Impact of weather on freeway origin-destination volume in China

Xiaobao Yang, Xianfei Yue, Huijun Sun, Ziyou Gao and Wencheng Wang

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2021, vol. 143, issue C, 30-47

Abstract: Existing literature has confirmed that severe weather events have a negative impact on travel behavior. Considering the features of long distances and long durations, intercity travel may be affected by the weather at the origin (O) point and at the destination (D) point. This paper aims to reveal the relationship between weather and OD volume of intercity travel by additional considerations of the weather difference between OD points and the lagging effect of various severe weather conditions. Travel data from toll collection system of freeway network in Shandong Province of China is extracted to investigate the weather effect on intercity travel demand. Three types of real-time weather variables (continuous variables of basic weather, dummy variables of severe weather, and weather difference variables between OD points) and two types of non-real-time weather variables (lagging variables and advance variables of severe weather) are combined to systematically analyze the weather effect. The results show that, temperature value and wind speed have no significant impact on intercity travel. Hot day, cold day, foggy day, strong breeze, heavy rain, rainfall, snowfall and visibility have significant impacts on freeway OD volume. Among these weather events, fog, heavy rain and snow usually have the most severe impact. Except for the weather at the O point, the differences in rainfall and snowfall between OD points have significant impacts on intercity travel demand, while the differences in temperature, wind speed, visibility between OD points do not. In addition, snow and heavy rain have the lagging and advance effects on freeway OD volume. The advance effect of snow and heavy rain lasts for one day and the lagging effect lasts for two days. Intercity travel demand is very sensitive to adverse weather on weekend days and during the afternoon. Comparative analysis of multiple OD pairs indicates that intercity travelers with less relevant experience are more sensitive to adverse weather. Findings from the paper will provide transport institutions with a practical guide for systematically investigating the weather effect on intercity travel demand. It can be applied in the intelligent transportation system to provide long-distance travelers with more accurate weather information and traffic guidance services.

Keywords: Weather condition; Intercity travel; Origin-destination volume; Weather difference; Lagging effect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856420307722
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:transa:v:143:y:2021:i:c:p:30-47

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
https://shop.elsevie ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2020.11.007

Access Statistics for this article

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice is currently edited by John (J.M.) Rose

More articles in Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().