TrafficAssignment

Models(Draft)
TravelDemandModels

Thisprimeroffersabriefintroductionontraffic
assignmentmodels

MurtazaHaider&BrianGregoul
[July2009]

Contents
1.0 UnderstandingTrafficAssignments................................................................................2
2.0TheAssignmentModels......................................................................................................4
AllorNothingAssignment(AoN).........................................................................................4
STOCHAssignment...............................................................................................................5
IncrementalAssignment.......................................................................................................5
CapacityRestraint.................................................................................................................5
UserEquilibrium(UE)...........................................................................................................5
StochasticUserEquilibrium(SUE)........................................................................................6
SystemOptimum..................................................................................................................6
3.0InputsEmployedinTrafficAssignments.............................................................................7
RequiredInputs....................................................................................................................9
TheOriginDestination(OD)Matrix..............................................................................9
CentroidConnectors........................................................................................................9
TheNetworkFile.............................................................................................................14
OptionalInputs...................................................................................................................17
TurnandTransferPenalties...........................................................................................17
6.0PerformingaTrafficAssignment......................................................................................21
7.0TheAssignmentResults....................................................................................................25
AllOrNothing.................................................................................................................26
STOCH.............................................................................................................................26
DeterministicUserEquilibrium......................................................................................27
StochasticUserEquilibrium...........................................................................................27
Incremental....................................................................................................................27
CapacityRestraint..........................................................................................................28
SystemOptimum............................................................................................................28
ComputationalRequirements............................................................................................28
LinkPerformanceandNetworkLoading............................................................................30
SystemWidePerformance............................................................................................30
PerformancebyLinkCategory.......................................................................................32
NetworkComplexityAComplicatingFactor...............................................................34
Conclusion......................................................................................................................35

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 1
1.0 UnderstandingTrafficAssignments

Trafficassignmentmodelsareusedtoestimatetheflowoftrafficonanetwork.These
modelstakeacertaindemandfortravel(usuallyexpressedasamatrixidentifyingthenumberof
tripsbetweenallpossibleoriginsanddestinations[ODpairs])andthenloadsorassignsthese
tripstothenetworkitself.Generally,tripsareassignedtothefastestpossibleroutefromthe
origintodestination.Theendresultisatablecontainingthenumberandcharacteristicsof
flowsobservedoneachlinkinthenetwork.Theseresultsareakeyelementintheurbantravel
demandforecastingprocessandusedinavarietyofapplicationsincludingbenefitsestimation,
airqualityimpactanalysis,modalchoiceanalysisandtrafficsafetymodels.

Fromabehavioralperspective,realworldtravelpatternsresultfromthesumthechoices
madebyindividualtravelers.Assignmentmodels,inturn,differinregardstotheassumptions
madeabouthowroutesarechosenfortravel.Theyalsodifferintheircomplexityandinthe
networkattributesconsideredwhileassigningtripstoanetwork.

TheAllorNothingAssignment,forexample,ignoresthefactthatlinktraveltimesareflow
dependanti.e.thattraveltimesgenerallyincreasetheclosertocapacityagivenroadoperates
at.Italsoignoresthefactthatmultiplepathsareavailableto,andutilizedby,differentpeople
whentravelingbetweenanygivenODpair.Thisassignmentsimplyassignsalltravelerstothe
shortestand/orfastestroutetotheirdestination.

TheUserEquilibriumAssignment,ontheotherhand,assumesthateachindividualhas
perfectinformationofthetransportationnetworkandchoosestheroutethatwillminimize
theirtravelcosts.Inthismodel,travelerswillchoosealternateroutesasvolumesonthefaster
routesincrease.Figure1,below,showsjusthowdifferenttrafficassignmentresultscanbe
dependingonthealgorithmselected.TheUserequilibriumassignment,atright,assignsmore
traffictolocalstreets(linewidth)thantheallornothingassignment.Furthermore,theAllor
Nothingassignmentsresultsisdevoidofanyinformationpertainingtocapacity,orcongestion
(thecolourofeachroadlink).

Figure1:DifferentAlgorithmsmodeltrafficsignificantlydifferently

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 2
 Eachassignmentmodelhasitsseparateassumptionsandmathematicalformsandfromthe
aboveexamples,itisclearthatnosinglemodelwillbeappropriateforeverytrafficassignment
application.Thisguide,therefore,providesacomparisonbetweenthetrafficassignment
modelsincludedintheTransCADsoftwarepackage.Itillustratesnotonlytheconceptual
differencesbetweenmodels,butalsothedegreetowhichtheresultsofeachassignmentvary
dependingonthemodelemployed.Tothisend,eachoftheseventrafficassignmentalgorithms
includedintheTransCADsoftwareisexecutedonthesamenetworkandafixedODflowmatrix
andtheresultscompared.

Figure2:Thetrafficassignmentmodel
Givenanetwork:

195

195

Map Layers

Highways/Streets:1
Centroids
Connectors
Interstate



Andademandmatrix:

Trafficassignmentallowsyoutoestablishthetrafficflowpatternsandanalyzecongestion
points:

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 3
 Vehicle Flows
15000 7500 3750

2.0TheAssignmentModels

ThereareseventrafficassignmentmodelsavailableintheTransCADsoftware,eachof
whichareencounteredintransportationplanningpractice.Thefollowingdescriptionsare
rewritten,verbatim,fromtheTravelDemandModelingwithTransCAD4.8referencemanual
includedintheTransCAD4.8software.Theseareintendedtoprovideaunderstandingofthe
conceptualdifferencesbetweenalgorithmsandwhatapplicationstheymightbeusefulfor.

AllorNothingAssignment(AoN)
UnderAoNassignment,alltrafficflowsbetweenODpairsareassignedtothe
shortestpathsconnectingtheoriginsanddestinations.Thismodelisunrealisticinthat
onlyonepathbetweeneveryODpairisused,evenifthereisanotherpathwiththe
same,ornearlythesame,traveltimeorcost.Also,tripsareassignedtoeachlink
withoutconsiderationforwhetherornotthereisadequatecapacityorheavy
congestiononthatlink;traveltimeisafixedinputanddoesnotvarydependingonthe
congestionofalink.OncetheroutebetweeneachODpairwiththelowesttravelcost
hasbeenidentified,everytripbetweenpairsisassignedinonestep.

