| Speaker: Andrea Raith Affiliation: University of Auckland Time: 2 pm Thursday, 22 March, 2018 Location: 303-257 |
| Transport modelling is a key component in analysing road transport network congestion and prioritising infrastructure improvements. In a generic transport modelling process, transport demands are modelled between different origins and destinations in the network and split between transport modes such as motorised vehicles, public transport and cycling. The final stage of this process is called traffic assignment (TA), where the route choice of network users is modelled to obtain estimates of the flow of traffic on each road in the network based on the assumption that drivers aim to minimise their travel time or so-called generalised cost function. A basic assumption of TA is that network users selfishly minimise their own travel time and that the traffic pattern follows the so-called user equilibrium principle. It is well known that user equilibrium traffic flow does not necessarily follow a system-optimal travel pattern (in terms of overall travel time or generalised cost). Such a system-optimal travel pattern can be computed and congestion pricing theory shows that it can be enforced in a user equilibrium TA by charging network users an appropriate toll. This presentation introduces basic theory of traffic equilibrium models and explores some recent advances in transport modelling research such as the minimisation of energy consumption in transport models. Challenges are outlined and initial solution approaches are presented. |