This dissertation presents a research effort to evaluate wake vortex mitigation procedures and technologies in order to decrease aircraft separations, which could result in a runway capacity increase. Aircraft separation is a major obstacle to increasing the operational efficiency of the final approach segment and the runway. An aircraft in motion creates an invisible movement of air called wake turbulence, which has been shown to be dangerous to aircraft that encounter it. To avoid this danger, aircraft separations were developed in the 1970s, that allows time for wake to be dissipated and displaced from an aircraft's path. Though wake vortex separations have been revised, they remain overly conservative. This research identified 16 concepts and 3 sub-concepts for wake mitigation from the literature. The dissertation describes each concept along with its associated benefits and drawbacks. All concepts are grouped, based on common dependencies required for implementation, into four categories: airport fleet dependent, parallel runway dependent, single runway dependent, and aircraft or environmental condition dependent. Dynamic wake vortex mitigation was the concept chosen for further development because of its potential to provide capacity benefit in the near term and because it is initiated by air traffic control, not the pilot. Dynamic wake vortex mitigation discretizes current wake vortex aircraft groups by analyzing characteristics for each individual pair of leader and follower aircraft as well as the environment where the aircraft travel. This results in reduced aircraft separations from current static separation standards. Monte Carlo simulations that calculate the dynamic wake vortex separation required for a follower aircraft were performed by using the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Aircraft Vortex Spacing System (AVOSS) Prediction Algorithm (APA) model, a semi-empirical wake vortex behavior model that predicts wake vortex decay as a function of atmospheric turbulence and stratification. Maximum circulation capacities were calculated based on the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) proposed wake recategorization phase II (RECAT II) 123 x 123 matrix of wake vortex separations. This research identified environmental turbulence and aircraft weight as the parameters with the greatest influence on wake vortex circulation strength. Wind has the greatest influence on wake vortex lateral behavior, and aircraft mass, environmental turbulence, and wind have the greatest influence on wake vortex vertical position. The research simulated RECAT II and RECAT III dynamic wake separations for Chicago O'Hare International (ORD), Denver International Airport (DEN) and LaGuardia Airport (LGA). The simulation accounted for real-world conditions of aircraft operations during arrival and departure: static and dynamic wake vortex separations, aircraft fleet mix, runway occupancy times, aircraft approach speeds, aircraft wake vortex circulation capacity, environmental conditions, and operational error buffers. Airport data considered for this analysis were based on Airport Surface Detection Equipment Model X (ASDE-X) data records at ORD during a 10-month period in the year 2016, a 3-month period at DEN, and a 4-month period at LGA. Results indicate that further reducing wake vortex separation distances from the FAA's proposed RECAT II static matrix, of 2 nm and less, shifts the operational bottleneck from the final approach segment to the runway. Consequently, given current values of aircraft runway occupancy time under some conditions, the airport runway becomes the limiting factor for inter-arrival separations. One of the major constraints of dynamic wake vortex separation at airports is its dependence on real-time or near-real-time data collection and broadcasting technologies. These technologies would need to measure and report temperature, environmental turbulence, wind speed, air humidity, air density, and aircraft weight, altitude, and speed. / PHD

This Master's Thesis deals with the possibilities for the practical usage of traffic simulations as tools for seeking solutions to various kinds of problems such as road traffic flow, the environmental impact of traffic, etc. It contains a description of the basic terms in the area of traffic simulation models, advantages of their practical usage, and furthermore, it describes the basic general methods of and attitudes to the most commonly used traffic simulations. In the second part, the analysis and the design of an original micro traffic simulator are included. Finally, the traffic simulator is implemented and tested on a real traffic situation.

