Arterial Network Smart Performance Assessment

The arterial network is a critical component of transport infrastructure, facilitating the efficient and safe mobility of people and goods. The performance of arterial networks directly impacts the overall economic and social well-being of a region.

With the advent of smart technologies, there is an opportunity to revolutionise the performance assessment and decisions in optimising the arterial network. This project will investigate and develop a data-driven smart performance assessment tool for arterial networks, harnessing established and emerging technologies and advanced data analytics.

Participants

• Department of Transport and Main Roads (Queensland)
• Queensland University of Technology
• Aimsun

Project background

Current methods of evaluating the performance of arterial networks within Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) and similar agencies predominantly depend on the data from loop detectors. The detector data is used to derive commonly reported measures, such as speed and Level of Service, as well as Network Performance Indicators (NPIs).

At TMR, NPI has been developed and calibrated to report performance and trends at a network level using loop detector data. As the delays for the approach are estimated from vehicle detections at a fixed location from the stop line, it offers limited information about the queuing behaviour along the road segment. TMR supplements this data with information from Bluetooth and probe vehicles, but these alternative sources occasionally face challenges such as limited sample size, geographical coverage and level of aggregation.

Emerging technologies like connected vehicle trajectories, coupled with advancements in data science, provide a unique opportunity to fuse with abovementioned established datasets (loops, Bluetooth and probe vehicle) to enhance the accuracy, timeliness, and comprehensiveness of performance assessments. Over the last decade, literature on performance measures have been advanced from traditional aggregated delay and Level of Service to advanced automated traffic signal performance measures incorporating both detailed vehicle detector and connected vehicle trajectory datasets.

Their applicability and effectiveness with respect to established and emerging datasets within TMR and other Australian jurisdictions context is unknown. Additionally, with a focus on the next generation of traffic operations, the developed performance measures should align with TMR’s multimodal network optimisation and policy requirements.

Addressing the needs, this project aims to pioneer the development of the next generation of arterial network smart performance measures tailored to meet TMR requirements and potentially to be considered by other states.

Project objectives

The project objective is to develop an approach and prototype for the visualisation of arterial performance, which can be used by TMR’s Statewide Network Operations Branch to measure performance, diagnose the traffic congestion issues on the network and prioritise optimisation effort.

Please note …

This page will be a living record of this project. As it matures, hits milestones, etc., we’ll continue to add information, links, images, interviews and more. Watch this space!