Thisassignmentmethodisusuallyunrealisticbutrequirestheleastdataofallthe
differentmodelstoperform.AllthatisneededistheODdemandmatrixanda
transportationnetworkwithlinktraveltimes.Ascapacityisnotmodeledinthis
method,linkcapacitydataisnotrequired,norisitnecessarytodefineavolumedelay
functiontherelationshipbetweenlinkflowandtraveltimeforthemodel.
Nevertheless,theAoNassignmentisusedasacentralcomponentofseveralother
assignmentmethods.

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 4
STOCHAssignment
STOCHAssignment(developedbyDial,1971)distributestripsbetweenODpairs
amongmultiplealternativepathsthatconnecttheODpairs.Theproportionoftrips
thatisassignedtoaparticularpathequalsthechoiceprobabilityforthatpath(this,in
turn,iscalculatedbyalogitroutechoicemodel).Generally,thesmallerthetraveltime
ofapath,comparedwiththetraveltimesofotherpaths,thehigheritschoice
probabilitywouldbe.TheSTOCHAssignment,however,assignstripsonlyto
reasonablepathswhicharedefinedasthosewhichtakethetravelerclosertothe
destinationand/orfurtherfromtheorigin.

TheSTOCHAssignmentisanimprovementupontheAoNassignmentinthat
multiplepathsfromorigintodestinationareemployedbut,liketheAoNassignment,
thismodeldoesnotaccountforlinkcapacityandthustheeffectsoflinkcongestionis
ignored.DatarequirementsforthisassignmentmodelarealsosimilartotheAoN
assignment.

IncrementalAssignment
TheIncrementalAssignmentassignstripsinsmallerstepsinwhichonlyafractionof
thetotaldemandisassigned.TheassignmentineachstepisidenticaltoanAoN
assignmentexceptthatlinktraveltimesarerecalculatedbasedonlinkvolumesafter
eachfractionoftravelisassigned.Eachincrementbeyondthefirstusestheseupdated
linktraveltimesinthecalculations.

Whilealargenumberofincrementswillyieldmorerealisticresults,theIncremental
Assignmentsuffersfromthefactthattheorderinwhichtripsareassignedcaninfluence
thefinalresults.Furthermore,tripsassignedinearlierstepswillhavelowertraveltimes
thanthoseassignedinlaterincrementseveniftheybothtaketheexactsameroute.
Capacityisafactorincalculatinglinktraveltimesand,thus,representsadditionaldata
thatmustbeassembledbytheanalyst.

CapacityRestraint
TheCapacityRestraintassignmentisamathematicalapproximationofthemore
advancedUserEquilibriumassignmentdiscussedbelow.Ineachiterationofthis
assignment,alltripsareassignedinanAoNmanner.TransCADthenrecalculatesalllink
traveltimesbasedontheresultingflowsandusesthesevaluesasthebasisfortheAoN
assignmentofthefollowingiteration.

TheproblemwiththeCapacityRestraintassignmentisthatflowsacrossanetwork
willnotreachequilibriumandthealgorithmcanforeverloadandunloadcertainpairsof
linksnomatterhowmanyiterationsitperforms.Asaresult,thisassignmentmethodis
highlydependentontheexactnumberofiterationsperformedandoneiterationmore
orlesscanaffectresultssubstantially.LiketheIncrementalAssignment,linkcapacity
dataisrequired.

UserEquilibrium(UE)
Thefirstofthethreeconvergentalgorithms,theUEassignmentassignstripstoa
networksothatnoindividualusercanreducetheirtraveltimesbychoosingan

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 5
 alternateroute.Itcontinuestobeoneofthemostcommonlyusedalgorithmsinthe
transportationplanningindustryandtransportationresearch.Itsunderlying
assumptionisthattravelerschoosetheroutethatminimizestheirindividualtravel
timesandthatiftheydiscoverafasterroute,theywilltakeitarelativelyrealistic
assumption.

Thoughthemathematicsofthisalgorithmarebeyondthescopeofthisguide,itis
worthnotingthattheUEassignmentisalsoaniterativemethodandthatthe
assignmentcontinuesuntilconvergenceisachievedoramaximumnumberofiterations
(setbytheuser)hasbeenperformed.Themorestringenttheconvergencecriteria,the
moreiterationsrequiredtocompletetheassignment.

ThemainshortcomingoftheUEassignmentisthateachuserisassumedtohave
perfectinformationthattheyareawareofallpossibleroutesandthecongestions
conditionsofthoseroutesatanygiventime.Itis,thus,unrealisticthatrealpeoplewill
evertravelexactlyastheUserEquilibriummodelpredicts.

StochasticUserEquilibrium(SUE)
TheSUEassignmentisverysimilartotheUEassignmentexceptthateachtraveleris
notassumedtohaveperfectinformation.Anerrortermisintroducedtoallowthe
algorithmtoassigntripstolessthanoptimalroutesinanattempttomodelhow
travelersmakeroutedecisionerrors.Theresultsofthisassignmentmethodare
similartotheUEassignmentexceptthatcertainlessattractiverouteswillhavesmall
flowcountswhereastheywouldhavezerointheUEassignment.

ManyadvancedtrafficassignmentmodelsutilizetheSUEassignment.Itdoes,
however,requirethemostdataofalltheassignmentstoperformcorrectlyandcreating
arealisticandmeaningfulerrortermcanbedifficult.Nevertheless,thisassignment
methodistypicallyconsideredtoyieldmorerealisticresultsthantheUEmethod.

SystemOptimum
TheSystemOptimumassignmentassignstripstothenetworksothatthetotal
traveltimeforalltripsinanetworkisminimized.Inthisassignmentmethod,individual
traveltimesarenotminimized(asintheUEandSUEassignments),onlythetotaltravel
time.Individualusersmaybeabletochoosealternateroutestoreducetheirowntravel
timebutonlyatthecostofincreasingthetraveltimesofothertravelersbyagreater
amountandthusthetotalsystemtraveltime.Ultimately,theSystemOptimumyieldsa
solutionwherebycongestionisminimized.

Whilethismayappeartobeaveryattractiveassignmentmethod,itrequiresthat
peoplebetoldwhatroutetotravelalongandthatthey,indeed,followthatroute.
However,thedominanttendencyisfortravelerstominimizetheirowntraveltime
whichnegatesmuchofthepredictivepowerofthisassignmentmethod.Thereare
however,instanceswherethismethodcanbeapplicable,predominantlyinthedesign
ofintelligenttransportationsystemsbutalsointherealmofdisasterplanning.There
arealsocitieswheresomedegreeofinstructionisgiventodriversfortheverypurpose
ofreducingcongestion.