O objetivo desta pesquisa foi propor um método capaz de estabelecer a sequência de implantação de um conjunto de faixas adicionais que maximize os benefícios do investimento nos aclives das rodovias de pista simples. O método proposto consiste em: (i) definir os aclives mais longos que o comprimento crítico; (ii) definir os aclives que satisfazem os critérios técnico-econômicos para implantação das faixas adicionais no horizonte de projeto; (iii) determinar as faixas adicionais que devem ser implantadas a cada ano do projeto, em função do crescimento do tráfego; e (iv) determinar a sequência ótima para implantação das faixas, em função do benefício global e do valor disponível para investimento a cada ano. Dentre os critérios técnicos que indicam a necessidade de faixa adicional, optou-se por utilizar a adaptação das diretrizes da AASHTO para as condições das rodovias brasileiras proposta por Melo e Setti (2003). Para quantificar os benefícios proporcionados pelas reduções dos custos operacionais e dos tempos de viagem, optou-se por utilizar modelos desenvolvidos por pesquisas nacionais; para quantificar os benefícios da redução dos acidentes, foi utilizado o modelo do HDM-4. Custos típicos de construção por quilômetro de faixa adicional (serviços de terraplenagem, pavimentação, drenagem e sinalização) foram obtidos da tabela do DER-SP. Um estudo de caso demonstrou que a sequência de implantação estabelecida pelo método proposto é mais eficiente, pelos pontos de vista econômico e social, do que a sequência determinada usando-se os critérios atuais. / The objective of this research was to propose a methodology able to establish the sequence of deployment that would maximize the benefits from climbing lanes on two-lane highways. The proposed method consists of: (i) find the set of grades that are longer than the critical length; (ii) choose, among these grades, those that satisfy the technical and economic criteria to warrant the construction of climbing lanes within the project service life; (iii) find which climbing lanes should be built in each year, given the traffic growth forecast; and (iv) find the best construction sequence, considering the global benefits from the climbing lanes and the annual budget. The criteria to justify climbing lanes adopted are the adaptation to Brazil of the AASHTO criteria proposed by Melo and Setti (2003). The quantification of benefits from the reduction of vehicle operating costs and travel time uses several models proposed in the literature in Portuguese; HDM-4 models were used to quantify the benefits from the reduction in accident number and severity. Typical construction costs for climbing lanes (including earth-moving, paving, drainage and signage) were derived from data published by DER-SP. A case study demonstrated that the application of the proposed method results in a more efficient use of the available resources (both from the economic and social viewpoints) than the results obtained by the use of the current criteria.

Para estimar o nível de serviço em rodovias de pista simples, o Highway Capacity Manual 2010 (HCM2010) adota como medidas de desempenho a Porcentagem de Tempo Viajando em Pelotões (PTSF) e a Velocidade Média de Viagem (ATS). A PTSF, no entanto, é praticamente impossível de ser obtida de observações em campo. Na literatura, algumas pesquisas propõem medidas de desempenho alternativas que podem ser coletadas diretamente da observação do tráfego. A meta deste trabalho consistiu em avaliar e propor medidas de desempenho que pudessem ser adequadas para descrever a qualidade de serviço em rodovias de pista simples no Brasil. Foi utilizado um conjunto de dados de tráfego coletados em diversas rodovias no estado de São Paulo para calibrar e validar o simulador de tráfego escolhido, o CORSIM, a partir de um Algoritmo Genético (AG). Com o simulador recalibrado, foi gerado um conjunto de dados sintéticos, para diversas condições de geometria viária e composição de tráfego. Com esses dados sintéticos, foram produzidos modelos teóricos para estimar a PTSF a partir de dados de tráfego que seriam \"observáveis em campo\": a porcentagem de veículos em pelotões (PF); o modelo porposto por Pursula (1995); o modelo de Laval (2006); o criado por Polus e Cohen (2009); e um modelo polinomial baseado na PF e outras variáveis. As estimativas obtidas com esses modelos divergiram significativamente da PTSF produzida pelo CORSIM, sugerindo a necessidade de substituir a PTSF por uma outra medida de desempenho. Assim sendo, nove medidas de desempenho alternativas foram estudadas. Usando dados de tráfego sintéticos produzidos com o CORSIM, foram desenvolvidos modelos que relacionavam medidas de desempenho alternativas com o fluxo de tráfego unidirecional. Comparações dos valores provenientes dessas relações com dados de campo indicaram que três medidas de desempenho (a velocidade média de viagem dos automóveis; a densidade para automóveis e a densidade de veículos em pelotões) poderiam ser usadas para propor critérios para estimar o nível de serviço em rodovias de pista simples no Brasil. / The Highway Capacity Manual 2010 uses Percent-Time-Spent Following (PTSF) and Average Travel Speed (ATS) to estimate level of service on two-lane rural highways. As it is almost impossible to observe PTSF directly in the field, the literature suggests alternative measures of effectiveness (MOEs) that can be obtained from traffic stream parameters. The objective of this thesis was to analyze MOEs that could adequately describe quality of service on two-lane rural highways in Brazil. Traffic data collected on several roads in the state of São Paulo were used to calibrate and validate the traffic simulation model CORSIM, using a Genetic Algorithm (GA). The recalibrated CORSIM was used to create a synthetic set of traffic data, comprising a wide range of traffic flows and road geometries. Using this synthetic data, several models relating PTSF to \"directly observable\" traffic parameters were developed: percent following (PF), as in the HCM2010; the shockwave theory model proposed by Pursula (1995); the Laval (2006) moving bottleneck model; the Polus and Cohen (2009) queueing model; and a polynomial model. PTSF estimates produced by these models significantly diverged from PTSF values produced by CORSIM, suggesting the need for a new measure of effectiveness. Thus, nine alternative MOEs were analyzed and models relating these MOEs to directional traffic flow were fitted, using the synthetic traffic data set. Comparisons between the values obtained from these models and from the field indicated that three MOEs (average travel speed of cars, density for cars and follower density) could be used to create level of service criteria for two-lane rural highways in Brazil.

