Impact of Weather Conditions on Traffic: Case Study of Montreal’s Winter

Congestion is the number one issue in many metropolitan areas. It decreases quality of life and generates negative impacts on the environment and the economy. Apart from recurring congestion causes, many events and circumstances can affect the traffic conditions: weather, roadworks, road incidents and other special events. The former is very important especially in a northern city like Montreal, where winter conditions last four to six months each year.This study relies on GPS data from vehicle fleets combined with weather data from weather stations to assess traffic conditions on the whole highway network of the Greater Montreal Area. The proposed methodology uses logistic regression models to model the probability of congestion to describe the effects of weather conditions (snowfall), road conditions (icy) and visibility on traffic conditions, defined using the Speed Limit Ratio. This research is part of the development of a congestion monitoring and analysis tool for the region of Montreal, which is also presented.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AH010 Standing Committee on Surface Transportation Weather.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Tessier, Marc-André
  • Morency, Catherine
  • Saunier, Nicolas
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2016-1-10 to 2016-1-14
• Date: 2016

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 18p
• Monograph Title: TRB 95th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Environmental impacts; Global Positioning System; Traffic characteristics; Traffic congestion; Weather conditions; Winter
• Geographic Terms: Montreal (Canada)
• Subject Areas: Environment; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01594166
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 16-6846
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 21 2016 4:42PM