A heuristic methodology to tackle the Braess Paradox detecting problem tailored for real road networks

Adding a new road to help traffic flow in a congested urban network may at first appear to be a good idea. The Braess Paradox (BP) says, adding new capacity may actually worsen traffic flow. BP does not only call for extra vigilance in expanding a network, it also highlights a question: Does BP exist in existing networks? Literature reveals that BP is rife in real world. This study proposes a methodology to find a set of roads in a real network, whose closure improve traffic flow. It is called the Braess Paradox Detection (BPD) problem. Literature proves that the BPD problem is highly intractable especially in real networks and no efficient method has been introduced. The authors developed a heuristic methodology based on a Genetic Algorithm to tackle BPD problem. First, a set of likely Braess-tainted roads is identified by simply testing their closure (one-by-one). Secondly, a seraph algorithm is devised to run over the Braess-tainted roads to find a combination whose closure improves traffic flow. In the authors' methodology, the extent of road closure is limited to some certain level to preserve connectivity of the network. The efficiency and applicability of the methodology are demonstrated using the benchmark Hagstrom–Abrams network, and on a network of city of Winnipeg in Canada.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1080/23249935.2013.787557
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/23249935
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2013 Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies Limited 2013. Abstract reprinted with permission of Taylor & Francis.
• Authors:
  • Bagloee, Saeed Asadi
  • Ceder, Avishai (Avi)
  • Tavana, Madjid
  • Bozic, Claire
• Publication Date: 2014-5

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Pagination: pp 437-456
• Serial:
  • Transportmetrica A: Transport Science
  • Volume: 10
  • Issue Number: 5
  • Publisher: Taylor & Francis
  • ISSN: 2324-9935
  • EISSN: 2324-9943
  • Serial URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ttra21

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Genetic algorithms; Heuristic methods; Street closure; Traffic flow
• Identifier Terms: Braess' Paradox
• Uncontrolled Terms: Road networks
• Subject Areas: Highways; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01523675
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 29 2014 10:50AM