O objetivo desta pesquisa é investigar como o fluxo de pedestres interfere na concepção arquitetônica dos espaços que envolvem multidões. Tendo como objeto inicial as estações metroferroviárias, realizou-se um abrangente levantamento bibliográfico sobre o tema, buscando abordá-lo na complexidade que envolve o comportamento humano, a engenharia, a arquitetura e a construção. Conceitos sobre modelagem e simulação de fluxos de pedestres são apresentados e servem de base para o desenvolvimento de um estudo de caso sobre a concepção de distintos espaços arquitetônicos: O Estádio Arena das Dunas, em Natal; o Estádio Mineirão, em Belo Horizonte; o Parque Olímpico, no Rio de Janeiro; e a interligação metroviária Paulista-Consolação, em São Paulo. A presente pesquisa não tem a pretensão de apresentar soluções ou diretrizes de projeto para espaços que envolvem multidões, mas busca investigar como a concepção desses espaços pode ser alterada a partir de uma abordagem que coloca os pedestres como elemento determinante da arquitetura. / This essay aims at investigating how the pedestrian flow interferes the architectural design of the places full of people. Regarding the subway and rail stations as the initial objective, it was made a comprehensive bibliographic survey about this subject in order to speaking about the human behavior engineering, architecture and construction complexity. It is presented the modeling and simulation concepts of pedestrian flows which function as the basis for the development of a case study of different architectural spaces design: the Arena das Dunas Stadium in Natal, the Mineirão Stadium in Belo Horizonte, the Olympics Park in Rio de Janeiro and the subway stations interconnection Consolação-Paulista in São Paulo. This essay does not intend to present solutions or design guide lines for places full of people, but investigate how the design of these places can be changed from an approach that is considering the pedestrians as a determinant element of the architecture.

Le concept de ”Smart Cities” a émergé au cours des dernières années pour décrire comment les investissements dans le capital humain et social, et dans les technologies de la communication (TIC) infrastructures et services électroniques peuvent maintenir la croissance durable et la qualité de vie, par une gestion judicieuse des ressources naturelles et par un gouvernement participatif. Pour nous, Smart City est un environnement réel augmenté permettant l’informatique ubiquitaire, avec web 2.0, qui est collaborative, mobile et contextuelle, les acteurs humains, ainsi que des objets connectés faisant désormais partie intégrante de l’Internet. Dans le contexte de notre projet international France-Chine sur Smart City, nous avons utilisé une approche MOCOCO (Mobilité, Contextualisation, Collaboration) à mener des travaux de recherche avec de multiples applications dans des situations de travail professionnels et à domicile, des situations d’apprentissage mobile contextuelles, ainsi que des applications de Smart City sont prises en compte - le transport, la distribution des marchandises, et des activités sportives et culturelles. Cette thèse se concentre sur les services basés sur la localisation (LBS), et Internet des Objets (IdO), qui sont deux aspects importants de Smart City. Le choix de la Gestion Dynamique des Voies de Circulation comme une étude de cas dans cette thèse est également une bonne pratique d’intégration de nouvelles technologies pour rendre la ville plus intelligente et pour rendre notre vie plus confortable. Selon Schiller et Voisard (2004), les services basés sur la localisation peuvent ˆêtre définis comme des services qui intègrent l’emplacement ou la position d’un dispositif mobile avec d’autres informations afin de fournir une valeur ajoutée à un utilisateur. L’objectif est d’utiliser la mise en œuvre IdO pour améliorer LBS, fournissant l’intelligence ambiante et d’assurer la facilité d’utilisation pour usagers dans des situations dynamiques. L’aspect théorique de nos contributions est que nous examinons la possibilité et la faisabilité de l’utilisation de l’IdO pour augmenter LBS. L’architecture de l’IdO a une capacité d’intégrer divers objets, ce qui fournit à LBS une meilleure gestion des dispositifs de géolocalisation; l’intergiciel de l’IdO, capable de faire l’abstraction des objets et la composition de services, donne la possibilité de déployer des composants de service plus intelligents et personnalisés, ainsi peut améliorer l’intergiciel de LBS. L’aspect pratique de nos contributions est que nous avons choisi une problématique de gestion dynamique des voies comme une étude de cas, validant notre approche d’utiliser l’IdO pour augmenter LBS dans une application de Smart City. L’objectif du système de gestion dynamique des voies est d’assurer