Corridor Level Mobility Analysis Using GPS Data

Mobility of the road network is a serious problem which traffic managers all over the world are trying to resolve. India is one of the populous countries in the world. Most of the arterial and local roads of India remain highly congested causing unbearable delays; thus affecting the mobility. Addressing the mobility issues and analyzing performance of the roads is now one of the major concerns of the highway administrators, traffic analysts and managers. The main challenge involved in a detailed analysis of the mobility conditions is the need for a rich database. It is difficult to have such a database of good sample size and hence not many studies were reported from India. The present study reports such a detailed corridor level mobility analysis on an arterial road in Chennai, using Global Positioning System (GPS) data collected for a period of 3 years. The objective of the research is to develop a methodology which can be used on any road network to assess the mobility condition. Travel time profiles were developed to determine the mobility levels. Analysis was carried out to understand how the mobility scenario changed over time across every 200 m section of the study stretch. It was observed that over the years, the mobility condition is degrading. It was also observed that floods and rainfall highly influence the travel time and results in poor mobility. Travel time profiles thus can be used to assess the mobility conditions and appropriate solutions can be decided.