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 6

Eachoftheseseventrafficassignmentalgorithmsareperformedthesamewayusingthe
TransCADsoftware.Theonlydifferenceisinthetypeandamountofinformationthatmustbe
includedinthenetworksuchaslinkcapacitiesandtraveltimes.Table1belowprovidesa
qualitativesummaryofeachalgorithmanditsdatarequirements.


Table1:Trafficassignmentalgorithmsummary

Assignmen Required Required
Assignment Itera Conver
t Network Algorithm
Methodology tive gent
Method Attributes Settigns

All-or- All flows assigned

to least costly route No No Time None
Nothing

All flows assigned

to least costly route
STOCH (systematic error No No Time Theta
introduced)

Repeated All-or- Iterations

Capacity Nothing assignments. Time Convergence
Link speeds updated Yes No
Restraint Capacity Alpha
each iteration.
Beta

Small fraction of Iterations

total flow assigned per Time Convergence
Incremental interation. Link speeds Yes No
Capacity Alpha
updated each iteration
Beta
Mathematical Iterations
User minimazation of Time Convergence
individual user's travel Yes Yes
Equilibrium Capacity Alpha
time.
Beta
Iterations
Mathematical Convergence
Stochasitic minimazation of
Time Alpha
User individual user's travel Yes Yes
time (systematic error Capacity Beta
Equilibrium
introduced). Function
Error
Iterations
Mathematical
System Time Convergence
minimization of total Yes Yes
Optimum system travel time. Capacity Alpha
Beta

3.0InputsEmployedinTrafficAssignments

TransCADautomateseachofthetrafficassignmentmethodslistedinSection2.The
userneedonlyprovedthenecessaryinputdatainanappropriateformatandspecifycertain

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 7
settingsdependingonthealgorithmbeingused.TrafficassignmentsinTransCADrequiretwo
maininputs:Anetworkfileandanorigindestination,ordemand,matrix.Thissectionwill
brieflysummarizethenetworkandODmatrixfilesusedinthisguideaswellashowtoprepare
thisdataonyourown.

TheODmatrixandnetworkfilethatwillbeusedinthisguidearebothincludedaspart
oftheTransCADv4.8tutorialfilesdevelopedbyCaliper.Tables1and2summarizethe
importantstatisticsofthesetwofiles.Thenetworkitselfconsistsofapproximately3500kmof
roadsbutnearly20%ofthislength660kmishighspeedfreewaylinks.Thoughthisfactwill
notdrasticallyaffectthediscussioninthisguide,theanalystmustbeawarethatthespatial
arrangementandcompositionofaroadnetworkwillaffecttherelativedifferencesbetweenthe
outputsofeachtrafficassignmentalgorithm.

Whatisalsoworthnotingisthattherearezerointrazonaltripsintheorigindestination
matrix.Inotherwords,notripsstartandendinthesamezone.Minimizingthenumberof
intrazonaltripsinanorigindestinationmatrixishighlydesirablesinceintrazonaltripsarenot
assignedtothenetworkduringtrafficassignment.Havingtoogreatapercentageofintrazonal
tripscompromisesthevalidityoftheestimatesprovidedbyatrafficassignmentsincea
significantportionofrealtraveldemandwillbeexcluded.

Table1:Networkfilesummarystatistics
Cartographic Network Speed Lane-
Links
Designation Length (km) Limit (km/h) kilometers
Arterial 774 458.26 33.66 1069.03
Freeway 581 659.48 57.07 1780.7
Local 2879 1906.26 34 3072.37
Ramp 339 111.19 70 111.89
Centroid
Connectors 513 364.52 100 -
Total/Average 5086 3499.71 45.64 6033.99

Table2:Origindestinationmatrixsummarystatistics
Number or Zones 350
OD-Pairs 122500
Non-Zero OD
pairs 90300
Total Trips 147726
Inter zonal 147726
Intra zonal 0

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 8


RequiredInputs

TheOriginDestination(OD)Matrix

Figure2:Anexampleorigindestinationmatrix

TheODmatrixisaconvenientwayofrepresentingtraveldemandinacityorregion.The
matrixsrowsandcolumnsrepresentoriginanddestinationlocationsrespectively.The
intersectionofanygivenrowandcolumnthusrepresentsthenumberoftripstravelingbetween
thatparticularoriginanddestination.Forexample,inthematrixabove,weseethatthereare
2.12tripsstartinginzone1andendinginzone2.Similarly,therearezerotripsstartingand
endinginzone1.

AlltrafficassignmentmodelsincludedinTransCADrequiresthattraveldemandbe
representedasanODmatrix.Inthisguide,theODmatrixisalreadycreatedandreadyfor
directinputintothetrafficassignmentmodel.TransCAD,however,includesawidearrayof
datamanagementtoolsthatallowyoutocreatethistypeofODmatrixfromtabulardataor
fromdatabasefilescreatedinprogramslikeMicrosoftExcelorOpenOfficeCalc.Asanentire
guidecouldbewrittenonthesetoolsalone,theywillnotbediscussedherebutthebuiltin
programhelpandtheTransCADUsersGuideexplainthesetoolsindetail.

CentroidConnectors

Aswiththematrixabove(figure2),mostODmatricesarebasedonasystemof
zoneswitheachzonebeingconsideredasinglepossibleoriginanddestination.

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 9
 However,TransCAD(andalmostalltransportationplanningsoftware)cannotmodel
trafficflowsunlessalltripsbeginandendtheirjourneyatsomediscretepointinthe
network.Toovercomethisproblem,centroidsandcentroidconnectorsareoften
employed.

Figure3:Zonecentroids

a)zonesystem b)zonesystemshowingits
centroids

Acentroidisthegeographiccenterofazone.Toperformatrafficassignmentwhen
youonlyhaveinformationabouttrafficflowsbetweenzones,weinsteaduseazones
centroidasthediscretepointwherealltripsgoingtoandfromthatzonewilloriginate
andterminaterespectively.Sincecentroidswillnotbeconnectedtotheroadnetwork,
anewsetoflinks,callcentroidconnectors,arecreatedtoformtheconnection(figure4
below).TransCADisequippedwithtoolstoassistyouinbothcreatingcentroidsand
connectingthemtothenetwork.