une meilleure utilisation de voie de circulation par l’allocation dynamique de voies à différents types de transport. Nous avons fourni l’architecture du système du point de vue de TIC, et un environnement de simulation pour valider la conception de la solution. Nous avons également développé une preuve de concept pour valider les aspects technologiques du système. L’environnement de simulation comprend un simulateur pour simuler la fonction du système et les comportements des véhicules, un éditeur de scénario, et un générateur de trafic en tant qu’outils d’initialisation. Différentes formes de visualisation de résultats de simulation sont également prises en compte. En outre, nous avons développé un outil d’évaluation basé sur la visualisation en 3D, qui permet l’interaction entre l’utilisateur et l’outil en temps réel, pour effectuer des tests d’utilisation comme l’étude des aspects IHM, puisque les facteurs humains devraient toujours être mis en premiers dans le contexte de Smart City. [...] / The concept of “Smart Cities” has emerged during the last few years to describe how investments in human and social capital and modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) infrastructure and e-services fuel sustainable growth and quality of life, enabled by a wise management of natural resources and through participative government. To us, Smart City is a real augmented environment allowing ubiquitous computing, with up-to-date web 2.0, which is collaborative, mobile and contextual, human actors as well as different things (connected objects) are now an integral part of internet. In the international France-China project on Smart City we used the MOCOCO approach (Mobility, Contextualization, Collaboration) to conduct research work with multiple applications in working, learning and social situations; professional and home working situations, professional and teenager contextual mobile learning situations as well as Smart City applications are taken into account – transportation, goods distribution and local sport and cultural activities. This dissertation focuses on Location Based Services, and Internet of Things, which are both important aspects of Smart City. The choice of dynamic management of road lanes as a case study in this thesis, is also a good practice of integrating new technologies to make the city smarter and to make our life more comfortable. According to Schiller and Voisard (2004), Location Based Services (LBS) can be defined as services that integrate a mobile device’s location or position with other information so as to provide added value to a user. During recent years, LBS has evolved from simple GIS applications and positioning of emergent phone callers to more complicated, proactive, application-oriented services adapted to different users. However, heterogeneity of devices, data management and analysis, and HCI aspects are always main challenges for LBS. Our goal is to make the LBS meet the requirements of Smart City, with use of Internet of Things (IoT), integrating a certain degree of ambient intelligence. The theoretical aspect of our contributions is that we examine at component level the possibility and feasibility of using IoT to better support LBS. The ability of IoT architecture of integrating various objects gives LBS a better management of location-aware devices; the sensors can also enrich the data source of LBS. The middleware of IoT, good at objects abstraction and service composition, provides possibilities to deploy more intelligent and customized service components, thus can enhance the middleware of LBS. The practical aspect of our contributions is that we choose a dynamic lane management problem as a use case study demonstrating our approach in regard to combining LBS with IoT for a Smart City application. The goal of the dynamic lane management system is to make a better use of road lanes by dynamic allocation of lanes to different types of transportation. We provide the system architecture, user interfaces and a simulation environment to validate the solution design. We also develop a proof of concept to validate the technological aspects of the lane management system. The simulation environment of the lane management system is another important part of our contributions, it includes a core simulator to simulate the function of the system and the behaviors of the vehicles, and an editor of scenario and a generator of traffic as initialization tools. Different visualization methods of simulation results are also taken into consideration. In addition, we develop an evaluation tool which allows for real time user interaction, based on the visualization of the results of the simulator to conduct user tests for HCI aspects, as human factors should always be considered in the context of Smart City. [...]

