Traffic modelling of existing infrastructures upgrading from the promoter's point of view: some technical, financial and environmental/climate risk challenges

Abstract

Road projects comprising upgrading existing infrastructures have, as it is known, specificities in comparison with greenfield projects. The differences may be relevant in many aspects, being one of them the traffic modelling. In developed and built metropolitan areas these differences may be more challenging than in other scenarios. In this paper, challenges which may arise when modelling existing infrastructures in developed metropolitan areas will be addressed from the standpoint of the promoter, which in this case is typically the Road Administration. This approach may permit to cover almost all the issues which might appear when undertaking these projects. Other agents –private ones, for instance-, however, might not need to tackle all of them. In the paper, firstly, features of metropolitan areas relevant to traffic modelling will be exposed. Secondly, several challenges related to traffic modelling are presented. Thirdly, the state-of-the-art regarding the challenges is outlined. In the fourth place, in order to illustrate the paper contents, a real case in which the three authors have participated, some associated problems and solutions will be discussed. Next it is addressed how traffic modelling faces the challenges in the mentioned real case, and related modelling findings are set forth. Lastly conclusions are drawn.