{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/78468"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/78468","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Using the Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram to Characterize the Traffic Flow in Urban Network","abstract":"Various theories have been proposed to describe vehicular traffic flow in cities on an aggregate level. This dissertation work shows that a number of MFDs exist in an urban network. The number of MFDs basically indicate the existence of different levels of service on different network routes. It also demonstrate that the modification of control strategy can optimize the signal timing plan for the links with high congestion and spillbacks. With the proposed control strategy, the location of points are shifted from lower MFDs to upper MFDs which means the congestion are reduced and the overall network traffic flow operation is improved. In this thesis, the emergency vehicle preemption (EVP) operation is also evaluated by using the MFDs. The concept of MFD can help to illustrate the effect on various types of roads due to EVP operation. The results show that the volume of links along the emergency route is increased and the volume of other links closed to the emergency route is decreased due to preemption. The researchers and practitioners can apply the proposed approach to identify the affected links and minimize the total network delay during EVP.","abstract_html":"Various theories have been proposed to describe vehicular traffic flow in cities on an aggregate level. This dissertation work shows that a number of MFDs exist in an urban network. The number of MFDs basically indicate the existence of different levels of service on different network routes. It also demonstrate that the modification of control strategy can optimize the signal timing plan for the links with high congestion and spillbacks. With the proposed control strategy, the location of points are shifted from lower MFDs to upper MFDs which means the congestion are reduced and the overall network traffic flow operation is improved. In this thesis, the emergency vehicle preemption (EVP) operation is also evaluated by using the MFDs. The concept of MFD can help to illustrate the effect on various types of roads due to EVP operation. The results show that the volume of links along the emergency route is increased and the volume of other links closed to the emergency route is decreased due to preemption. The researchers and practitioners can apply the proposed approach to identify the affected links and minimize the total network delay during EVP.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ahmed, Istiak"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Civil Engineering","degree_department":"Civil and Environmental Engineering","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Abbas, Montasir M."],"committee_members":["Trani, Antonio A.","Leonessa, Alexander"],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-02-04","date_published":"2016-02-04","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:18:41Z","subjects":["Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram","Sioux Falls","Traffic Engineering","Emergency Vehicle Preemption"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:7166"],"render_values":[{"text":"vt_gsexam:7166","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/78468","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Abbas, Montasir M."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Trani, Antonio A.","Leonessa, Alexander"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Civil and Environmental Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ahmed, Istiak"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2017-07-29T06:00:22Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-07-29T06:00:22Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2016-02-04"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Civil Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram","Sioux Falls","Traffic Engineering","Emergency Vehicle Preemption"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:7166"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/78468"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Various theories have been proposed to describe vehicular traffic flow in cities on an aggregate level. 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