TransCADcanautomaticallyconnectanynumberofcentroidstoanetwork.
However,therearelogicalconstraintsonwherethecentroidconnectorcanconnecttoa
network.Asalltripswillstartandendusingacentroidconnector,itisimportantthat
thefollowingrestrictionsareappliedwhencentroidsareconnected:

1) Centroidsshouldneverconnectdirectlytoalimitedaccessexpresswayor
onramp:Withrareexception,everytripmustmakeuseoflowerorder
streetstobeginandcompleteitsjourney.
2) Centroidconnectorsshouldnevercrossabodyofwater:Watercrossings
constituteasignificantobstacletotraffic.Acentroidconnectorwhich
crossesawaterbodyforcesalltraffictoeithermakeanadditionalwater
crossingormakesthecrossingmoreefficientthanitshould.
Figure4:Centroidconnectors

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 10
















ReindexingtheODMatrix

Foranytrafficassignmenttoworkcorrectly,TransCADmustbeabletolinktherow
andcolumnIDsoftheODmatrixtothecentroidpointsintheroadnetworkwherethe
tripswillbeloadedandterminate.However,therow/columnheadingsofmostOD
matricescorrespondtotheIDvaluesofzonesandnottheIDofthepointsinthe
networkwherethetripsareactuallyloaded.TheODmatrixsrowandcolumn
headingsmustberelabeled,orreindexed,toshowthecentroidIDsinsteadofthe
zoneIDs.

Figure5:TwopossibleindicesfortheODMatrix














ODmatrixidentifiedbyZoneIDODmatrixidentifiedbyCentroidID

Allthatisrequiredtoreindexamatrixisasingletablewhichidentifiesthe
relationshipbetweeneachcentroidconnectorsIDnumberandtheIDnumberofthe
zoneitfallswithin.Thisinformationistypicallyprovidedbytheattributetableofthe
roadnetworksendpointlayer.

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 11
 Figure6:Nodelayerattributetableidentifyingtheconnectionbetween
TAZ(zone)IDsandcentroidIDs

















Theendpointlayersattributetableinfigure6tellsusthatalltripsoriginatingand
terminatingatTAZ(zone)1willbeginandendatthecentroidpoint215422.Tripsfrom
TAZ2loadandterminateatcentroidpoint215423andsoforth.Theanalystusesthis
tableandtheinformationwithintocreatethenewindexfortheODmatrixusing
TransCADsmatrixindicesdialog.

ReindexinganODmatrix:StepbyStep:

1. WiththeODmatrixactive,chooseMatrix>IndicestobringuptheMatrixIndices
dialogbox.













2. TheindexZonetoNodehasalreadybeencreatedforyou.SelectZonetoNodefrom
boththeRowsandColumnsdropdownlists.Youwillseetherowandcolumnheadings
ofthematrixchangeimmediatelywhenyouselectthenewindices.

Creatinganewindex:StepbyStep:

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 12
 Whencreatingyourowncentroidconnectors,youwillalsohavetocreateyourownmatrix
index.Asdiscussedabove,theattributetableofthenetworksendpointlayerNodeswillbe
usedtocreatethenewindex.

1. Fromtheroadnetworksendpointlayer,Nodes,selectallthecentroidsusingeitherof
thefollowingSQLstatements:

Zone<>null

or

NTYPE=CENTROID

2. Followstep1ofthepreviousStepbyStep:andclickontheAddIndexbuttontobringup
theAddMatrixIndexdialogbox.


















3. InthefirstsectionOriginalRowcolumnIDsfromyouspecifytheIDvaluesthatthe
ODmatrixcurrentlyuses.SincetheODmatrixiscurrentlyidentifiedbyzoneIDs,we
selectTAZfromthedropdownlists.EnsurethatyouhavetheNodesdataview
selectedoryouwontbeabletochoosefromthecorrectlistoffields.

4. ThemiddlesectionNewIndexasksforanameforyournewindexandwhetherthis
indexcanbeusedonrows,columnsorboth.Wewillusethesameindexforrowsand
columnssoselecttheBothoption.

5. InthelastsectionRowColumnIDsfromyouspecifythenewIDvaluesthatyou
wantthematrixtodisplay.SincewewanttheODmatrixtodisplaytheIDnumberof
eachzonescentroids,selectIDfromtheFielddropdownlist.

Sincethenodelayercontainspointsthatarenotcentroids,wemustinstruct
TransCADtoignoreotherrecordsintheNodesattributetablewhencreatingthenew

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 13
 index.FromtheSelectiondropdownlistchooseselectiontolimittherecordsTransCAD
usestoonlythecentroidsyouselectedinstep1.

6. ClickOK.Thenewindexappearsinthelistofindices.FromtheRowsandColumnsdrop
downlists,selectthenewindexandclickClose.TheMatrixisnowindexedaccordingto
theIDsofeachzonescentroid.

TheNetworkFile

AnetworkfileisaspecialdatastructureusedbyTransCADtoefficientlystorethe
characteristics,attributesandspatiallayoutofatransportationsystem.Thesefilesareusedin
anarrayoftransportationplanningapplicationsincludingtrafficassignmentbutarenotthe
sameasthestandardshapefilesandgeographicfilesemployedinmostGISbasedanalysis.
Networkfilesstoremostinformationthatgeographicfilesdobutcanalsoincludeinformation
pertainingtointersectiondelays,turningrestrictionsandtransitionpenalties(suchastoll
boothsortransittransferdelays).Thecomplexityandsizeofthenetworkisdependantonwhat
informationtheuserdecidestoincludeinthenetworkfileandthedetailoftransportation
networkitself.

Networkfilesareseparatefromthelineandnodelayerstheyarebuiltfromandalsostore
theirattributesseparatelyfromthelineandnodelayersattributetable.Assuch,theusermay
createmultipledifferentnetworkfilesfromthesamegeographicfileofthetransportation
network(e.g.onewhichincludesonlytraveltimedataandanotherwhichincludesbothtravel
timeandcapacitydata).

Figure3:TheGISlineandnodelayersandtheirattributetablesusedtobuildanetworkfile
Linelayer Nodelayer

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 14


Atthetimeofcreation,youmustselectwhichattributefieldsofthelineandnodelayers
willbestoredinthenetwork.Everynetworkrequiresthatitslengthbespecified,butyouwill
usuallywantorrequireadditionalinformationincludedinthenetworkdependingonthetraffic
assignmentyouareperforming.Forexample,theUserEquilibriumAssignmentrequiresdataon
bothtraveltimeandcapacityforeachlinkandmustbeincludedwhencreatingthenetwork.
ThefirsttableinChapterXshowswhatdatamustbeincludedinanetworkfileforeachtraffic
assignmentalgorithm,butfornowyoucansimplyfollowthestepsinthisguidebelow.

