Multimodal network management framework for crowd management

Problem description

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A Multimodal Network Management Framework (Dutch: Multimodaal Netwerkkader, or MNK) gives road authorities tactical tools for controlling traffic, in particular by:

• The networks on which traffic management can be deployed (based on the mobility objectives);
• The desired quality on different types of network parts (functions of network parts and target performance values)
• A prioritization sequence of functions for when scarcity occurs and choices have to be made.

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See also the website multimodalenetwerkkaders.nl. These tactical principles are applied to situations where traffic management measures are deployed for controlling bottlenecks for cars, bikes and public transport. Up untill now, the ideas of MNK are not applied to crowds management. Crowd management and the effective deployment of measures is a relatively new domain within the world of traffic management. The tactical frameworks that guide which measures can be deployed, derived from policy ambitions, are missing.

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Assignment

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This project is a joint project between Transport & Planning (civil engineering) and Arane Adviseurs (www.arane.nl). The following are possible research questions:

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• What is the state of the art in crowd management?
• Are the ideas of MNK applicable to situations where measures for crowd management are deployed?
• Can we extend the MNK methodology so that it will be applicable to situations where crowd management is needed?

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Information:

Transport & Planning department and Systems Engineering

Thesis supervisor: prof. dr. ir. Serge Hoogendoorn

Daily supervisor: prof. dr. ir. Serge Hoogendoorn and Koen Adams (Arane)

Contact: ???

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Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences

MSc. Thesis Project

Transport & Planning

Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences

Managing traffic lights from a multimodal network management framework

Problem description

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A multimodal network management framework (Dutch: Multimodaal Netwerkkader, or MNK) gives road authorities tactical tools for controlling traffic, in particular by:

• The networks on which traffic management can be deployed (based on the mobility objectives);
• The desired quality on different types of network parts (functions of network parts and target performance values)
• A prioritization sequence of functions for when scarcity occurs and choices have to be made

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At the moment, many road authorities struggle with realizing these tactical principles 'on the street'. Traffic lights are now adjusted to distribute the green time neatly, for example on the basis of traffic demand. But this distribution is not necessarily in line with the policy objectives (e.g., where cyclists should be given more greentime). Road authorities would like to change this and regulate more in accordance with the policy objectives, but they do not know how to achieve this and also do not know what the (negative) side effects of adjusting these traffic light parameters are.

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Assignment

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This project is a joint project between Transport & Planning (civil engineering) and Arane Adviseurs (www.arane.nl). The following are possible research questions:

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• What is needed to manage traffic in line with a multimodal network management framework (MNK) on signalised intersections from a technical, traffic management and/or organizational point of view?
• Which traffic management solutions are feasible when prioritizing specific modalities? And what is needed to operationalise those solutions?
• Which secondary effects can occur when prioritizing specific modalities at signalised intersections?

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There is a possibility that this assignment can be carried out together with a road authority. Affinity with control tactics/techniques is useful, as is interest in the policy side of the question. A local simulation or model study can be part of the assignment.

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Information:

Transport & Planning department and Systems Engineering

Thesis supervisor: prof. dr. ir. Serge Hoogendoorn

Daily supervisor: prof. dr. ir. Serge Hoogendoorn en Koen Adams (Arane)

Contact: ???

Click to edit Master title style

Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences

MSc. Thesis Project

Transport & Planning

Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences

Integrated network management

Problem description

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Integrated Network Management or INM (Dutch: Gecoordineerd Netwerkbreed Verkeersmanagement, or GNV) is a traffic control approach in which traffic management measures are deployed and work autonomously and coordinated on predetermined problem situations at intersections, routes and networks.

Currently, a limited number of road authorities use the INM approach. An important reason of other road authorities for not using INM are the (initial and maintenance) costs of setting up a system are relatively high. A study has already been carried out for the municipality of Utrecht (project: INM-light) to see where the approach can be made cheaper, without having to make too many concessions to the functionality. We would like to take this research a few steps further, with also looking into possibilities to apply the approach on other traffic modes (bike, bus, tram, …).

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Assignment

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This project is a joint project between Transport & Planning (civil engineering) and Arane Adviseurs (www.arane.nl). The following are possible research questions:

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• In what directions can the ideas of INM-light be further implemented? Or is a different set-up of INM possible that can lead to similar results with less investments?
• Are there possibilities to 'enrich' existing control approaches (for example a green wave or a network controller) with components from the INM approach?
• What adjustments can we make to the control approach to make it applicable to cycling and public transport problems?

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There is a possibility that this assignment can be carried out together with a road authority. Affinity with control tactics/techniques is useful.

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Information:

Transport & Planning department and Systems Engineering

Thesis supervisor: prof. dr. ir. Serge Hoogendoorn

Daily supervisor: dr. ir. Marco Rinaldi (TU Delft) and Erik-Sander Smits (Arane)

Contact: ???

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Click to edit Master title style

Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences

MSc. Thesis Project

Transport & Planning

Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences

New applications of Open Data from Rijkswaterstaat

Problem description

The Dutch highway road authority, Rijkswaterstaat, is standardizing their network data and traffic data. Under the ShiVi project, a monthly network is produced consisting of all road sections that are managed by the national government. In collaboration with the National DataPortal Road Traffic (NDW), RWS is currently working on delivering traffic data that can be linked directly to the network.

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The Traffic Data Basefile (Dutch: Basisbestand Verkeersgegevens or BMG) is produced every 5 minutes and contains data of the past 5 minutes: (1) average flow per road segment (from the induction loops) and (2) average speeds per road segment (based on floating car data, for the entire network).

It is expected that in addition to the Shivi network, the BMG will soon be published as open data. We see opportunities for performing (automated) analyzes for the main road network, for example analysis of vehicle loss hours and other traffic performance indicators, analysis of bottlenecks or analysis of safety or quality of life indicators

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Assignment

This project is a joint project between Transport & Planning (civil engineering) and Arane Adviseurs (ww.arane.nl). The following are possible research questions:

• What are the possibilities of these open data sources for the aforementioned analyses?
• What is the quality of the data?
• Are there simple methods that provide reasonoble estimates of missing values at parts of the network (using a pragmatic estimation method)?

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Information:

Transport & Planning department and Systems Engineering

Thesis supervisor: prof. dr. ir. Serge Hoogendoorn

Daily supervisor: dr. ir. Andreas Hegyi (TU Delft) and Erik-Sander Smits (Arane)

Contact: ???

Click to edit Master title style

Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences

MSc. Thesis Project

Transport & Planning

Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences