Analysis and modeling of highway truck traffic volume variations during severe winter weather conditions in Canada

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of cold and snow on daily and hourly truck traffic volume on a primary highway in Alberta, Canada. This research is based on a detailed case study of 5 years of weigh-in-motion data recorded continuously at Leduc site on Highway 2A. Influence of the winter conditions on truck type distribution is examined by classifying trucks into single-unit trucks, single-trailer, and multi-trailer units. It is evident from the study that proportion of the three truck classes in the total truck traffic remained essentially stable over the study period (2005-2009). Dummy-variable regression models are used to relate daily and hourly truck traffic volume with snowfall and categorized cold as independent variables. The statistical significance of all the independent variables used in the model is established by conducting tests such as R 2 , F test, incremental F test, and t test. The study results suggested that the truck volume is not significantly affected by the normal snowfall or the typical cold temperatures, i.e., average daily snowfall about less than 15 cm or temperatures higher than-25°C are not likely to affect the truck traffic patterns. It is believed that the findings of this study can benefit highway agencies in developing programs and policies for efficient monitoring of truck traffic throughout the year and snow removal during the winter season in Canada. Keywords Truck traffic Á Snowfall Á Cold temperature Á Weather Á Alberta Á Canada

A New Approach to Exploring the Relationship between Weather Phenomenon and Truck Traffic Volume in the Cold Region Highway Network

“…In their model (see Equation 3), the independent variable Expected Volume Factor (EVF) contribution was significantly higher as compared to snow and cold while estimating the daily traffic volume. Roh et al [10,11,17] also used similar models (see Equations (1) and (2)) and it was found that the EDVF can explain about 78% of classified traffic variation. These studies along with other similar studies as shown in Table 1 fail to explain the relationship between the traffic variation, snowfall and temperature.…”

“…An investigation of the impact of snowy days on daily truck traffic volume factor is carried out using data collected from the different type of highway facilities. In Canada, Roh and Sharma [10] studied variations in highway truck traffic triggered by serious winter weather conditions. In their study, the traffic volume factor (y i ) was estimated with Equation (1) by considering snowfall, temperature, and expected daily volume factor (EDVF) as independent variables in the dummy variable regression model.…”

An examination of traffic volume during snow events in northeast Ohio

“…Weekend volumes are more susceptible to inclement weather conditions since trips are usually more cancellable (Al Hassan and Barker 1999;Datla and Sharma 2008;Cools et al 2010). In a similar manner, truck volume decreases much less than smaller vehicles, likely because truck drivers operate on strict schedules and do not have flexibility to cancel trips for inclement weather (Call 2011;Roh et al 2015).…”

Combined Nonparametric Chi-Squared and Binomial Statistical Test on Truck Traffic Volume Changes in Canadian Provincial Highway Network

“…However, their study and other similar studies published in the literature were conducted solely on the basis of total traffic volume data. A few of researches (Roh et al 2012(Roh et al , 2015(Roh et al , 2016a(Roh et al , 2016b concluded that total traffic and passenger car volumes are influenced by both the snowfall and the cold temperatures, but the truck volume is not significantly affected by the amount of snowfall or severity of cold tem-peratures. Described in these papers are an extension of the research that was reported by Roh et al (2012).…”