Team members: ZhaoWu, YiqiZhang, ZhenhuaZhang
IE515 Transportation Data & Analysis
Initial project proposal
Topic: The analysis of travel time reliability of emergent vehicles
Goal of the project: Comparing the distributions of travel time for selected routes in certain
areas
Data resources: GIS information, a dataset of emergent vehicles at the intersections of
suburban areas of Washington D.C.
Problem Statement
Emergency vehicle preemption (EVP) and transit priority system (TP) are considered as
an important issue in developing the ITS product to improve the effectiveness of the
emergency service functions (e.g. emergency medical service and fire and rescue services).
Today, ninety-eight metropolitan areas have installed such systems in more than 30,000
intersections, which represents there are one fifth of all signalized intersection in the US are
equipped with preemption capabilities (Kishore, R., & Hancock, K., 2010). In the proposed
project, we will analyze the travel time of emergency vehicles and relevant factors that may
influence the travel time reliability based on the data obtained from chosen routes with
signaled intersections in Washington DC area. The investigated distribution features of the
travel time could be utilized in developing further signal preemption strategies to improve
the efficiency and safety for emergency vehicles route selection.
Proposed Plan
The emergency vehicle travel-time usually serves as a key index in the evaluation of EVP
systems. Before performing the analysis of the dataset, we will firstly review relevant factors
the direction/characteristics of influence they have on travel time reliability, such as the
capacity of highway, volume of the highway, available service resources. Likewise, we will
also review the current traffic signal control strategy applied in this area in preempting green
times for emergent vehicles (e.g. ambulances and fire trucks), especially how such strategies
facilitate the accessibility of the emergent vehicles and their performance in reducing the
total travel time
Based on the literature review results, certain routes will be selected that are comprised
of sequent signaled intersections and equipped with roadside recording devices. Using the
available dataset counting up to 1500000 observations, a sample of the chosen routes will
then be selected and analyzed. The total travel time of certain routes will be obtained
through a set of complex calculation and processing. The performance (e.g. corresponding
distribution) of the travel time reliability of selected routes will be evaluated and applied to
provide reference in further design of the emergency vehicle preemption systems.
Reference
Kishore, R., & Hancock, K. (2010). 3. Traffic Adaptive Offset-Based Preemption for Emergency
Vehicles: Model Development. Congestion-Based Emergency Vehicle Preemption, 15.