Analysis of Temporal Demand Shifts to Improve Highway Speed Modeling

摘要

In the past ten years, there has been a clear trend away from federal funding of transportation projects. An increasing share of the cost of highways and public transportation must now be borne by state and local governments for whom generating the necessary revenue is far more politically sensitive, and therefore, more difficult. With the shift to state and local finance has come not only an increase in the detail by which capacity needs are evaluated but also an increase in the concern about the benefits that are gained from improvements. Travel time savings, air quality improvements, and improvements in traffic safety are all being examined with greater attention to quantitative estimation. For that reason, it is important that modeling systems accurately predict not only the volume of travel during the periods of peak demand but also the speed at which that travel will occur. The report presents the results of research on the phenomenon of peak-spreading on congested roadways conducted for the Arizona Transportation Research Center (ATRC) of the Arizona Department of Transporation.