Transportation System Performance Under Inclement Winter Weather: Perspectives from Weather-Induced Multiple Hazard Situations and Traveler Information

This study investigated the impacts of weather-induced multiple hazard situations, such as a snow storm accompanies by a major car accident on a highway, on road network performance in urban areas. A dynamic traffic assignment model was built for the study area in Amherst, New York, using the mesoscopic dynamic traffic assignment simulation package DynusT. Various hazard scenarios were simulated, including single events such as a snow storm or a car accident only scenarios and the combination of them. Both network-wide analyses and link-based analyses were conducted to examine the impact of hazard situations on travel time. In addition, different traveler information mitigation strategies were also evaluated based on the weather-induced multiple hazard situation. The results indicate that weather-induced multiple hazard situation affects network performance more significantly than single events. As traveler information dissemination strategies are concerned, both the variable message signs (VMS) and the en-route guidance are effective in mitigating hazard impact. En-route guidance performs better from the system perspective and brings more travel time savings. In comparison, VMS are more beneficial to the vehicles that are subject to both inclement weather and weather-induced incidents. Based on the findings, practical implications were produced to help traffic operation agencies to select appropriate traveler information dissemination strategies and determine the best information coverage rate.

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

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Hu, Jinge
  • Wang, Qian
  • Sadek, Adel W
  • Wang, Zhiyong
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 92nd Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2013-1-13 to 2013-1-17
• Date: 2013

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 16p
• Monograph Title: TRB 92nd Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crashes; Dynamic traffic assignment; Performance measurement; Travel time; Traveler information and communication systems; Variable message signs; Weather conditions
• Geographic Terms: Amherst (New York)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01473092
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 13-2000
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 19 2013 3:03PM