Indiana Freeway Traffic Characteristics and Dynamic Prediction of Freeway Traffic211 Flows

摘要

Traffic volumes on Indiana's roadways have increased significantly in the past211u001eyears. During the period between 1989 and 1993, traffic volumes increased 20.2% 211u001eon Indiana's urban interstate freeways and expressways, and 13.1% on rural 211u001einterstates. The increasing traffic volumes have caused congestion and therefore 211u001eadditional costs to highway users. Basically, there are two options to alleviate 211u001etraffic congestion. The first option is to add new highway lanes and the second 211u001eone is to use the existing roadways more efficiently. Construction of new 211u001ehighways has been much limited by the budget and other restrictions. Therefore, 211u001eefficient operation of the existing roadways is often the only practical solution 211u001eto traffic delay and congestion problems. The objective of this study was to 211u001eanalyze Indiana freeway characteristics, find freeway capacities and to develop 211u001emethods or models for realtime prediction of freeway traffic flow 211u001echaracteristics. In this report, the traffic characteristics of Indiana freeways 211u001eare analyzed and discussed. Traffic measures are summarized in terms of average 211u001ehourly traffic (AHT), average daily traffic (ADT), and average vehicle speed. 211u001eAlso presented are other traffic characteristics such as proportions of heavy 211u001evehicles, land distributions, daily variations, and capacity values. A dynamic 211u001etraffic prediction model was developed using the Kalman Predictor method in 211u001ecombination with the time series theory. With the prediction model, the traffic 211u001eflow on a given freeway in the next time interval can be predicted using real 211u001etime traffic data of the current and past one or several time intervals.