The work reported in this paper is part of an on-going research project aimed at modelling the impacts of ITS (Intelligent Transport System) applications using microscopic traffic simulation models. In particular, this paper presents the results of incident-induced impacts on the performance of an arterial network. A microscopic simulation model was developed for the Western commuting corridor in Brisbane, and was used to assess the impacts of simulated incidents on average travel time, speed, fuel consumption and environmental emissions. The model was found to replicate (under-predict) traffic conditions within 6% of observed intersection volumes throughout the corridor, and matched observed travel times on a major route within acceptable levels. As expected, the impact of incidents was found to vary with severity (number of blocked lanes) and duration. The results also suggest that reducing a single lane incident duration from 30 minutes to 15 minutes provides a 12% increase in average travel speed, and 31% decrease in time spent in queue. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E206301.
Abstract