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Transportation
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Research Procedia
Procedia 00
00 (2016)
(2016) 000–000
000–000
ScienceDirect www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
Transportation Research Procedia 24 (2017) 288–295
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia

3rd Conference on Sustainable Urban Mobility, 3rd CSUM 2016, 26 – 27 May 2016, Volos, Greece

Traffic and environmental impacts of traffic incidents on

Thessaloniki’s inner ring road
Eleni Kariotia*
a*, Socrates Basbasbb, Evangelos Mintsiscc, George Mintsisbb,

Christos Taxiltarisbb
aa
Faculty
Faculty of
of Civil
Civil Engineering,
Engineering, Aristotle
Aristotle University
University of
of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki,
Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
Greece
bb Faculty of
Faculty of Rural
Rural and
and Surveying
Surveying Engineering,
Engineering, Aristotle
Aristotle University
University of
of Thessaloniki,
Thessaloniki, 54124,
54124, Thessaloniki,
Thessaloniki, Greece
Greece
cc Center for Research and Technology Hellas - Hellenic Institute of Transport, Thermi, 57001,Thessaloniki, Greece
Center for Research and Technology Hellas - Hellenic Institute of Transport, Thermi, 57001,Thessaloniki, Greece

Abstract
Abstract

This
This paper
paper examines
examines thethe traffic
traffic and
and the
the associated
associated environmental
environmental impacts
impacts ofof traffic
traffic incidents
incidents with
with the
the use
use ofof the
the traffic
traffic microscopic
microscopic
simulation software
simulation software Aimsun.
Aimsun. The The specific
specific software
software simulates
simulates the
the movement
movement of of the
the individual
individual vehicles
vehicles and
and provides
provides the the option
option of
of
simulating incidents
simulating incidents atat specific
specific periods
periods of
of time,
time, thus
thus constituting
constituting an
an appropriate
appropriate simulation
simulation testbed.
testbed. The
The study
study area
area includes
includes aa 14km
14km
section of
section of the
the Thessaloniki’s
Thessaloniki’s inner
inner ring
ring road.
road. The
The traffic
traffic volumes
volumes used
used in
in the
the model
model areare of
of aa typical
typical weekday
weekday and and they
they are
are the
the outputs
outputs
of aa macroscopic
of macroscopic traffic
traffic assignment
assignment modelmodel properly
properly applied
applied in
in the
the greater
greater city
city area.
area. Traffic
Traffic counts
counts made
made with
with the
the use
use of
of sens
sens ors
ors in
in
the city
the city road
road network
network were
were input
input inin the
the traffic
traffic assignment
assignment model.
model. Different
Different scenarios
scenarios of of possible
possible traffic
traffic incidents
incidents onon the
the inner
inner ring
ring
road in
road in terms
terms ofof location
location andand duration
duration were
were developed
developed andand evaluated
evaluated using
using Aimsun.
Aimsun. The The impacts
impacts of of defined
defined incidents
incidents toto the
the
performance of
performance of the
the ring
ring road
road were
were examined
examined with with emphasis
emphasis toto the
the near
near and
and outer
outer area
area ofof incident
incident position.
position. For For the
the evaluation
evaluation
process two
process two different
different time
time periods
periods (25
(25 and
and 5050 mins)
mins) and
and three
three different
different demand
demand levels
levels (low,
(low, base-case,
base-case, andand high)
high) were
were examined.
examined.
Thus, 12
Thus, 12 different
different scenarios
scenarios were
were defined
defined and
and tested
tested with
with the
the traffic
traffic microscopic
microscopic simulation
simulation software.
software. TheThe indicators
indicators used
used in
in the
the
evaluation process
evaluation process include,
include, among
among others,
others, traffic
traffic density,
density, mean
mean network
network speed, vehicle –– kilometers
speed, vehicle kilometers travelled,
travelled, fuel
fuel consumption,
consumption,
CO22 emissions
CO emissions etc.
etc. Results
Results have
have shown
shown that
that traffic
traffic speed
speed and
and delays
delays are
are seriously
seriously affected
affected when
when incidents
incidents occur
occur near
near merging
merging or or
diverging
diverging areas
areas in
in the
the inner
inner ring
ring road.
road. AtAt the
the same
same time
time incident
incident duration
duration and
and traffic
traffic demand
demand deteriorated
deteriorated as as traffic
traffic conditi
conditi ons
ons
increased in
increased in values.
values.
©
© 2016
2016 The
The Authors.
Authors. Published
Published by by Elsevier
Elsevier B.V.
B.V.
© 2017 The under
Peer-review Authors. Published by
responsibility of Elsevier
the B.V. committee of the 3rd CSUM 2016.
organizing
Peer-review
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee
under responsibility of the organizing committee ofof the
the 3rd
3rd CSUM
CSUM 2016.2016.
Keywords: traffic simulation,
Keywords: traffic simulation, miscroscopic
miscroscopic simulation
simulation model,
model, incidents
incidents management,
management, Thessaloniki’s
Thessaloniki’s ring
ring road,
road, AIMSUN
AIMSUN