CreatingaNetworkFile:StepbyStep:

1. Ensurethatthelinelayeryouwanttobasethenetworkonisactivebyselectingitfrom
thedropdownlistoflayersinthemaintoolbaratthetopofthescreen.Ifyouhave
multiplevalidlinelayersopen,TransCADwillcreateanetworkfilefromtheactivelayer.

2. ChooseNetworks/Paths>CreatetoopentheCreateNetworkdialogboxthatwillallow
youtocreatethenetworkfile.

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 15


Table3:Thenetworkdialogboxexplained:
Setting Description
Sets which links to include in the network file. If you
have
Create links from made any prior selections they will be available here.
Read length from The field in the line layer with length data in it
Enter an optional explanation of the nature of the
network
Description file
Sets which attributes of the line and node layer will be
included in the network. All data the that will eventually be
Optional Fields required must be selected at this point.
Advanced options which help determine how
TransCAD
Options incorporates certain link types into the network.

Fillouttheformasshown.Noneofthedefaultshavebeenchangedexceptforthe
OptionalFields.Forthisguidewewillincludealltheadditionallineandnodeattributes.

3. ClickOKandyouwillbepromptedtosavethenetworkfile.Namethenetwork
tutorial_network,orsomeothermeaningfulname,andclickSAVE.

Oncethenetworkfileissaved,itisautomaticallyloadedandreadytouse.Savinga
TransCADworkspacewillalsosavetheactivenetworkfileloadedintomemoryandbeavailable
forusewhenyouopentheworkspaceatalatertime.

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 16
OptionalInputs

TurnandTransferPenalties

Networkfilescanstoreinformationaboutwhetherornotcertainturnsareprohibitedorif
thereareanytime/costpenaltiestodoingso.Thesepenaltiesarestoredwithanetworkand
thusmultiplenetworkscanbecreatedeachwithdifferingtypesofturnandtransferpenalties.
Alternatively,asinglenetworkcanbecreatedandthepenaltieschanged.

Turnandtransferpenaltiescanbeappliedinthreedifferentways:Globally,bylinktypeor
specifically(linkbylink).

Table4:Thethreetypesofturnpenalties
Method Description
A uniform penalty for each type of turn is applied every
time
Global that type of turn is made.
Turn penalties are applied based on the type of link the
turn
Link type is made to and from.
Turn penalties are defined for each individual pair of links.
Specific A lookup table defining each individual penalty is required.

Thisguidedoesnotemployturnpenaltiesbutwilldemonstratetheglobalandspecific
methodsofapplyingthem.

GlobalTurnPenalties

Globalturnpenaltiesareconceptuallythesimplestastheyapplythesamepenaltyvalueto
allturnsofthesamekind(onevalueforallrightturns,oneforallleftturns,etc.).Iftheyare
employedincombinationwithLinkTypeorSpecificpenalties,themorespecificpenaltywill
overwritetheglobalpenalty.Youmusthavecreatedanetworkfilebeforeyoucansetturn
penalties.

SettingGlobalTurnPenalties:StepbyStep

1. ChooseNetworks/Paths>SettingstoopentheNetworkSettingsdialogbox.

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 17


2. IntheGeneraltabunderPenalties,checktheTurnradiobutton.Asecondtab,Turn
Penalties,willappear.

3. IntheTurnPenaltiestabunderGlobal,youcanspecifytheindividualpenaltiesforleft
turns,rightturns,Uturnsandthroughcrossings(noturn).Anyorallofthesetypesof
movementscanbeuniversallyprohibitedbyclickingunderProhibited.

4. ClickOK.Thenetworkfilewillbeupdatedwiththeglobalturnpenalties.

Thevalueofthepenaltymustbeinthesameunitsasthecostvariable(usuallytime).Thus,
ifthetraveltimeattributeinyournetworkfileismeasuredinminutes,yourdelaysmustalsobe
setinminutes.

SpecificTurnPenalties

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 18
 Specificturnpenaltiesallowyoutospecifycustompenalitiesforturnsbetweenindividual
pairsoflinks.Doingsorequiresthecreationofanadditionaltablewhichcontainsinformation
oneveryindividualpenaltytobeconsideredinthenetwork(Ifaspecificturnisntidentifiedin
thetable,itisassumedthatthereisnopenaltyassociatedwiththatturn).Theformatofthis
tableissimpleandmustcontainthreefields:

Table5:Requiredfieldsinaspecificturnpenaltytable
Field Description
The ID number of the node you are turning
From from
To The ID number of the node you are turning to
Penalty The penalty for performing the identified turn


Figure4:Asamplespecificturnpenaltytable

TheIDnumbersintheFromandTofieldsmustmatchtheIDnumbersofthelinksinthe
networkfile.Aswithglobalpenalties,youmustsetthevalueofthePenaltyfieldinthesame
unitsasthecostvariable(time).Ifthepenaltytableisleftnull(novalueentered),theturnwill
beentirelyprohibited.Intheaboveexample,aturnfromlink97453to97426hasapenalty
(delay)of0.10minutes,or6seconds,whileaturnfrom28189to28239isentirelyprohibited.

SettingSpecificTurnPenalties:StepbyStep

1. ChooseNetworks/Paths>SettingstoopentheNetworkSettingsdialogbox.

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 19


2. IntheGeneraltabunderPenalties,checktheTurnradiobutton.Asecondtab,Turn
Penalties,willappear.

3. IntheTurnPenaltiestabunderSpecific,selectFileOpenfromtheFiledropdownlist.
Youwillbepromptedtospecifytheturnpenaltylookuptableyoucreatedabove.
Alternatively,youmayselecttheturnpenaltiestableincludedinthisguide.

4. ClickOK.Thenetworkfilewillbeupdatedwiththespecificturnpenalties.

GlobalandSpecificturnpenaltiescanbothbeappliedtothesamenetwork.Iftwopenalties
applytothesameturn,theSpecificpenaltywilloverwritetheGlobalpenalty.

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 20
6.0PerformingaTrafficAssignment

ExecutingtrafficassignmentsissimpleinTransCAD.ItispreparingtheODmatrixand
networkfileswithalltherightdataincludedthattakesthelionsshareofananalyststimeand
effort.AsyoucanseeinFigureZ.below,executingatrafficassignmentisperformedinasingle
stepandisthelastoperationinalargerseriesofrequiredtasks.

Onceyouhavesettledonaparticularalgorithmtouseinyourtrafficassignment,youcan
useTable7,below,andtheprecedingsectionstohelpyoudeterminewhatdatayournetwork
filerequireandifyouneedtocreateaturnpenaltytable.

