1 AIT Asian Institute of Technology

Calibration of a car-following model for use in Bangkok

AuthorChanida Anurakamolkul
Call NumberAIT Thesis no.TE-06-04
Subject(s)Traffic engineering--Planning--Thailand--Bangkok

NoteA thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Transportation Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology
PublisherAsian Institute of Technology
Series StatementThesis ; no. TE-06-04
AbstractNowadays, traffic simulation has become increasingly important in traffic engineering and planning. One of the most critical components in traffic simulation is a car-following model which describes how one vehicle follows the car in front without overtaking in a single lane. Several car-following models have been developed and implemented over a long period of time. One of the most well known and widely accepted models is the General Motor's model (GM) which is based on the stimulus response concept. This study is aimed to calibrate the GM 5th car-following model on macroscopic traffic stream model and to examine the traffic stability and following distance of the highways. For this purpose, a video camera and a machine vision processor are employed to obtain traffic data of vehicles in the traffic stream on National Highway No.31 and National Highway No.7. To estimate parameter value, the maximum likelihood estimation is introduced so that mean square error of each parameter can be directly obtained by Cramer-Rao lower bound. A genetic algorithm for function optimization in MATLAB is applied in the calibration process to enable parameter identification. T-ratio is performed in order to verify that all coefficients are significantly different from zero. The traffic stability and following distance of both highways are then investigated based on the calibration results. The calibration results of the study indicate that all parameters have critical effect on the model. According to the results, the traffic stability of both highways is satisfied at all flow patterns. Additionally, the minimum following distances of both highways are proposed at different desired speed and reaction time. The results show that driver reaction time has a significant effect on the following distance and driver keep maintaining less following distance on National Highway No.31 than National Highway No.7.
Year2007
Corresponding Series Added EntryAsian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. TE-06-04
TypeThesis
SchoolSchool of Engineering and Technology (SET)
DepartmentDepartment of Civil and Infrastucture Engineering (DCIE)
Academic Program/FoSStructural Engineering (STE) /Former Name = Structural Engineering and Construction (ST)
Chairperson(s)Kunnawee Kanitpong;
Examination Committee(s)Hanaoka, Shinya;Ponlathep Lertworawanich;
Scholarship Donor(s)RTG Fellowship;
DegreeThesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2007


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