Measuring Urban Traffic Congestion – A Review

Tra c congestion has been one of major issues that most metropolises are facing. It is believed that identi cation of congestion is the rst step for selecting appropriate mitigation measures. Congestion -both in perception and in reality -impacts the movement of people. Tra c congestion wastes time, energy and causes pollution. ere are broadly two factors, which e ect the congestion; (a) micro-level factors (b) macro-level factors that relate to overall demand for road use. Congestion is 'triggered' at the 'micro' level (e.g. on the road), and 'driven' at the 'macro' level. e micro level factors are, for example, many people want to move at the same time, too many vehicles for limited road space. On the other side, macro level factors are e.g. land-use pa erns, car ownership trends, regional economic dynamics, etc. is paper gives an overview and presents the possible ways to identify and measure metrics for urban arterial congestion. A systematic review is carried out, based on measurement metrics such as speed, travel time/delay and volume and level of service. e review covers distinct aspects like de nition; measurement criteria followed by di erent countries/organizations. e strengths and weaknesses of these measures are discussed. Further, a short critique of measurement criteria is presented.