*
* Corresponding
Corresponding author.
author. Tel.:
Tel.: +30-698-271-1907. E-mail address:
+30-698-271-1907. E-mail address: elkaryot@gmail.com
elkaryot@gmail.com

1. Introduction

A traffic incident is defined as any non-recurring event that causes a reduction of roadway capacity or an unusual
increase in demand. They resulted from crashes, vehicles broke down and spilled cargo (US. Department of
Transportation, 2010). Incidents are responsible for a variety of impacts both on traffic conditions and the environment.

2352-1465 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of the 3rd CSUM 2016.
10.1016/j.trpro.2017.05.120
 Eleni Karioti et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 24 (2017) 288–295 289

Traffic incidents have long been recognized as the main contributor of congestion in road networks. Incidents cause
approximately 25% of traffic congestion, and even a higher proportion for urban expressways (Giuliano G,
1989).Furthermore, extended research has showed that there is a strong relationship between the traffic congestion in
an incident situation and the vehicle fuel consumption combined with the pollutants emitted (CO, CO2, NOX, HC, and
Pb) (Kyoungho A., 1998, Levinson D. and Huo H. 2002). Additionally, the vehicles delays on the road network caused
by incidents, cost in terms of money and time. Secondary traffic incidents at a road incidents area are observed in
many cases due to increased traffic hazard created by the prevailing traffic congestion. Considering the above impacts
it is clearly perceived that traffic incidents generate a significant socio-economic and environment cost.
The research work described in this paper attempts to evaluate impacts caused to traffic and the environment by
road incidents occurring at different locations and with different duration and demand conditions on the inner ring
road of Thessaloniki. The study area includes a 14km section of the ring road and the tool used in order to perform the
evaluation was the traffic microscopic simulation software AIMSUN (Advanced Interactive Microscopic Simulator
for Urban and Non-urban Networks).

2. Microscopic traffic simulation

Microscopic simulation models identify the individual movements of each vehicle and are based on their description
by a vector which consists of coordinates such as vehicle’s size, speed, maximum acceleration and its position. The
advantage of this type of simulation is the detailing description of traffic conditions because of the wide range of
vehicles movement characteristics and road conditions that can be simulated (Charoniti E., 2013). Analyzing the
microscopic traffic simulation closely, most of the models use various algorithms and models of driving behavior to
simulate the movement of individual vehicle on the network. The three basic algorithm are car – following, lane –
changing and gap – acceptance.
Within Aimsun the interactions between vehicles are examined using a car-following and a lane – changing
algorithm. Drivers tend to drive with the desirable speed, however individual driving behavior configured and
restricted by the prevailing traffic conditions (leading and adjacent vehicles, traffic control systems, congestion etc.)
(Transport Simulation Systems, 2014). AIMSUN uses Gipps car following model.
As mentioned above, traffic microsimulation models are based on the explicit representation of the individual driver
behavior and individual vehicle real space-time trajectories. They described as vector that consist of co-ordinates such
as the size of the vehicle, speed, maximum acceleration and vehicle location. AIMSUN use, not only a traffic
simulation model but also a vehicle emission model, so it can calculate emission pollutants produced by the vehicle.
The pollutants modelled are: nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOC), carbon dioxide (CO2) and
particulate matter (PM). These particular pollutants were chosen based on their potential health impacts and external
cost imposed to the society. In addition carbon dioxide is modelled because of its effect on global climate change and
its immediate link to fuel consumption (Panis L. et all., 2006).

3. Study area

Thessaloniki is the second largest city in Greece and is located in the northern part of the country. Thessaloniki’s
ring road is a major arterial connecting the suburban areas bypass the city center. More specifically, the area studied
includes a section, 14 km in length, of Thessaloniki’s inner ring road – Eastbound, which incorporates three main
junctions connecting ring road with the outer area. Inner ring road is a dual – carriageway suburban road with 3 – lanes
per direction (Figure 1).