FigureZ:Stepsofthetrafficassignmentprocess


Choose Algorithm

PLANNING
Determine
Required Data



Travel Zone Road Turn
Demand Data System Network Penalty Data
Geography Geography (Optional)



Create Create
Centroids and
O-D Matrix
Centroid
DATA Connectors
PREPARATI
ON
Re- Create
index O-D Network

Matrix File





EXECUTIO

N
Traffic Assignment

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 21
 Networkattributes(linktraveltime,linkcapacity,etc.)mustbealreadybepresentinthe
networkfilebeingusedforthetrafficassignmentbutthealgorithmsettingsaresetatthetime
theassignmentisperformed.SomeofthealgorithmsettingslikeAlphaandBeta,however,can
bespecifieduniquelyforeachindividuallinkbyincludingthisdataasanotherattributeinthe
networkfile(linkAlphaandLinkBeta,forexample).Adescriptionofeachoftheseattributes
andsettingsisincludedbelow.

Table7:Trafficassignmentsettings
Network
Attribute Description
Time required to travel the full length of a link at
Time normal
operating speed
Capacity The maximum flow that a link can carry
Algorithm Default
Settings Description Value
Iterations The maximum number of iterations to be performed 20
The convergence threshold: If the maximum
change in all the link flows is less than this value, the
Convergence traffic assignment procedure will end even if the 0.0100
maximum number of iterations has not been
performed.
Calibration parameters of the volume-delay Alpha =
Alpha and
function. Explains how severely increasing link flows 0.15
Beta
affects link travel time. Beta = 4.00
Function The type of error function employed in the Normal
Stochastic User Equilibrium assignment
Describes the extent to which the error function
Error employed in the Stochastic User Equilibrium 5.0000
assignment


Onceyouhavesettledonanalgorithmtouseandcreatedthenecessaryinputs,youcan
followthestepsbelow.Toperformtheassignment,wewillusetheUserEquilibrium
assignmentmethodasanexamplehereandusethenetworkandODmatricesdevelopedin
thisguide.

PerformingaTrafficAssignment:StepbyStep

1. AfterstartingTransCAD,clickOpenaMaporWorkspacefromthequickstartmenu.If
thequickstartmenudoesnotpopupautomatically,selectFile>Open.

2. SelectMatrixfromtheFilesofTypedropdownlist.Navigatetoandopenthematrix
filecontainingtheODdemandmatrix.

3. SelectMatrix>Indices.UnderCurrentIndices,selectZonetoNodeinboththeRows
andColumnsdropdownlists.Thisrelabelstherowsandcolumnssothattheymatch
thenodeIDsinthenetworkfileweareabouttoopen.

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 22


4. SelectFile>OpenagainandthistimeselectGeographicFilefromtheFilesofType
dropdownlist.Navigatetothefoldercontainingthelinelayerrepresentingthestreet
network.

5. YoushouldnowhavetwowindowsopeninTransCAD,oneshowingtheroadnetwork
andanothertheODmatrix.Whilelookingattheroadnetworkmap,selectPlannnig>
TrafficAssignment.

6. SincewehavenotloadedanetworkfileintoTransCADyet,awindowwillpopaskingfor
one.Navigatetothenetworkfileoryoumayusethetutorial_networknetworkfile
youcreatedinchapter5.ClickOPEN.(Note:Ifyouarestillworkinginthesame
workspaceaswhenyoucreatedthenetworkfileearlier,youwonthavetoperformthis
step).

TheNetworkSettingsdialogboxwillappearallowingyoutochangeanyparameters
ofthenetwork.Aswewillnotmakeanychangestothenetworkfileatthispoint,
simplyclickOK.

7. TheTrafficAssignmentdialogboxwillnowappearaskingyoutosettheparametersof
thetrafficassignment.

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 23


8. FromtheMethoddropdownlist,selectthealgorithmtypeyouwishtouseforyour
trafficassignment.Forthistutorial,selectUserEquilibrium.

9. Eachofthedefaultsettingsshouldbecorrectbutverifythatyourdialogboxlooksthe
sameastheimageabove.

Atthispoint,notethatthevaluesforTravelTime,Capacity,AlphaandBetaare
beingtakenfromattributesincludedinthenetworkfile.Ifyouforgottoincludethese
fieldswhencreatingyourtutorial_networknetworkfile,youwillnotbeabletoset
theseassignmentparameterscorrectly.

10. ClickonOptionsandchecktheCreateThemesbox.ClickOK.Selectingthisoptionwill
addavisualrepresentationofvolumeandcongestiontoyourstreetnetworklinelayer
oncethetrafficassignmentiscomplete.

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 24
 11. ClickOKtodisplaytheSaveAsdialogbox.Youarebeingaskedtonamethetablethat
willcontaintheresultsofthetrafficassignmentincludinglinkflows,congestion,travel
time,etc.GivethefileameaningfulnameandclickSAVE.

12. Thetrafficassignmentwillexecute.Whencompleted,adialogboxappearsallowing
youtoreviewtheresultsandanyerrorsexperiencedduringtheassignment.ClickClose.

13. Thetrafficassignmentisnowcomplete.TransCADautomaticallyjoinstheresultstable
totheattributetableofyourstreetnetworkfileandshowsthisasanewdataviewon
screenforuseinlateranalysis.Youcanalwaysjointhesetablesagainmanuallyusing
thejointoolsinTransCAD.Yourroadnetworkwillalsonowbecolouredtoshowflow
volumesandcongestion.

7.0TheAssignmentResults

WehaveexplainedhowtoprepareandexecuteatrafficassignmentusingTransCAD.But
whatarethedifferencesbetweeneachtrafficassignmentalgorithm?Theconceptual
differenceswereoutlinedinSection2butwhataboutthedifferencesinaveragetraveltimesor
congestion?Whattypesoflinksaremoreheavilyloadedinthedifferentalgorithms?

Toanswersomeofthesequestions,thefollowingsectionprovidesananalyticalcomparison
ofthequantitativedifferencesacrossthesevendifferenttrafficassignmentalgorithms.Each
algorithmwasrunusingthesameODdemandmatrixandnetworkfile.

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 25
 Figure5:OutputsofthesevenTransCADtrafficassignmentalgorithms

AllOrNothing

STOCH

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 26
DeterministicUserEquilibrium

StochasticUserEquilibrium

Incremental

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 27
CapacityRestraint

SystemOptimum

ComputationalRequirements

TheODdemandmatrixandnetworkfileusedinthistutorialarebothrelativelysimple
andsmallinsize.However,trafficassignmentmodelscanbeextraordinarilycomplexand
involveenormousfilesizes.Inturn,computerprocessingpowercanbecomeasignificant
problem.Hereweexaminehowquicklythevariousassignmentmethodswerecompletedusing
a3.0GHzPentium4processorwith1GBofmemory.

