Vehicle Detector Deployment Strategies for the Estimation of Network Origin–Destination Demands Using Partial Link Traffic Counts

Making valid inferences about network origin-destination (OD) demands from limited link traffic count data requires a carefully structured data-collection strategy. Determination of the required number of vehicle detectors (VDs) and their installation in strategic locations for OD estimation purposes is essentially a network location problem. In this paper, a mathematical programming framework based on a user equilibrium assumption was developed to determine the most desirable locations for the deployment of VDs. A linearly independent model was also developed to deal with the network location problem. Proposed models were evaluated under different network sizes and varying OD demand levels. Numerical results are explained. These findings can beneficially contribute to the preparation of a desirable VD deployment plan in a general network.