Integrated distributed management for interurban mobility and traffic
For this project, the northeastern section of the Mediterranean AP-7 highway has been accurately modeled and equipped with a plug-in to represent the Infrastructure to Vehicle communication. We investigate what happens if the current approach of toll collection is replaced by a system of distributed traffic and mobility management, based on the DIT4TraM concepts.
Since January 2020 and September 2021, the Spanish government and highway management authorities have decided to (temporarily) remove the tolls from several Spanish motorways, including parts of the AP-7 (Autopista del Mediterráneo). This has resulted in increased traffic and lower Levels of Service (LoS) across several parts of the Spanish motorway system, particularly the AP-7. In this pilot, we focus on the highway network crossing the Catalan region of Girona and we use it as a virtual testbed for a Tradable Credit Scheme (TCS) application. The scope of the Mediterranean highway case used for our TCS analysis and assessment framework includes two highways in the periphery of the Girona metropolitan area – AP-7 and N-II. AP-7 is a Spanish highway running across the Northern and Southern borders of Spain, while N-II is a national motorway connecting Madrid with La Jonquera (a city at the French border).
Pilot Objectives
In DIT4TraM we investigate Tradable Credit Schemes under both regular and irregular interurban traffic conditions to assess the potential of replacing the previous tolling system with a more equitable means of traffic management, i.e., TCS, and towards achieving three goals:
- Alleviate habitually congested and low Level of Service (LoS) arterial corridors (highways) by balancing demand among different highway alternatives (day-to-day scope),
- Reducing emissions caused by interurban travel,
- Diffuse congested corridors resulting from emergency situations, e.g., accidents (within-day scope)
The simulation-based analysis framework that will be used for the TCS assessment study in DIT4TraM’s Mediterranean Highway pilot is the result of the interoperable coupling among a TCS ecosystem module, developed by the LICIT-ECO7 laboratory at University Gustave Eiffel, and the Aimsun Next microsimulation solution. The conceptual architecture of the integrated modelling and simulation framework is illustrated in the figure below.
Results are coming soon!