A meta desta pesquisa foi caracterizar as relações fundamentais do fluxo de tráfego em rodovias de pista simples paulistas através de modelos baseados em parâmetros que reflitam a qualidade de serviço e possam ser observados diretamente em campo. Para que esta meta fosse atingida, primeiramente foram obtidos dados através de observações em campo e de sensores instalados em rodovias. Os dados coletados nas observações diretas foram usados para calibrar e validar um modelo de simulação através de um processo automático, baseado num algoritmo genético. Constatou-se que a versão recalibrada do simulador é capaz de reproduzir tanto informações de detectores como as correntes de tráfego observadas nos onze trechos onde foram coletados dados. Propôs-se um método para produção de dados de tráfego sintéticos, que utiliza um simulador microscópico e um algoritmo genético. Os dados sintéticos obtidos pelo método proposto foram usados para obter os modelos que descrevem as relações entre o fluxo de tráfego e a velocidade e a porcentagem de tempo viajando em pelotões (PTSF) para rodovias de pista simples no estado de São Paulo. Esses modelos poderiam substituir os utilizados pelo HCM-2000 em análises da qualidade de serviço em rodovias paulistas. Também foram propostos novos modelos para relações fundamentais que se adequaram melhor às condições paulistas: um modelo côncavo para a curva fluxovelocidade e um novo modelo exponencial para a relação entre o fluxo e a PTSF. Cinco medidas de desempenho capazes de substituir PTSF foram estudadas, tendo sido relacionadas com a taxa de fluxo bidirecional e unidirecional. As medidas de desempenho propostas foram avaliadas pela capacidade de refletir o nível de serviço observado em campo. Destas, uma nova definição da PTSF, calculada em função do número médio de headways dentro e fora de pelotões, apresentou a melhor porcentagem de acertos (90%), usando-se o mesmo critério adotado pelo HCM-2000. Em razão disso, e da possibilidade de observação direta da PTSF, recomenda-se sua adoção para avaliar a qualidade de serviço em rodovias de pista simples. / The goal of this research was to characterize the fundamental relationships of traffic flow on two-lane rural highways in the state of São Paulo through models based on parameters that reflect the quality of service and that could be obtained from direct observations of traffic flows. To reach this goal, sets of data were obtained from observation of traffic flows and from detectors installed on roads. The data collected from direct observation was used to calibrate and validate a microscopic traffic simulation model, as well as for the calculation of performance measures used in some of the analyses. The microsimulation model was calibrated using an automatic procedure that is based on a genetic algorithm. The recalibrated model was found to be able to reproduce traffic sensor data as well as traffic flow characteristics observed in the 11 road segments observed for this research. A procedure for synthetic data generation, which uses a microsimulation model and a genetic algorithm, was proposed. Synthetic data obtained through this procedure were used to develop the models that describe the relationships between flow rate, traffic stream speed and percent time spent following (PTSF) for two-lane roads in the state of São Paulo. These models could replace those used in the HCM-2000 for quality of service analysis of two-lane roads in São Paulo. New fundamental relationships, which better reflect the operational conditions on local two-lane roads were also studied: a concave speed-flow relationship and an exponential PTSF-flow model. Five alternatives to PTSF were studied and correlated to one-way and two-way flows. Among these, a novel definition of PTSF, based on the ratio of average number of headways within platoons and average number of headways between platoons, was found to be the most accurate (90% of the cases), adopting the HCM-2000 criteria. Thus, this new measure could be used to evaluate the quality of service on two-lane rural highways.

