Convergence of travel time fluctuations in elastic demand

The convergence of travel time fluctuations in elastic demand is analyzed. MITSIM is adopted to simulate the process of the vehicles running on the road. The expected travel time is estimated by the simulation data before the vehicle go through the road segment. Traffic demand is determined by demand function and expected travel time. While one vehicle enters into the road, the time is recorded. When one vehicle exits the road, the time is recorded, too. The actual travel time of the vehicle is computed by the recorded data. Coefficient of standard deviation is used to measure the amplitude of travel time fluctuations. The results show that the travel time fluctuations converge as the extension of the road for any latent demand, that the convergence rate is reduced with the latent traffic demand increasing and that the convergence rate is improved with the elastic coefficient increasing.