Intelligent Weather-Responsive Traffic Management

加拿大严酷的冬季气候可能会对加拿大人生活的方方面面造成重大影响(例如，事故风险和焦虑增加，旅行和紧急服务的可靠性降低)，以及国家经济(例如，生产力下降和经济活动未完成)。拟议研究计划的目标是解决与冬季运输有关的几个关键问题，包括司机行为、状况监测、估计和预测以及交通管理。我的研究重点是开发模型和工具，以改善交通机构和道路使用者的决策。拟议的研究计划包括三个研究主题：1)冬季天气条件下的出行者行为：目的是在宏观(如出行、方式和路线选择)和微观(如跟车和缺口接受)两个层面上定量了解出行者如何应对不利的冬季天气和道路条件，这是智能系统规划和交通管理的基础；2)道路和交通状况的估计和预测：本主题的重点是调查固定和移动数据源，以生成维护操作员、出行者和交通管理人员所需的可靠的路面和交通状况信息，以及3)天气响应交通管理：主要目标是开发对高速公路和信号城市街道的道路天气和交通变化做出反应的交通控制模型和算法。研究将具体集中在如何应用前两个研究主题的结果来解释各种系统组件的内在随机性质，如天气、道路环境和交通状况以及驾驶员，并使用一些最新的优化技术来解决实际的交通控制问题。拟议的计划包括基础研究和应用研究部分，这些部分具有为加拿大带来显著经济、环境和技术效益的巨大潜力。它也非常适合培养高素质的人才。

Canada's harsh winter climate can cause significant impacts on all aspects of Canadians' life (e.g., increased accident risk and anxiety and reduced reliability of travel and emergency services) and the nation's economy (e.g., reduced productivity and unfulfilled economic activities). The goal of the proposed research program is to address several key issues related to winter transportation, including driver behaviour, condition monitoring, estimation and prediction, and traffic management. My research focuses particularly on developing models and tools for improving the decision-making of transportation agencies and road users. The proposed research program consists of three research themes as follows: 1) Traveler behaviour under winter weather conditions: The objective is to develop quantitative understanding of how travelers respond to adverse winter weather and road conditions at both macroscopic (e.g., trip-making, mode and route choice) and microscopic levels (e.g., car-following and gap acceptance), which is fundamental for intelligent system planning and traffic management; 2) Estimation and prediction of road and traffic conditions: The focus of this theme is on investigating both fixed and mobile data sources for generating reliable road surface and traffic condition information that is needed by maintenance operators, travelers, and traffic managers, and 3) Weather responsive traffic management: The main objective is to develop traffic control models and algorithms that are responsive to road weather and traffic variation for both freeways and signalized urban streets. The research will focus specifically on how to apply the results from the previous two research themes to account for the inherent stochastic nature of various system components such as weather, road environment and traffic conditions, and drivers, and to solve practical traffic control problems using some of the latest optimization techniques. The proposed program entails both basic and applied research components with high potential for generating significant economic, environmental and technical benefits for Canada. It is also eminently suitable for training highly qualified personnel.