O objetivo desta pesquisa foi propor um método capaz de estabelecer a sequência de implantação de um conjunto de faixas adicionais que maximize os benefícios do investimento nos aclives das rodovias de pista simples. O método proposto consiste em: (i) definir os aclives mais longos que o comprimento crítico; (ii) definir os aclives que satisfazem os critérios técnico-econômicos para implantação das faixas adicionais no horizonte de projeto; (iii) determinar as faixas adicionais que devem ser implantadas a cada ano do projeto, em função do crescimento do tráfego; e (iv) determinar a sequência ótima para implantação das faixas, em função do benefício global e do valor disponível para investimento a cada ano. Dentre os critérios técnicos que indicam a necessidade de faixa adicional, optou-se por utilizar a adaptação das diretrizes da AASHTO para as condições das rodovias brasileiras proposta por Melo e Setti (2003). Para quantificar os benefícios proporcionados pelas reduções dos custos operacionais e dos tempos de viagem, optou-se por utilizar modelos desenvolvidos por pesquisas nacionais; para quantificar os benefícios da redução dos acidentes, foi utilizado o modelo do HDM-4. Custos típicos de construção por quilômetro de faixa adicional (serviços de terraplenagem, pavimentação, drenagem e sinalização) foram obtidos da tabela do DER-SP. Um estudo de caso demonstrou que a sequência de implantação estabelecida pelo método proposto é mais eficiente, pelos pontos de vista econômico e social, do que a sequência determinada usando-se os critérios atuais. / The objective of this research was to propose a methodology able to establish the sequence of deployment that would maximize the benefits from climbing lanes on two-lane highways. The proposed method consists of: (i) find the set of grades that are longer than the critical length; (ii) choose, among these grades, those that satisfy the technical and economic criteria to warrant the construction of climbing lanes within the project service life; (iii) find which climbing lanes should be built in each year, given the traffic growth forecast; and (iv) find the best construction sequence, considering the global benefits from the climbing lanes and the annual budget. The criteria to justify climbing lanes adopted are the adaptation to Brazil of the AASHTO criteria proposed by Melo and Setti (2003). The quantification of benefits from the reduction of vehicle operating costs and travel time uses several models proposed in the literature in Portuguese; HDM-4 models were used to quantify the benefits from the reduction in accident number and severity. Typical construction costs for climbing lanes (including earth-moving, paving, drainage and signage) were derived from data published by DER-SP. A case study demonstrated that the application of the proposed method results in a more efficient use of the available resources (both from the economic and social viewpoints) than the results obtained by the use of the current criteria.

A meta desta pesquisa foi caracterizar as relações fundamentais do fluxo de tráfego em rodovias de pista simples paulistas através de modelos baseados em parâmetros que reflitam a qualidade de serviço e possam ser observados diretamente em campo. Para que esta meta fosse atingida, primeiramente foram obtidos dados através de observações em campo e de sensores instalados em rodovias. Os dados coletados nas observações diretas foram usados para calibrar e validar um modelo de simulação através de um processo automático, baseado num algoritmo genético. Constatou-se que a versão recalibrada do simulador é capaz de reproduzir tanto informações de detectores como as correntes de tráfego observadas nos onze trechos onde foram coletados dados. Propôs-se um método para produção de dados de tráfego sintéticos, que utiliza um simulador microscópico e um algoritmo genético. Os dados sintéticos obtidos pelo método proposto foram usados para obter os modelos que descrevem as relações entre o fluxo de tráfego e a velocidade e a porcentagem de tempo viajando em pelotões (PTSF) para rodovias de pista simples no estado de São Paulo. Esses modelos poderiam substituir os utilizados pelo HCM-2000 em análises da qualidade de serviço em rodovias paulistas. Também foram propostos novos modelos para relações fundamentais que se adequaram melhor às condições paulistas: um modelo côncavo para a curva fluxovelocidade e um novo modelo exponencial para a relação entre o fluxo e a PTSF. Cinco medidas de desempenho capazes de substituir PTSF foram estudadas, tendo sido relacionadas com a taxa de fluxo bidirecional e unidirecional. As medidas de desempenho propostas foram avaliadas pela capacidade de refletir o nível de serviço observado em campo. Destas, uma nova definição da PTSF, calculada em função do número médio de headways dentro e fora de pelotões, apresentou a melhor porcentagem de acertos (90%), usando-se o mesmo critério adotado pelo HCM-2000. Em razão disso, e da possibilidade de observação direta da PTSF, recomenda-se sua adoção para avaliar a qualidade de serviço em rodovias de pista simples. / The goal of this research was to characterize the fundamental relationships of traffic flow on two-lane rural highways in the state of São Paulo through models based on parameters that reflect the quality of service and that could be obtained from direct observations of traffic flows. To reach this goal, sets of data were obtained from observation of traffic flows and from detectors installed on roads. The data collected from direct observation was used to calibrate and validate a microscopic traffic simulation model, as well as for the calculation of performance measures used in some of the analyses. The microsimulation model was calibrated using an automatic procedure that is based on a genetic algorithm. The recalibrated model was found to be able to reproduce traffic sensor data as well as traffic flow characteristics observed in the 11 road segments observed for this research. A procedure for synthetic data generation, which uses a microsimulation model and a genetic algorithm, was proposed. Synthetic data obtained through this procedure were used to develop the models that describe the relationships between flow rate, traffic stream speed and percent time spent following (PTSF) for two-lane roads in the state of São Paulo. These models could replace those used in the HCM-2000 for quality of service analysis of two-lane roads in São Paulo. New fundamental relationships, which better reflect the operational conditions on local two-lane roads were also studied: a concave speed-flow relationship and an exponential PTSF-flow model. Five alternatives to PTSF were studied and correlated to one-way and two-way flows. Among these, a novel definition of PTSF, based on the ratio of average number of headways within platoons and average number of headways between platoons, was found to be the most accurate (90% of the cases), adopting the HCM-2000 criteria. Thus, this new measure could be used to evaluate the quality of service on two-lane rural highways.

