Compatibility between delay functions and highway capacity manual on Iraqi highways

Abstract

Abstract Volume delay functions (VDFs) are mathematical relationships used by the traffic allocation step of demand forecasting models to take into account the effect of increased traffic flow on the time spent to travel each possible route between different travel sources and destinations. The VDF is usually applied in static traffic assignment to describe the resultant link travel times, as a function of flow and capacity and free-flow travel time. This study aims to investigate the interface between the delay functions used by demand forecasting models and the highway capacity manual (HCM) model flow-speed relationships. The most commonly used VDFs in transport demand modeling packages in the literature were identified. The Bureau of Public Roads (BPR), conical functions (CF), Akçik and Troutbeck function (ATF), and delay logistics function (LF) were described. The four VDFs and the current HCM models were calibrated for the Iraqi road environment, and their compatibilities were examined. Results show that the best adjustments were obtained using the BPR function (quadratic error 0–0.012) and LF (quadratic error 0–0.002). The roles of CF and ATF were used with care, as both appear to neglect the delay in the condition of small to medium traffic patterns typical to country roads. Particularly, in response to single-lane roads, the LF has proven to be useful due to its potential to represent significant delays for low traffic flows and simultaneously produce more delays in congestion conditions; furthermore, the effect of flow as well as intersection spacing is obviously nonlinear. As flow reaches 600 pcu/h/lane, running time increases quickly. With more intersections per kilometer, the impact is obviously greater.