A macro-scale sustainability assessment of micro-scale traffic smoothing projects in highways

ABSTRACT

Generally, urban traffic management evaluates micro-scale projects based on traffic indices, such as travel time, that ignore the sustainability criteria and impacts of changes on adjacent areas. Therefore, the aim is to assess the sustainability of micro-scale traffic congestion removal projects on highways with a wider vision. Five proposed scenarios were evaluated using ten sustainable transportation indicators (STIs) that represent various aspects of sustainability. Scenarios were simulated in Aimsun, and STIs were derived directly and indirectly from the outputs. The results showed that even small changes could improve the operation of the network. Finally, a decision-making method was implemented to prioritize the scenarios. The combination of STIs based on the criteria for the Tehran 2025 horizon as a composite sustainability index (CSI) helped to determine impacts of each scenario. Although all scenarios improved traffic indices of the network, some failed sustainability criteria.

KEYWORDS:

• Sustainable development analysis
• transportation infrastructures
• traffic simulation
• congestion
• sustainability indicator
• Decision-Making

Acknowledgments

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors and there is no competing interests to declare.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).