Comparison of urban traffic prediction methods between UTN-based spatial model and time series models

A spatial short-term traffic flow prediction method based on the macroscopic urban traffic network (UTN) model is described and compared to the traditional time series forecasting methods. This paper presents a general macroscopic UTN model by adopting the transfer mechanism of vehicles between road links to represent the future distribution of vehicles in the whole network. Based on the model, we predict the short-term traffic flux without using any historical traffic data, which is completely different from previous approaches. Furthermore, to verify the effectivity of the UTN-based prediction model, we compare it to four classic models including two parametric and two nonparametric methods with the data produced by CORSIM, a commonly used microscopic traffic simulation software. Finally, the comparative results illustrate that the proposed method can reach the level of classic methods and predict the short-term traffic flow timely and accurately both for the steady or suddenly changed traffic states.