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Spatial Aggregation Issues in Traffic Assignment Models

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Abstract

Most transport models rely on a discrete description of space, and are, therefore, subject to spatial aggregation bias. Spatial aggregation induces the use of centroid connectors and the omission of intrazonal trips in traffic assignment. This practice is shown to bias main traffic assignment outcomes, especially in spatially coarse models. To address these modeling errors, the literature suggests some solutions but no clear-cut conclusion on the contribution of these solutions is available. In the current research, we undergo a detailed investigation of the contribution of some of these modeling solutions in order to provide useful and practical recommendations to academics and policy makers. Different assignment strategies that are deemed to mitigate the impacts of spatial aggregation in traffic assignment are explored in different case studies. Findings from this research outline that demand-side assignment strategies outperform supply-side methods in addressing the spatial aggregation problem. The results also suggest that the inclusion of intrazonal demand in traffic assignment is not sufficient to overcome aggregation biases. The definition of connectors is also of importance.

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Notes

  1. This approach has been also adapted to the Stochastic User Equilibrium (SUE) by Leurent et al. (2011).

  2. BPR functions were first introduced by the Bureau of Public Roads in the US to model the evolution of travel times under congested conditions (Bureau of Public Roads 1964). Here, we use a BPR function of type 2 that is more sensitive towards congestion. Other functions may as well be used (see Branston Branston (1976) and Spiess (1990) for a review on the subject).

  3. This case study does not reflect the real transportation network nor the travel demand of Sioux Falls city. Data are available at: https://github.com/bstabler/TransportationNetworks/tree/master/SiouxFalls.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers of the paper for their valuable comments and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ENTPE, LAET, 3 rue Maurice Audin, 69120, Vaulx-en-Velin, France

    Ouassim Manout & Patrick Bonnel

  2. Polytechnique Montreal, 2500 chemin de Polytechnique, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Ouassim Manout

  3. Architecture and Performance, Lyon, France

    François Pacull

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  1. Ouassim Manout
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  2. Patrick Bonnel
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  3. François Pacull
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Correspondence to Ouassim Manout.

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Manout, O., Bonnel, P. & Pacull, F. Spatial Aggregation Issues in Traffic Assignment Models. Netw Spat Econ 21, 1–29 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11067-020-09505-6

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