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290 Eleni Karioti et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 24 (2017) 288–295

Figure 1: Exact study area

Coding of the road section together with its nearby connectors was carried out in order to perform the simulation.
As a result, a number of 243 sections and 119 nodes, 3 of which are signalized, are inserted in the model.
Coding of road sections was based on the road type and the geometric and traffic characteristics such as the number
of lanes and the direction of traffic. Four different road types were defined as follows:

 Suburban arterial - Ring Road (maximum speed 100 km/h)

 On/Off ramp (maximum speed 60km/h)
 Secondary urban road (maximum speed 60km/h)
 Signalized street (maximum speed 50km/h)

Traffic volumes introduced to the model were derived as results from the elaboration of a macroscopic traffic
assignment model that was developed for the city greater area by the Hellenic Institute of Transport using real traffic
counts for the morning period 10.00-11.00 of weekday.
Finally, the traffic assignment model used in this research work is a static stochastic model. In this specific type of
model, it is considered that drivers have incomplete knowledge about traffic conditions of the network and their drive
behavior isn’t rational economically.

4. Development of scenarios

Coding and calibration of the network were followed by the formation and the evaluation of the different scenarios
by the use of Aimsun. There was an effort so that the selected scenarios will represent realistic road events, relate to a
3
 Eleni Karioti et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 24 (2017) 288–295 291

wide range of traffic conditions. Traffic composition observed consisted of 90% cars, 8% commercial vehicles and
2% taxis. For the development of scenarios traffic demand was defined as “low” (-50% of the basic), “basic” and
“high” (+50% of the basic) and also incident duration was considered to be 25 and 50 minutes. All the same, the
incident impacts were examined for two different event locations that were near from a junction (node) ad far from a
junction (node).
Two restrictions imposed to the simulation process include the length of 100m of the road lane blocked by the
accidents in the area of the incident and the reduction of the vehicle approach speed to the incident location by 15
km/h, 20km/h and 50 km/h, depending on the road lane and the distance from the exact incident location.
The scenarios with the corresponding characteristics of the road incidents they relate to are presented in the
following table.

Table 4.1: Characteristics of the scenarios

SCENARIOS LOCATION DURATION DEMAND

(MINS)
Near to a Node Far from a node 25' 50' Low Demand Basic Demand High Demand
Scenario 1st   
Scenario 2nd   
Scenario 3rd   
Scenario 4th   
Scenario 5th   
Scenario 6th   
Scenario 7th   
Scenario 8th   
Scenario 9th   
Scenario 10th   
Scenario 11th   
Scenario 12th   

5. Evaluation of traffic and environmental impacts

The impact assessment analysis was performed at a local and at the network level. Local level is defined as the area
near the incident where the effects are direct and more intense. Regarding the network level analysis, it provides a
more comprehensive approach of the incident impacts and also allows the calculation of the environmental impacts
throughout the network. The selected indicators concerning the operational performance that were examined include:
travel time, traffic volume (vehicle/hour), delays per vehicle, queue length (vehicles/lane), speed (km/h), density and
air pollution emissions (CO2, NOx, VOC and PM).
Operational performance indicators were considered in terms of mean, maximum and total values. Also, the
variation in time of these values was examined during the entire simulation period which was defined to be one hour.

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292 Eleni Karioti et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 24 (2017) 288–295

5.1. Local level analysis results

a b

Figure 2: (a) Average delay time for the scenarios 1-6, (b) Average delay time for the scenarios 7-12

Figure 2 demonstrates that the maximum average delays occur when demand reaches its maximum values. Also
that average delay is higher for the scenarios 7-12 that have been developed regarding incident location near the node.
Figure 3 shows that when the incident locates far from the node and its duration is 25 min, then the maximum delay
time occurred at high level demand and at the end of the event. It was also found when the duration of the event is 50
min, then the maximum average delay time occurred at almost the end of the simulation period.

Figure 3: Average delay time for traffic incident far from a node and duration 25 minutes

Figure 4 demonstrates the average speed values observed for the 12 scenarios with the lowest values to correspond
to scenarios 11 and 12.

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 Eleni Karioti et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 24 (2017) 288–295 293

Average speed Average speed

70,66 66,94 62,75
64,99
58,06 59,13
46,63
41,16
40,31 32,42

km/h
km/h

23,46 19,83

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th
a b

Figure 4: (a) Average speed for the scenarios 1-6, (b) Average speed for the scenarios 7-12

Figure 5 demonstrates the average traffic volume values observed for the 12 scenarios with scenarios 8 and 9 to
exhibit the largest values. Low traffic volumes characterize scenarios 11 and 12 due to the heavy congestion conditions
prevailing in these cases. Also Figure 6 shows the medium and maximum density values for the 12 scenarios. Again
scenarios 11 and 12 are characterized by the highest values.

