Freeway Travel-Time Estimation Based on Temporal–Spatial Queueing Model

Travel time serves as a fundamental measurement for transportation systems and becomes increasingly important to both drivers and traffic operators. Existing speed interpolation algorithms use the average speed time series collected from upstream and downstream detectors to estimate the travel time of a road link. Such approaches often result in inaccurate estimations or even systematic bias, particularly when the real travel times quickly vary. To get rid of this problem, Coifman proposed a creative interpolation algorithm based on kinetic-wave models. This algorithm reconstructs vehicle trajectories according to the velocities and the headways of vehicles. However, it sometimes gives significant biased estimation, particularly when jams emerge from somewhere between the upstream and downstream detectors. To make an amendment, we design a new algorithm based on the temporal-spatial queueing model to describe the fast travel-time variations using only the speed and headway time series that is measured at upstream and downstream detectors. Numerical studies show that this new interpolation algorithm could better utilize the dynamic traffic flow information that is embedded in the speed/headway time series in some special cases.