Esta pesquisa avaliou o efeito do uso de uma medida de desempenho alternativa à densidade no cálculo dos fatores de equivalência para caminhões típicos em rodovias de pista dupla do estado de São Paulo. A medida de desempenho investigada foi a velocidade dos automóveis e os fatores de equivalência foram calculados pelo método do equivalente médio, que considera mais de um tipo de caminhão na corrente de tráfego, representa melhor a interação entre caminhões e permite o uso de simulação de tráfego para determinação dos equivalentes. Como este método de cálculo considera uma composição fixa de caminhões, o tráfego de caminhões em rodovias paulistas de pista dupla foi caracterizado em função de dois aspectos: (1) o fluxo veicular em dias úteis típicos e (2) o desempenho das configurações de caminhões, a partir da relação massa/potência. O modelo de simulação utilizado nesta pesquisa foi o CORSIM, o mesmo modelo usado no HCM-2000. Para tanto, o CORSIM foi calibrado para as condições observadas em rodovias paulistas de pista dupla. A calibração foi realizada em duas etapas, ambas baseadas em algoritmos genéticos: a primeira etapa focou no modelo de locomoção dos caminhões, resultando erros médios da ordem de 5%; a segunda visou à lógica de car-following, que define o comportamento dos motoristas. A versão calibrada do CORSIM para as condições paulistas apresentou erros médios de 6,32% na calibração e de 6,58% na validação. Os equivalentes veiculares foram calculados para diferentes magnitudes de greides, comprimentos de rampas, porcentagens de caminhões, velocidade de fluxo livre e níveis de serviço, tanto para a velocidade dos automóveis como para a densidade. Como resultado final, observou-se que o uso da velocidade dos automóveis como medida de desempenho implica em equivalentes veiculares muito elevados. Desta forma, a capacidade de tráfego e o nível de serviço estimado utilizando estes equivalentes foram piores do que utilizando os equivalentes veiculares obtidos com a densidade como medida de desempenho. / The objective of this research was to evaluate the use of a measure of impedance alternative to density to obtain passenger-car equivalence factors for typical trucks on multilane highways in the state of São Paulo. The impedance investigated was the passenger-car speed, and the equivalence factors were obtained through the average equivalent method since it considers different types of trucks within the traffic flow, is capable to represent interactions among trucks adequately, and allow the use of traffic simulation. Since the estimation method employed is based on a fixed truck population, the truck flow on multilane highways in the state of São Paulo was characterized based on two aspects: (1) a typical traffic flow, considering the traffic flow on typical weekdays, (2) the truck performance based on mass/power ratio. The simulation model employed was CORSIM, the same model used in the HCM-2000, and it was calibrated for the conditions observed in multilane highways in the state of São Paulo. The calibration was carried out using genetic algorithms and involved two steps. The first one focused on the truck motion model and produced average errors around 5%. The second one focused on the car-following logic that defines the drivers\' behavior. The CORSIM calibrated for the state of São Paulo highways produced average errors of 6.32% at the calibration stage and average errors of 6.58% at the validation stage. Passenger-car equivalents were calculated for different grade levels, grade lengths, trucks percentages, free-flow speeds and leves of service using passenger-car speed and density as the impedance measure. It was observed that, when compared to density, the use of passenger-car speed as a measure of impedance results in higher values for the equivalence factors. It means smaller capacities and worse estimates for level of service.