Average traffic volume Average traffic volume

1386,8 1746,0
1289,4 1517,0
1194,0 1194,6 1332,0 1353,6
903,5 903,7 1177,6 1173,5
vehicle/h

vehicle/h

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th
a b

Figure 5: (a) Average traffic volume for the scenarios 1-6, (b) Average traffic volume for the scenarios 7-12

Max and Average density Max and Average density

145,68 149,86 137,80 150,72 150,14
129,03
116,36 113,88 124,50
vehicle/km
vehicle/km

94,88
56,87 49,30 44,96 49,91
30,39 38,05
26,83 18,14
4,97 8,61 14,72 6,03 11,66 10,47

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th
Max of density Max of density
a b

Figure 6: (a) Max and average density for the scenarios 1-6, (b) Max and average density for the scenarios 7-12

Scenarios with the highest emission values are 6, 8, 9, 11 and 12 (Figure 7). The results of CO 2 emissions are
identical in trend to the results for all the other emission pollutant values that were examined.

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294 Eleni Karioti et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 24 (2017) 288–295

CO2 emissions 35774533 CO2 emissions

,1 5529419 5750712
28037459
,5 5 4555339 6
21634628 3573155
19277872 7
,8
11051204
,1 12670188 2121325 5 2292626

kg
kg

,0 ,4 5 1

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th
a b

Figure 7: (a) CO2 emissions for the scenarios 1-6, (b) CO2 emissions for the scenarios 7-12

5.2. Network level analysis results

At the network level, Figure 8 demonstrates the min-med-max speed values for the 12 scenarios. Again speed is
strongly dependent on the distance from the incident location and on the demand level.

Max-Average-Min speed
74,72 71,01 74,67 74,63 74,63 70,32
69,38 70,12
62,91 58,64 65,04 62,61 58,50 65,04 62,65 65,59 61,81 65,65
57,63 56,05
53,08 50,21 52,85 52,98 50,72 52,38 52,42 52,43
47,28 51,30 44,58
50,22
41,74 40,00 38,45
km/h

34,24

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th
Max of speed Average of speed Min of speed

Figure 8: Max- Average– Min speed for the scenarios 1-12

Figures 9 and 10 demonstrate the average values of traffic volumes and of travel time for the 12 scenarios. Again it is
observed that high demand values relate to high values of the above mentioned indicators.

Average traffic volume Average traffic volume

10732,0 10562,9 10537,3 10023,1
0 0 0 0
9364,60 9319,80 9259,00 8921,40
7548,70 7537,70
vehicle/h

7545,70 7531,20
vehicle/h

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th
a b
Figure 9: (a) Average traffic volume for the scenarios 1-6, (b) Average traffic volume for the scenarios 7-12

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 Eleni Karioti et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 24 (2017) 288–295 295

Average travel time Average travel time

1323001 1379568 1325600
1289039
1004051 997646 1039280 1046006
sec./km

sec./km
683427 687398 687877 700343

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th
a b
Figure 10: (a) Average travel time for the scenarios 1-6, (b) Average travel time for the scenarios 7-12

6. Conclusion

From the analysis performed concerning the inner ring road of Thessaloniki the following outcomes are resulted.
When the local level (ring road) is considered, demand level appears to be the main factor affecting travel time,
delays, queue length and emissions far more than the duration of the incident. In all cases, the effects are more intense
when the incident location is near a node (junction). Concerning the air pollution, NO X, CO2 and PM pollutants do
not vary considerable for the same demand level among different incident duration. VOC organic components were
found to be affected by both demand and incident duration.
Examining the results from the analysis at the network level it is obvious that the variations in the values of
indicators is considerably lower among the scenarios with different location and incident duration. However, it is the
demand again which explains the majority of these variations.
The outcomes of the research reveals the importance of the traffic management schemes implemented on main
arterial road to handle traffic incidents and therefore to minimize traffic, economic and environmental effects of traffic
incidents that could take place. Especially in the case of the Thessaloniki inner ring road, findings-reveal the
importance of the need to provide an emergency lane. The absence of this lane increases the generalized operation
cost of the suburban arterial especially when demand increases.

References

Charoniti E, 2013, ‘Analysis all the alternative scenarios for traffic event management through microscopic simulation’, Diploma Thesis, School
of Civil Engineering, National Technical University of Athens.
Giuliano G., 1998, “Incident Characteristics, Frequency, and Duration on a High Volume Urban Freeway”. Transportation Research Part A,
Vol.23, pp. 387-396.
Kyoungo A., 1998 ‘Microscopic Fuel Consumption and Emission Modelling’, M.Sc. Thesis, Faculty of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University.
Levinson D. and Huo H., 2002, ‘Effectiveness of Variable Message Sign’, Transportation Research Board Conference, Washington DC (Session
825).
Panis L., Broekx S., Liu R., 2006, ‘Modelling instantaneous traffic emission and the influence of traffic speed limits’, Science of the Total
Environment 371, pp. 270-285.
US. Department of Transportation. Traffic Incident Management Handbook. 2010.
1997 – 2004 TSS – Transport Simulation Systems, 2014, ‘Aimsun 8 Dynamic Simulators Users’ Manual’.
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