The Future of the Transport Sector in Australia

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Traffic Engneering
Name
Institution

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Abstract
The future of the transport sector in Australia and New Zealand is expected to continue to
grow, due to the higher number of vehicles that are expected to continue utilizing the major road
networks on a daily basis. The rates of accidents have also been projected to increase and this
will contribute to delays on the roads, as well as traffic congestions and other incidents. These
incidents tend to disorganize the entire transport sector. The traditional approaches to these
incidents on the road transport system would not have worked because the time of an incident
would be multiplied and compounded by the time that it would take for an incident that has
occurred to be detected, prompting more delays. Then the time it would take for the response
teams to react and then the time that it would take the involved personnel to arrive at the scene of
the incident. Traditional methods would not be effective in in prudently dealing with the snarl up
caused during incidents, and this would affect the efficiency to keep the road in optimal
operation.
For this reason, a number of software packages have been introduced so as to resolve the
incidents that occur on the road and thereby effectively and successfully managing incidence and
thus the resulting traffic congestion. To achieve this kind technological based management, the
incorporation of Automatic Transport Management System can be utilized so that the impact of
incidents on the road network section and congestion in this area can be established and
managed. This is conducted through the mesoscopic and the microscopic simulation of traffic
across the case study area on Hoodle Street. These simulations are then used to emulate the flow
and movement dynamics of the vehicles moving within the entire transport network based on
specific models of the analytical predictive modeling tool used known as the AIMSUN tool. This
tool is thus able to consider the specifications of the AIMSUN model to emulate factors on the

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road such as the choice of route from one destination and the car-following and lane changing
movement so as to implement the dynamic flow of traffic on the model. The microscopic regions
are appropriate for the analysis of the operational aspects of that section of the road in the event
of an incident and the models require plenty of synthesized data to run. Mesoscopic areas on the
other hand mainly focus on the flow of traffic on that section of the road which also considers the
obstacles and intersection activity allowing a wider area to be modelled with high traffic
dynamics efficiency. The consistency of the results from the models is extremely important for
the accuracy and precision of the insights given from the model from the mesoscopic and the
microscopic model.
The paper looks into the manner in which SCATS imported models can be used for
incidence management and coincidence control together with AIMSUN as well as how SCATS
has been used in other developed areas as traffic control strategy and as incident management
tool. This is because SCATS is an adaptive traffic signal control system which uses real-time
traffic information to adjust the movement of vehicles in traffic and thus delay incidents and
manage congestion (Sullivan and Flannagan, 2012). In this case study, the real-time information
obtained from scats has been calibrated and validated to fit an AIMSUN model and the model
has been used to design a traffic management tool for Hoodle Street in Melbourne. An effective
incident management system will grant the existing methods of congestion control and incident
management more reliability in terms of the predicted time of travel and delays expected in the
roads, as the AIMSUN model will utilize an analytical predictive modeling tool. All transport
conditions on Hoodle Street on the modelled intervals and days of the week will be modelled and
insights will be generated to improve the incident management strategies used and thus show
how the incorporation of technology would be effective in improving the strategies for

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congestion control and incident management. Thus the tools will also be used to give
recommendations on how incident related congestion can be managed in the case study area of
Hoodle Street. The conveyance of information would also aid drivers to quickly adopt
instructions for diversion thus easing the demand for traffic and thus reducing the rates of
congestion on the roads. This will also improve the traffic safety and improve the compliance of
individuals to traffic rules and regulations.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................... 7
Traditional approaches............................................................................................ 7
Smart Mobility Technologies.................................................................................10
Current Gap in Modelling tools..............................................................................12
Aims...................................................................................................................... 13
Objectives............................................................................................................. 15
Case Study............................................................................................................ 15
2. LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................................................... 18
Incidents and Incident Management.....................................................................19
Incident Management Tools in Developed Areas...................................................23
SCATS in Traffic System Management...............................................................23
Analytical Predictive Modeling Tool....................................................................27
3. METHODOLOGY.................................................................................................. 31
Case Study Area.................................................................................................... 31
Importing the SCATS for Hoodle Street Congestion Problem.................................33
Theory/Calculation................................................................................................ 36
Types of Incidents Contributing to Traffic Congestion...........................................39
Accidents and Traffic Congestion.......................................................................40
Road Construction and Congestion....................................................................40
Roadside building construction and congestion.................................................41
4. RESULTS............................................................................................................. 43
5. DISCUSSION....................................................................................................... 49
6. CONCLUSION...................................................................................................... 52
7. FUTURE WORK................................................................................................... 54
8. REFERENCES...................................................................................................... 56

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1. INTRODUCTION
The future of the transport sector in Australia and New Zealand is expected to continue to grow,
due to the higher number of vehicles that are expected to continue utilizing the major road
networks on a daily basis. The rates of accidents have also been projected to increase and this
will contribute to delays on the roads, as well as traffic congestions and other incidents. These
incidents tend to disorganize the entire transport sector. The traditional approaches to these
incidents on the road transport system would not have worked because they time of an incident
would be multiplied and compounded by the time that it would take for an incident that has
occurred to be detected. Then the time it would take for the response teams to react and then the
time that it would take the involved personnel to arrive at the scene of the incident (Abdel-Aty
and Radwan, 2010). Traditional methods would not be effective in in prudently dealing with the
snarl up caused during incidents, and this would affect the efficiency to keep the road in optimal
operation.
Traditional approaches
The role of managing traffic and implementing measures to manage incidents in the road
network system is to improve the flow of traffic during incidents which slow down traffic. Such
incidents include occurrences that would cause a snarl up of the movement of traffic such as
accidents, road works, and the constructions of private developments that affect the road usage.
An incident management system would also increase the effectiveness of the road system
networks through a reduction of traffic emissions and effectively utilizing the capacity of the
traffic network. This will help to optimize the traffic systems by curbing the demands of
transport in the city and also encourage people to prefer this mode of transport, the time taken to

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travel and the route taken, due to its improved effectiveness. Thus, for traffic to be managed
effectively, the information regarding traffic and any incidents within the network system has to
be clearly communicated, such as how to control the traffic, the occurrence of incidents and how
they can be managed. This in turn will look into managing the demand for the transport form, as
well as the support as well as the monitoring of the entire transport system.
The information about traffic in this incident management system is a very important feature of
the system, as it provides the system with real-time information for the users and also the
institutions associated with the management of the incidents that occur on the transport system.
This information includes weather news and conditions on the road ahead for the road-users,
schedules for the maintenance of the road or maintenance works areas of the road, occurrences of
any incidents on the road, the traffic information with regards to any incidents on the road and
where the snarl up is, as well as if it is advisable to take any other mode of transport instead. By
providing this kind of information, traffic can easily be controlled in the road transport network
system for every node which are the intersections (Qin, Ivan, and Ravishanker, 2013). This
means that the management system will thus be able to control the entire road network system
per for different sections, through a fixed or a dependent traffic control.
Incident management systems are specifically aimed at detecting any incidences in the transport
network, thus handling any form of traffic incidents and eliminating any possible risks of traffic
snarl ups as a result incidents. It also has to work hand in hand to with different authorities that
would ep to clear up the go slow, regardless of whatever kind of incidence has occurred. It also
involves the management of the demand for the specific transport mode, and thus the
determination of the flow of traffic route, mode, and even time of travel for many road users in
the city. The incidence management system can become successful if the traffic management