A linkage tool for analyzing earthquake traffic impact in micro level based on seismic risk assessment and traffic simulation

Abstract

This paper developed a new software tool, RD-Linker, for analysis and simulation of earthquake traffic impact in micro level by the means of linking seismic risk assessment and traffic simulation based on Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)'s two software programs. Building a linker between them will be able to take advantages of their functionalities of these two software tools and avoid duplicating research and development work. REDARS (Risks from Earthquake Damage to Roadway Systems) is utilized for seismic risk assessment. DYNASMART-P (DYnamic Network Assignment-Simulation Model for Advanced Road Telematics) is employed for traffic simulation. REDRAS provides seismic risk analysis of highway systems to estimate the economic impact of earthquakes on transportation networks by evaluating damage to bridges and modeling the subsequent impacts on traffic flow. However, the analysis of the traffic impacts is limited in macro level only. Through RD-Linker, DYNASMART-P is able to do dynamic traffic network simulation in micro level with the damage affection on post-earthquake travel times and traffic flows as well as in comparison to pre-earthquake traffic status. Furthermore, the feedback information can improve the accuracy of the REDARS loss estimation based on the traffic congestions. These will be useful to emergency management officials and emergency responders.