach in terms of the accuracy of travel time estimates given theexisting the infrastructure of the road system.