Path-Constrained Traffic Assignment: A Trip Chain Analysis

This paper proposes and analyzes a distance-constrained traffic assignment problem with trip chains embedded in network flows. The purpose of studying this problem is to develop an appropriate modeling tool for characterizing traffic flow patterns in future transportation networks that serve a massive adoption of plug-in electric vehicles under the condition that these vehicles suffer from the “range anxiety” issue caused by the unavailability of public electricity-charging infrastructures and the far-below-expectation battery capacity. The authors argue that if range anxiety makes any impact on travel behaviors, it is more likely that such an impact occurs on the tour or trip chain level rather than the trip level. The focus of this paper is on the development of the modeling and solution methods for the proposed traffic assignment problem with trip chains. Specifically, under the trip chain setting, an individual traveler’s combined driving route and activity site choice under the distance limit results in a distance-constrained, multi-site shortest path problem. The numerical result derived from an illustrative example clearly shows the mechanism and magnitude of the distance limit and trip chain settings reshaping the traffic network flow pattern from the simple case characterized merely by user equilibrium.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADB30 Transportation Network Modeling.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Wang, Tong-Gen
  • Xie, Chi
  • Xie, Jun
  • Waller, S Travis
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 94th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2015-1-11 to 2015-1-15
• Date: 2015

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 26p
• Monograph Title: TRB 94th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Activity choices; Equilibrium (Systems); Plug-in hybrid vehicles; Shortest path algorithms; Traffic assignment; Travel behavior; Trip chaining; Trip length; Vehicle range
• Subject Areas: Highways; Planning and Forecasting; I71: Traffic Theory;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01559036
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 15-5978
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 31 2015 11:19AM