Abstract
Traffic assessment is extremely important for the performance evaluation of vehicle-flow on a road network. This paper presents an assessment of traffic flow on the busiest road i.e., First Ring Road located at the central area of Madinah in Saudi Arabia. In this paper, the assessment of traffic-flow is performed by evaluating and analyzing the traffic on First Ring Road. This includes investigating the number of vehicles entering and exiting the central area through First Ring Road, the arrangements of the road, percentage of traffic entering versus exiting, etc. In addition, a new model for the traffic distribution along the roads intersecting with First Ring Road was built based on optimization. Our optimization model was formulated as a minimization problem of the difference between the measured number of vehicles and the sum of portions of vehicles from all entrances of First Ring Road that move out from each road. A simulation program was developed using Matlab to solve the optimization model. The simulation results show good agreement with the corresponding measurement data of vehicles at First Ring Road. Thus, our model can be used as a prediction model of vehicle movements. Keywords : traffic congestion; Hajj; traffic network model; optimization
Highlights
The traffic in the central area of Madinah is the subject of this study
The objectives of the work are: to perform the traffic assessment for the central area of Madinah in order to calculate the number of vehicles using First Ring Road at different times of the day; to identify if there are any differences in the level of traffic on certain routes connecting to Ring Road; to calculate the total number of vehicles intersecting with the ring road; and to provide recommendations on the traffic network in the area
The graphs show a similar trend in traffic flow on all the roads connecting to First Ring Road; with different traffic flow rates since this depends on the number of vehicles traveling from the different parts of the city into the central area
Summary
The traffic in the central area of Madinah is the subject of this study. The central area of Madinah shown in Figure 1 encircled by First Ring Road, occupies around 2.16 km. The area is accessed by 12 roads which connect First Ring Road. This area is very crowded especially during pilgrimage (Umrah and Hajj) seasons. According to the Saudi Central Department of Statistics and Information, the number of pilgrims during the seasons from 1995 to 2012 increased by approximately 70%. It is noticed that the population of Madinah has increased significantly in the last decade to over one million and it is projected that the population could increase by 50% by 2025 due to economic growth of the city (Saudi Central Department of Statistics and Information, 2013)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
