Incorporating multiple congestion levels into spatiotemporal analysis for the impact of a traffic incident

Analysis on congestion mechanism of CAVs around traffic accident zones

Unexpected traffic accidents cause traffic congestion and aggravate the unsafe situation on the roadways. Reducing the impact of such congestion by introducing Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) into the traditional traffic flow is possible. It requires estimating the incident's duration and analyzing the incident's impact area to determine the appropriate strategy. To guide the driver in making efficient and accurate judgments and avoiding secondary traffic congestion, the Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) model with dynamic safety distance and the Intelligent Driver Model (IDM) based on the safety potential field theory are introduced to build the evolution model of accidental traffic congestion under diversion interference and non-interference. The Huatao Interchange section of the Inner Ring Highway in the Banan District of Chongqing, China, was selected as the test section for simulating mixed traffic flow under different CAVs permeability (Pc). The relationship between the evacuation time, evacuation traffic volume, and the accident impact degree index (including the farthest queue length and accident duration) under the diversion intervention scenario was analyzed, respectively. The results of the study indicate that the higher the penetration of CAVs, the more significant the improvement in traffic flow occupancy, flow, and speed. Diversion interventions reduce congestion, about 50 % of the duration without interventions, when Pc ≤ 80 %. The traffic volume of diversion interference is non-linearly positively correlated with the maximum queue length, and the earlier the interference time, the stronger the positive correlation. The negative correlation between the interference time and queue length is weak at low evacuation traffic volume. With the increase in evacuation traffic volume, the influence of evacuation time on queue length becomes stronger. The maximum queue length value interval under different conditions is [348 m, 3140 m], and the shortest evacuation time is [1649 s, 2834 s]. The traffic flow data obtained from the simulation are imported into the episodic traffic congestion evolution model. The congestion evaluation indexes are calculated under non-interference and interference measures and compared with the simulation results. The maximum relative error is within 5.38 %. The results can be of great significance in relieving congestion caused by traffic accidents and promptly restoring road capacity.

Traffic conflict analysis in continuous confluence area of cross-river bridge driven by vehicle trajectory data

OBJECTIVES

To conduct an in-depth study on the spatial distribution of traffic conflicts in the continuous merging areas of cross-river bridges and ensure public transportation safety.

METHODS

First, we utilized drone aerial photography to collect videos of vehicle movements. Using the YOLOv7 object detection algorithm and the Strong SORT multi-object tracking algorithm, we extracted high-precision vehicle trajectory time-series data. Next, based on the motion characteristics of traffic entities, we proposed using Deceleration Rate (DR) to describe rear-end conflicts and Lane Change Speed (LCS) to describe lane-changing conflicts. Additionally, we employed the K-means clustering method to determine the threshold values for minor, moderate, and severe levels of rear-end and lane-changing conflicts. Finally, based on the obtained trajectory data, the values of traffic conflicts are calculated and their severity is classified. A heat map of the spatial distribution of vehicle conflicts in continuous merging zones is then created to study the spatial distribution patterns of traffic conflicts.

RESULTS

The threshold values for minor, moderate, and severe levels of rear-end conflicts are determined to be 3.06 m/s2, 5.36 m/s2, and 8.04 m/s2, respectively. For lane-changing conflicts, the thresholds are 1.13 m/s, 2.07 m/s, and 3.45 m/s. The spatial distribution of traffic conflicts exhibits a "first increase, then decrease, and then increase again" trend.

CONCLUSIONS

The study identifies the critical areas of traffic conflicts in the continuous merging zones of cross-river bridges. The research results provide a novel approach for acquiring traffic data in these areas and offer a reliable quantitative method for assessing safety risks on these road segments. This provides a theoretical basis for proposing targeted traffic safety management strategies.