Data-driven derivation of macroscopisc fundamental diagram from floating car trajectories

Xiaojuan Lu, Jiamei Zhang, Qingling He, Shiyu Zheng and Juan Su

PLOS ONE, 2026, vol. 21, issue 2, 1-26

Abstract: This study proposes a novel GPS-based methodology for Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram (MFD) estimation to overcome limitations of fixed detectors and inaccurate penetration rate assumptions. The approach dynamically identifies stop-line positions using spatiotemporal floating car data, calculates maximum queue lengths per signal cycle by combining floating car positions with estimated arriving vehicle lengths, and establishes a speed-based nonlinear model to determine queuing vehicle counts. A dynamic scaling coefficient derived from maximum queue lengths enables assumption-free estimation of total regional vehicles when applied to the floating car population. Validation using Chengdu data demonstrates significant improvements: unary cubic curves achieve optimal fitting for MFD relationships (R2 up to 0.9157); the HMM-CRF hybrid map-matching algorithm reduces average position error by 29% and intersection mismatch rate by approximately 40%; simulation results show queue length estimation accuracy of RMSE 22.8m and MAPE 18.5%, while MFD estimation error for maximum network flow drops from −17.5% to −3.5%, representing an 80% relative accuracy improvement. The proposed methodology provides robust technical support for urban road network assessment and management by enabling high-precision acquisition of MFDs from floating car data, effectively addressing critical challenges in macroscopic traffic modeling and monitoring. This advancement presents potential value for perimeter control applications and other MFD-based traffic management strategies.

Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0342070

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0342070

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