Identification Method of Main Road Traffic Congestion Situation in Cold-Climate Cities Based on Potential Energy Theory and GPS Data

Yulong Pei,Keke Song,Rui Liu,Xiaoxi Cai,Jie Li

doi:10.3390/sym14020227

Abstract

Traffic congestion is a global problem. Affected by climate, the issue of congestion in cold-climate cities is more serious. To comprehensively and accurately identify the traffic congestion situation on the main roads of cold-climate cities and to provide a reference for city managers for congestion treatment, this study applies the theory of potential energy to the problem of traffic congestion, draws on the symmetry of potential energy and the function mechanism of artificial potential fields, and establishes a traffic congestion potential energy model for the main roads in cold-climate cities. Taking Global Positioning System (GPS) data as the primary data, the model parameters are calibrated using a combination of subjective and objective empowerment methods, and the investigation into the congestion perception level determines the division threshold of the congestion potential energy level. Test results are encouraging, and the method considers the state and the trends and can avoid problems such as lagging road condition information.

Highlights

With the continuous acceleration of urbanization, traffic congestion is becoming more and more serious, which has become an important “bottleneck” problem for urban residents but has become a difficult problem that city managers have to face
The term cold-climate city refers to a city that has adverse effects on urban life due to a long winter and harsh climate [1]
The discriminant conditions of severe cold regions and cold regions (−10 ◦C < the average temperature of the coldest month < 0 ◦C or 90 days< the days with daily average temperature below 5 ◦C < 145 days) in the “Thermal design code for civil buildings” (GB 50176–2016) promulgated by the National Standardization Management Committee are used as the criteria for defining cold-climate cities

Summary

Introduction

With the continuous acceleration of urbanization, traffic congestion is becoming more and more serious, which has become an important “bottleneck” problem for urban residents but has become a difficult problem that city managers have to face. Winter temperatures are low and last for a long time, with frequent snowfall accompanied by a bitter cold wind, leading to the phenomenon of wind blowing snow and snow blindness (sunlight reflected by snow), resulting in reduced visibility; the snow adheres to the road pavement, forming icy and snowy pavement, resulting in a decrease in the friction and adhesion coefficients of the road surface [2,3,4,5,6] Such severe climatic conditions make the traffic operation characteristics of cold-climate cities in the winter different from non-cold-climate cites or from other seasons in cold-climate cities. The ground traffic pressure in winter in cold-climate cities is greater than it is in non-cold-climate cities or during other seasons in cold-climate cities, and traffic congestion problems are more serious [12]

Objectives

Methods

Results