Centrality-based lane interventions in road networks for improved level of service: the case of downtown Boise, Idaho

Abstract

Recent advancements in network science showed that the topological credentials of the elements (i.e., links) in a network carry important implications. Likewise, roadway segments (i.e., links) in a road network should be assessed based on their network position along with traffic conditions at a given geographic scale. The goal of this study is to present a framework that can identify and select critical links in a road network based on their topological importance such as centrality, and the effects of systematic interventions conducted on such links in improving overall system performance (vehicle delay, travel time) to provide an adequate level of service (LOS). A real-world road network (Boise downtown) is investigated by applying lane interventions on roadways experiencing high congestion. Microscopic traffic simulation and analyses are conducted to estimate the traffic flow parameters hence the performance of the road segments. The findings of this study show that interventions applied to critical and congested road segments improve the serviceability from LOS F to LOS E as well as from LOS D to LOS C. Besides, reduced travel time and vehicular delay (after applying intervention on critical components) are also observed for high demand OD pairs of the road network. As such the proposed framework has the potential to incorporate the topological credentials with traffic flow parameters and improve the performance of the road network. This systematic approach will help traffic managers and practitioners to develop strategies that enhance road network performance.

Measuring accessibility to public services and infrastructure criticality for disasters risk management

“…and estimated travel density on the road segments based on users’ preferences based on accessibility, service types, capacity, and quality. Other criticality metrics in the literature rely on betweenness edge centrality weighted by simulated traffic flow 58 , Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram (MDF) 31 , economic loss based on products transportation in the road segments 32 , accessibility loss due to disruptions on the road 33 , and road section with high the traffic flow contribution 34 to capture road criticality. Furthermore, other information such as capacity, number of services, human resources, Etc.…”

Translating Risk Narratives in Socio-technical Systems into Infrastructure Utilization Metrics during Compounding Hazard Events

“…(Ahmed et al 2022). One advantage of using such credentials is that subsequent interventions to improve traffic performance can be built upon the existing framework of transportation networks' structure (Ahmed et al 2023). To evaluate the applicability of road network classification (which was done based on tweet sentiment score and "traffic and accident" related tweet classification); network analysis integrating such information is tested for a small area of OKC (the inset map in Figure 12).…”

“…Unlike individual events, synergistic effects (e.g., earthquake coupled with rainfall creating landslide) (Lan et al 2023), cascading effect , psychological and social impacts (Grineski et al 2022) are some of the additional risks associated with compounding disasters. Furthermore, interdependencies of critical infrastructure heightened these effects and increase vulnerability of dependent communities and infrastructures (Kays et al 2023). Such intrinsic complexity and impacts of disaster were studied for Hurricane Katrina (2005) when power, communication, and road infrastructures were damaged, the transportation system being the most critical one (Oh et al 2010).…”