Abstract
Recently many studies have emphasized the negative influence of inclement weather on microscopic and macroscopic traffic flow characteristics, including road capacity and operating speed. Although many conclusions have been drawn, only a few researches have investigated simulation-oriented rainfall influences on urban traffic systems. Simulation of rainfall scenario requires detailed theoretical study and statistical calibration, from both demand side and supply side, where related study is limited. This paper proposes a systematic study process to realize the simulation of rainfall scenario, based on a case area in Beijing, China. Firstly, rainfall impacts on urban traffic flow from both demand side and supply side are investigated by using traffic detector data and weather data. Then results are utilized to build a rainfall-integrated module in the microscopic simulation software of FLOWSIM. Results show that with rainfall module, FLOWSIM can describe the rainfall impacts on urban traffic systems with higher accuracy than without rainfall consideration. The methodology can be useful as references for similar studies and future applications; and the calibrated rainfall-integrated simulator can facilitate to improve traffic evaluation, operation, and management. Both data analysis and simulation tests conclude that rainfall has negative impact on urban traffic flow.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
Agbolosu-Amison, S.J., Sadek, A.W., ElDessouki, W.: Inclement weather and traffic flow at signalized intersections: case study from northern New England. Transp. Res. Rec. 1867, 163–171 (2004)
Agbolosu-Amison, S.J., Sadek, A.W., Henry, B.: Factors affecting benefits of implementing special signal timing plans for inclement weather conditions. Transp. Res. Rec. 1925, 146–155 (2005)
Al-Kaisy, A., Freedman, Z.: Weather-responsive signal timing: practical guidelines. Transp. Res. Rec. 1978, 49–60 (2006)
Angel, M.L., Sando, T., Chimba, D., Kwigizile, V.: Effects of rain on traffic operations on Florida freeways. In: Proceedings of the 93th Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting. Transportation Research Board, Washington D.C. (2014)
Asamer, J., Reinthaler, M.: Estimation of road capacity and free flow speed for urban roads under adverse weather conditions. In: Proceedings of the 13th International IEEE Annual Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems. IEEE, Madeira Island (2010)
Brilon, W., Ponzlet, M.: Variability of speed-flow relationships on german autobahns. Transp. Res. Rec. 1555, 91–98 (1996)
Camacho, F.J., García, A., Belda, E.: Analysis of impact of adverse weather on freeway free-flow speed in Spain. Transp. Res. Rec. 2168, 150–159 (2010)
Chung, E., Ohtani, O., Warita, H., Kuwahara, M., Morita, H.: Effect of rain on travel demand and traffic accident. In: Proceedings of the 8th International IEEE Annual Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems. IEEE, Vienna (2005)
Chung, E., Ohtani, O., Warita, H., Kuwahara, M., Morita, H.: Does weather affect highway capacity. In: Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Highway Capacity and Quality of Service. Transportation Research Board, Yakoma (2006)
Colyar, J., Zhang, L., Halkias, J.: Identifying and assessing key weather-related parameters and their impact on traffic operations using simulation. In: 2003 Institute of Transportation Engineering Annual Meeting. Institute of Transportation Engineers, Washington, D.C. (2003)
Du, Y., Wu, J., Qi, G., Jia, Y.: Simulation studyof bicycle multi-phase crossing at intersections. ICE Transp. 168(5), 457–465 (2015)
Hou, T., Mahmassani, H.S., Alfelor, R.M., Kim, J., Saberi, M.: Calibration of traffic flow models under adverse weather and application in mesoscopic network simulation. Transp. Res. Rec. 2391, 92–104 (2013)
Ibrahim, A.T., Hall, F.L.: Effects of adverse weather conditions on speed-flow-occupancy relationships. Transp. Res. Rec. 1457, 184–191 (1994)
Keay, K., Simmonds, I.: The association of rainfall and other weather variables with road traffic volume in Melbourne, Australia. Accid. Anal. Prev. 37(1), 109–124 (2005)
Kyte, M., Khatib, Z., Shannon, P., Kitchener, F.: Effects of weather on free-flow speed. Transp. Res. Rec. 1776, 60–68 (2001)
Lam, W.H.K., Tam, M.L., Cao, X., Li, X.: Modeling the effects of rainfall intensity on traffic speed, flow, and density relationships for urban roads. J. Transp. Eng. 139(7), 758–770 (2013)
Lamm, R., Choueiri, E.M., Mailaender, T.: Comparison of operating speeds on dry and wet pavements of two-lane rural highways. Transp. Res. Rec. 1280, 199–207 (1990)
Liang, W.L., Kyte, M., Kitchener, F., Shannon, P.: The effect of environmental factors on driver speed: a case study. Transp. Res. Rec. 1635, 155–161 (1998)
Lieu, H.C., Lin, S.M.: Benefit assessment of implementing weather-specific signal timing plans by using CORSIM. Transp. Res. Rec. 1867, 202–209 (2004)
Lu, L., Xu, Y., Antoniou, C., Ben-Akiva, M.: An enhanced SPSA algorithm for the calibration of Dynamic Traffic Assignment models. Transp. Res. Part C 51, 149–166 (2015)
Maze, T.H., Agarwai, M., Burchett, G.: Whether weather matters to travel demand, traffic safety, and traffic operations and flow. Transp. Res. Rec. 1948, 170–176 (2006)
Perrin, H.J., Martin, P.T., Hansen, B.G.: Modifying signal timing during inclement weather. Transp. Res. Rec. 1748, 66–71 (2001)
Smith, B.L., Byrne, K.G., Copperman, R.B., Hennessy, S.M., Goodall, N.J.: An investigation into the impact of rainfall of freeway traffic flow. In: Proceedings of the 83th Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting. Transportation Research Board, Washington D.C. (2004)
Smith, B.L., Ulmer, J.M.: Freeway traffic flow rate measurement: investigation into impact of measurement time interval. J. Transp. Eng. 129(3), 223–229 (2003)
Spall, J.C.: Multivariate stochastic approximation using a simultaneous perturbation gradient approximation. IEEE Trans. Autom. Control 37(3), 332–341 (1992)
Transportation Research Board: Highway capacity manual 2000. Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, DC (2000)
Wu, J., Brackstone, M., McDonald, M.: Fuzzy sets and systems for a motorway microscopic simulation model. Fuzzy Sets Syst. 116, 65–76 (2000)
Wu, J., Brackstone, M., McDonald, M.: The validation of a microscopic simulation model: a methodological case study. Transp. Res. Part C 11(6), 463–479 (2003)
Acknowledgement
This study is funded by China Scholarship Council, and also by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2013M540102).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this paper
Cite this paper
Jia, Y., Wu, J., Du, Y. (2016). Modeling and Simulation of Rainfall Impacts on Urban Traffic Flow: A Case Study in Beijing. In: Zhang, L., Song, X., Wu, Y. (eds) Theory, Methodology, Tools and Applications for Modeling and Simulation of Complex Systems. AsiaSim SCS AutumnSim 2016 2016. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 643. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2663-8_49
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2663-8_49
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-2662-1
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-2663-8
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)