Figure6,below,showsboththetotaltimeandtimeperiterationeachalgorithmtookto
completelyexecute.ThetotaltimesfortheAllorNothing(AoN)andSTOCHassignmentsare
thelowestasneitherofthesemethodsareiterativeprocessesbutarecompletedinonelarge

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 28
step.Betweenthesetwo,theAoNassignmentcompletestwiceasquicklyastheSTOCH
assignmentasensibleresultgiventhattheSTOCHassignmentassignstripstomultiple
alternativeroutesbetweenODpairsand,thus,mustspendextratimecalculatingthe
probabilityoftakingthoseadditionalroutesaswellastheirtraveltimes.

Whenconsideringthefiveiterativemethods,thenumberofiterationsrequiredbecomesa
muchmoresignificantinfluenceonperformance.AsFigure6shows,thedifferentalgorithms
varysubstantiallyinthenumberofiterationsrequiredforcompletion.TheUserEquilibrium
(UE)method,forexample,takesthemosttime,periterationtocomplete,buttakestheleast
timeoveralltocompletebecauseitachievesconvergenceinthefewestnumberofiterations.

Overall,werealizethatthemoresophisticatedthealgorithm,themoretimeperiterationis
requiredtoexecuteit.TheCapacityRestraintandIncrementalAssignmentalgorithmstakeless
timetocompleteperiterationbutalsoinvolvesimplercalculationsthanthetwouser
equilibriumandsystemoptimumalgorithms(whichwillreassignthesametripmultipletimesas
thealgorithmdiscoversbetterroutesforittotravelalong).

Whatthissimpleanalysisdemonstratesisthatacrossallsevenalgorithms,thereisa
significanttradeoffbetweensophisticationandcomputationalrequirements.TheAoN
assignmentmethod,forexample,takesanaverageofabout10%ofthetimeofthemore
complexiterativemethods.

Thistradeoffisparticularlytruewhenchoosingbetweendifferentiterativeassignment
methods.Themorecomplexmethodsusuallytakesubstantiallymoreiterations,andthustime,
tocomplete.TheUEassignment,forexample,takeshalfthenumberofiterationsasthesystem
optimumassignmentandtakesapproximatelythesamefractionofthetimetocomplete.

Figure6:Assignmentcalculationtimes(inseconds)

Time Number Time
(total) of Iterations (per iteration)
All-or-
1.09 N/A N/A
Nothing

STOCH 2.39 N/A N/A

Incremental
16.56 50 0.33
Assignment
Capacity
7.69 20 0.38
Restraint
User
6.89 14 0.49
Equilibrium
Stochastic
User 10.23 22 0.46
Equilibrium
System
Optimum 12.81 31 0.41
Assignment

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 29
LinkPerformanceandNetworkLoading

Traveltimeanddistancetraveledaretwoofthemostfundamentallyimportant
statisticscalculatedbyanytrafficassignmentmodel.TransCADautomaticallycalculatesthese
andothervariablesforeachlinkinanetwork.Thispermitsustoexaminenetworkperformance
asawhole,bylinktype(i.e.highwaysvslocalroads)oronalinkbylinkbasis.Herewewillshow
howtraveltimeanddistanceareinfluencedbythealgorithmusedtoperformthetraffic
assignment..

SystemWidePerformance

Whenweexaminethenetworkasawholeandcalculatetheaveragetraveltimeand
distanceofatrip,weinherentlyloseinformationpertainingtothevariabilityofthosetrips.
Nevertheless,somegeneral,butimportant,differentiationscanbemadebetweenthe
algorithmsusingsystemwidemeasures.

Theaveragetimepertripanddistancepertripforagiventrafficassignmentmodelis
largelydependentonthecomplexityandunderlyingassumptionsofthemodelitself.TheAoN
andSTOCHassignmentsdonotattempttomodelcongestionandthustriptimesarelowerthan
thosemodelsthatdo.Figure7showshowthesetwoassignmentmodelshavesignificantly
loweraveragetriptimes.

Withinthemodelsthatattempttoaccountforlinkcongestion,theSystemOptimum,UE
andStochasticUEalgorithmsgivetheshortestaveragetraveltimes.Thisisduetothefactthat
eachofthesealgorithmscreatesomeformofoptimalpatternofvehicleflows.Ofthesethree
algorithms,SystemOptimumwillalwayshavetheshortestaveragetraveltimeasthisisthe
verystatisticthealgorithmisdesignedtominimize.

Whenconsideringaveragetripdistance,thedifferencebetweenmodelsarenotas
pronouncedsincephysicaldistanceoverlandisfixed,regardlessofthetimerequiredtotraverse
it.Averagedistancethusvariesmostlyduetothefactthatsometrafficmustbedivertedaway
fromthemostdirectroutebetweenorigindestinationpairsduetocongestion.

Despitetherelativelysmalldifferencesinaveragetripdistance,theAoN,System
OptimumandUEassignmentsallexhibitshortertriplengths.Thoughtheselowvaluescannot
beattributedentirelytothefactthatthesesamealgorithmshaveshortertraveltimes,ashorter
traveltimedoesoccur,inpart,becauseashorterdistanceisbeingtraveled.

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 30


Figure7:Comparisonofassignmentresults

Average
Vehicle Trip
Kilometers Distrance
Traveled (kilometers)
All-or-
2767719 18.7
Nothing

STOCH 2774112 18.8

Incremental
2785263 18.9
Assignment
Capacity
2815979 19.1
Restaint
User
2764670 18.7
Equilibrium
Stochastic
User 2776106 18.8
Equilibrium
System
Optimum 2755398 18.7
Assignment

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 31


Vehicle
Minutes Average
Traveled Trip Time (Minutes)

All-or-Nothing 3284594 22.2

STOCH 3297694 22.3

Incremental
5632147 38.1
Assignment
Capacity
7858552 53.2
Restaint

User Equilibrium 5070969 34.3

Stochastic
5048384 34.2
User Equilibrium
System
Optimum 4632074 31.4
Assignment

PerformancebyLinkCategory

Averagestatisticscangiveuspreliminaryinsightintonetworkperformancebutthese
aggregatemeasureshidesomesignificantunderlyingvariationinhowthetripsareassignedin
eachalgorithm.Freeways,arterialstreetsandlocalroadsareloadedsignificantlydifferently
dependingonthetypeofalgorithmusedandthesedifferencesmustbeconsideredwhen
selectinganalgorithmforaparticulartrafficassignmentapplication.Whenweexaminethe
distancetraveledandtimespenttravelingoneachclassoflink(figure8below),afewtrendsare
apparent.

