Seasonal Impact Analysis of climatic conditions on freeways light- vehicle traffic volume with temporal adaptation of weather parameters and traffic information

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 M.Sc. Student of Civil Engineering (Transportation), Faculty of Engineering, University of Guilan. Guilan, Iran

2 Ph.D. in Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering (Road & Transportation), Faculty of Engineering, The University of Guilan, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Geography and Urban Planning, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Guilan, Guilan, Iran

Abstract

Weather conditions are one of the most effective factors in traffic volume. So the main purpose of this study is to identify the effect of variables related to seasonal changes in climate parameters including visibility (m), wind speed (m/s), rainfall (mm), snow depth (cm) and temperature (℃) on of Lowshan- Qazvin freeway light-vehicle traffic volume. In this research, traffic and meteorology data are evaluated on three separate sections. In order to examine the existence of differences between the different climatic groups and the number of Light vehicles, U-Mann-Whitney or Kruskal-Wallis statistical tests were employed. In addition, in the proposed research method, a two-way analysis of variance test was used to statistically analyze the relationship between the combination of two climatic variables with traffic volume in the studied sections. The results showed that the amount of traffic in all parts decreased by an average of about 18% with a decrease in visibility. Also increasing rainfall only in warmer seasons of spring and summer has led to a decrease in traffic volume. The results of statistical analysis of the combined effect of two-way meteorological variables on the amount of traffic, in general, showed that in the Kouhin-Mahmoudabad nemune section combination of rainfall and snow and snow with wind speed has affected the number of vehicles. The outputs of the proposed method, while revealing changes in freeway traffic volume under different climatic conditions, provide useful information to the relevant authorities for the management and planning of traffic volume.

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References

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Amirkabir Journal of Civil Engineering
Volume 54, Issue 10
January 2023
Pages 3699-3722

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