Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
524740 Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies 2016 18 Pages PDF
Abstract

•A stochastic network equilibrium model.•Endogenously determined utilization rates of VMS information.•The sensitivity analyses of the network equilibrium.•Optimally designing the locations and travel time display of VMS.

This paper first develops a network equilibrium model with the travel time information displayed via variable message signs (VMS). Specifically, the equilibrium considers the impact of the displayed travel time information on travelers’ route choices under the recurrent congestion, with the endogenous utilization rates of displayed information by travelers. The existence of the equilibrium is proved and an iterative solution procedure is provided. Then, we conduct the sensitivity analyses of the network equilibrium and further propose a paradox, i.e., providing travel time information via VMS to travelers may degrade the network performance under some poor designs. Therefore, we investigate the problem of designing the VMS locations and travel time display within a given budget, and formulate it as a mixed integer nonlinear program, solved by an active-set algorithm. Lastly, numerical examples are presented to offer insights on the equilibrium results and optimal designs of VMS.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Computer Science Computer Science Applications
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