CHARACTERIZATION OF TRAFFIC PATTERNS IN URBAN AREAS -KUWAIT MODEL AS A CASE STUDY

Combining traffic assignment models and intersection delay functions into a single modeling framework could provide reliable representation of the travel times and route choices and accordingly improve the overall transportation planning process. This paper examines a proposed methodology for combining the traffic assignment models with intersection delay functions on realistic network in interaction with varying levels of congestion. For this aim the well-known HCM 2010 Formulas are used in order to calculate the delays for each turn movements. In addition, a commercial computer-aided transport planning called “VISUM” established at the PTV System Software and Constructing Gmbh Karlsruhe-Germany is used. To facilitate the calculations, an interactive computer program is developed. The proposed methodology is applied on the entire road network of Kuwait City Cente which is part of the city of Kuwait. As a consequence of the applied method, the accuracy of the List area model was raised significantly. The proposed methodology which includes the intersection delay models showed improvements of about 4%, 6%, 9% and 13% in comparison with the traditional traffic assignment methods. Further efforts should be directed toward implementing the modeling framework presented in this paper on larger and more realistic networks.