VALUE OF TRAFFIC INFORMATION FOR ROUTE DIVERSION CONTROL SCHEME UNDER TRAFFIC INCIDENTS

Abstract

On-line traffic information is one of the crucial components that affect traveler's decisions. Particularly, in the event of traffic incidents, motorists might avoid traffic congestion and/or delays, through consulting means of highway advisory devices (e.g., VMS or HAR) or personal digital agents, in assessing relevant traffic incident and guidance information. Therefore, the issues of route diversion and value of traffic information in route guidance control scheme become significant. In the present research, a systematic framework based on traffic assignment models is proposed to analyze the value of traffic information in implementing route diversion strategies for on-line traffic management purposes, especially under the impacts of traffic incidents. To demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed framework, numerical analysis was conducted in light of simulation experiments. The test results indicated the capability of the proposed framework in evaluating the value of traffic information. More significantly, one can foresee the possible outcomes and potentials of traffic information, and evaluate the cost-effectiveness of information provision strategies.