Urban Wasteful Transport and Its Estimation Methods

The paper studies urban road traffic problems from the perspective of resource science. The resource composition of urban road traffic system is analysed, and the road network is proved as a scarce resource in the system resource combination. According to the role of scarce resources, the decisive role of road capacity in urban traffic is inferred. Then the new academic viewpoint of “wasteful transport” was proposed. Through in-depth research, the paper defines the definition of wasteful transport and expounds its connotation. Through the flow-density relationship analysis of urban road traffic survey data, it is found that there is a clear boundary between normal and wasteful transport in urban traffic flow. On the basis of constructing the flow-density relationship model of road traffic, combined with investigation and analysis, the quantitative estimation method of wasteful transport is established. An empirical study on the traffic conditions of the Guoding section of Shanghai shows that there is wasteful transport and confirms the correctness of the wasteful transport theory and method. The research of urban wasteful transport also reveals that: (1) urban road traffic is not always effective; (2) traffic flow exceeding road capacity is wasteful transport, and traffic demand beyond the capacity of road capacity is an unreasonable demand for customers; (3) the explanation that the traffic congestion should apply the comprehensive theory of traffic engineering and resource economics; and (4) the wasteful transport theory and method may be one of the methods that can be applied to alleviate traffic congestion.