First,aswemightexpect,mostofthedistancetraveledoccursonfreewaysasthese
tendtobethemostrapidmeansoftraversinglongdistancesduetotheirhigheroperating
speeds.However,timespenttravelingonfreewaysisdisproportionatelylowerthanarterialand
localroads.Forexample,intheUEassignment,66%ofthetotaldistancebyallvehiclesoccurs
onfreewaysandyetthesesamelinksaccountsforonly54%ofthetotaltimespenttraveling.
Thisistrueforallthealgorithmsand,aswemightexpect,isduetotheloweroperatingspeeds
ofarterialstreets,theirhavingagreaternumberofintersectionsandsoforth.

Second,andofgreaterimportancehere,isthattheproportionoftripsassignedto
freewaysversuslocalandarterialroadsvariessignificantlydependingonthealgorithmused.As
freewaysarethefastestlinksinanetwork,eachalgorithmusesthemasmuchaspossible.In
thecaseoftheAoNandSTOCHassignments,congestionisnotaccountedforandthuseverytrip
canbeassignedtoafreewayandrealizethebenefitsofhighertravelvelocities.Whenlink

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 32
congestionisaccountedfor,onlyacertainnumberofvehiclescanuseafreewaybefore
congestiondelaysmaketravelingonanarterialorlocalroadmoredesirable.Thisfactaccounts
forwhytheAoNandSTOCHassignmentsutilizefreewaysthemost(71%ofthedistancetraveled
and58%ofthetimespenttraveling).

Betweenthealgorithmsthataccountforcongestion,freewaysareutilizedlessandless
themoreanalgorithmattemptstooptimizetraveltime.Assuch,theSystemOptimumandthe
twoUserEquilibriumalgorithmsusefreewayslessthanmostothermodels.Thisfactmight
seemcounterintuitivebutwhileredirectingafewtripsawayfromafreewaymightincreasethe
traveltimeforthoseparticularvehicles,italsoimprovesthetraveltimefortheremainderofthe
vehiclesonthatfreeway.Thesethreealgorithmsaredesignedspecificallytocalculatethese
typesoftradeoffsandredirecttripstoreducetraveltimes.




Figure8:Assignmentresultsbylinktype

Vehicle Distribution of Vehicle Kilometers (%)
Kilometers Freeway Arte Local
Traveled Freeways
ramps rials roads
All-or-
2767719 71% 4% 13% 12%
Nothing

STOCH 2774112 71% 4% 13% 12%

Incremental
2785263 68% 3% 16% 13%
Assignment
Capacity
2815979 60% 2% 19% 19%
Restaint
User
2764670 66% 2% 17% 15%
Equilibrium
Stochastic
User 2776106 65% 2% 17% 15%
Equilibrium
System
Optimum 2755398 59% 2% 18% 21%
Assignment

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 33
 Vehicle Distribution of Vehicle Minutes (%)
Minutes Freeway Arte Local
Traveled Freeways
ramps rials roads
All-or-
3284594 58% 3% 19% 20%
Nothing

STOCH 3297694 58% 3% 19% 20%

Incremental
5632147 56% 9% 20% 15%
Assignment
Capacity
7858552 41% 13% 20% 26%
Restaint
User
5070969 54% 7% 21% 18%
Equilibrium
Stochastic
User 5048384 54% 6% 22% 18%
Equilibrium
System
Optimum 4632074 44% 3% 22% 31%
Assignment

NetworkComplexityAComplicatingFactor

Trafficassignmentisaninherentlyspatialprocess.Assuch,thephysicallayoutofthe
roadnetworkanditsrelativeconnectivity/complexitycannotbeignored.Anetworkcomposed
mostlyoffreewaysandarterialroadswillperformdifferentlythanonewithalllocalroads
includedaswell.Moreover,theroadnetworkindowntownlocationsaretypicallyarranged
verydifferentlythanthosefoundinaruralorsuburbanroadnetwork,andthiscanalsohavean
effectontheresultsofthetrafficassignment.

Spatialvariationanditsimpactontrafficassignmentoutputsisstillbeingwidelystudied
bytransportationresearchersaroundtheworld.Nosingleapproachtoaddressingthisproblem
ofspatialvariationexiststodateandsothetransportationanalystmustdohisorherbestto
assesshowmuchthespatiallayoutofthetransportationnetworkinquestionislikelytodistort
oraffecttheresultsofatrafficassignment.

Inthisguide,wehaveignoredtheeffectsofnetworkcomplexityandspatialvariation.
Tables6,7and8,above,shouldbeusedasalearningtoolsincetheabsolutepercentageswill
varydependingontheparticularnetworkyouareworkingwith.Therelativeproportionsof
timeanddistancetraveledoneachlinktypewillalsovarydependingonthecharacteristicsof
theroadnetwork.Whatisimportanthereistounderstandthatnotalltrafficassignment
methodsareidenticalandthattheparticularalgorithmchosenwillaffecteachofthestatistics
describedabove.

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 34


Conclusion

Trafficassignmentinvolvessendingvehiclesfromasetoforiginstoanothersetof
destinationalongaroadnetwork.However,thewidevarietyoftransportationapplications
necessitatingtheuseoftrafficassignmentshasledtothedevelopmentofmanytypesof
assignmentalgorithmsofvaryingcomplexity.

GISandcomputertechnologies,likeTransCAD,haveallowedtransportationresearchers,
engineersandplannerstoperformtheseassignmentsquicklyandaccurately.ThejoboftheGIS
usertodayistobringthefullpowerofthiscomputertechnologytobearontheproblemat
hand.Thisrequiresthatoneshouldunderstandtheextensivearrayoftoolsavailableand
ensurethattheappropriateonesarebeingusedforthetransportationapplicationathand.

Thisguideprovidesthereaderwithabriefoverviewofboththequalitativeandquantitative
differencesbetweensomeofthemostcommontrafficassignmentalgorithmsaswellastheir
strengthsandweaknesses.Thoughthisguidehas,innoway,fullydiscussedthemeritsofeach
methodology,thereadercouldusethedocumentasthefirststeptowardsunderstandingthe
choicestobemadeforimplementingtrafficassignmentmodels.

TrafficAssignmentModels(HaiderandGregoul) 35