Trip Assignment Modelling for an Indian City to Assess the Benefits of Proposing Ring Roads

Abstract

Travel demand models are tools used to estimate the travel behaviour of a population. It is used to overcome the previous inefficiencies of the existing transport systems and to produce new transportation facility. This study aimed to develop trip assignment model for Thrissur, an Indian city to assess the benefits of proposing ring roads. Thrissur is struggling to incorporate the increased number of vehicles due to lack of adequate infrastructure and better traffic management programmes. The trip assignment model developed using CUBE 6.4.1 for Thrissur Corporation estimated the link volume counts in the road network and identified the congested roads. The predicted link volumes were compared with the actual volume for validation. This model was used for identifying the improvements required for the road network and two outer ring roads was proposed. The model predicts that the proposed outerring roads can reduce the congestion of Thrissur Corporation.

Factors Affecting Road Traffic: Identifying Drivers of Annual Average Daily Traffic Using Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator Regression

“…This is clearly reflected in Table 3 in the case of cars and the large number of HGVs that use ring roads to access large facilities normally located at a distance from the urban core, before transportation switches to smaller vehicles in inner city roads ( 73 ). Therefore, the importance of ring roads cannot be overstated considering the increased capacity and the capability to reduce traffic congestion ( 74 , 75 ), although transport planners should be aware of major concerns related to the functionality and limitations of ring roads. Ring roads encourage the use of private vehicles, which in turn, can result in extensive urban sprawl ( 76 ) and increased levels of air pollution ( 77 , 78 ).…”