Spatio-temporal variations in energy loss due to traffic congestion

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on quantifying energy loss associated with recurring and nonrecurring congestion components and understanding its spatio-temporal variations in a geospatial environment. Data gathered, for the year 2012, for the Mecklenburg County, North Carolina was used to quantify energy loss and derive meaningful interpretations. The method involves calculating average fuel economy based on a surveyed sample of vehicles in the study area and computing link-level delay estimates related to the congestion components. The energy loss is then quantified as a function of delay, length, average speed, fuel economy, and energy dissipated per a gallon of gasoline. Analysis was performed separately for a typical weekday (Tuesday) and a typical weekend day (Saturday), considering two peak hours (8 am–9 am and 5 pm–6 pm) and one off-peak hour (12 pm–1 pm). Voronoi maps were then used to depict energy loss and visualize energy loss in a geospatial environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Energy loss
• traffic
• congestion
• delay
• travel time
• GIS
• Voronoi map

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the student financial support received from the Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) and Infrastructure, Design, Environment and Sustainability (IDEAS) Center at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Data pertaining to make, model, and manufactured year of sample vehicles, used to compute fuel economy, was collected as a part of research project conducted for the North Carolina Department of Transportation. However, the motive or problem defined in this research is not related to the other project for which the data were collected.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.