Evaluation of travel time reliability in urban areas using mobile navigation applications in Jordan

Alomari, Ahmad; Al-Omari, Aslam; Aljizawi, Wafa · 2022 · Crossref

DOI: 10.5937/jaes0-35118

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

Get this paper ↗ (DOI — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)

Summary

This study evaluates Travel Time Reliability (TTR) in urban areas of Irbid, Jordan, addressing the gap in TTR research which has predominantly focused on freeways rather than urban networks. The research aims to determine how traffic conditions, time of day, and specific road segments influence travel time consistency, providing data to help travelers and planners predict delays and choose reliable routes. Data were collected in July 2020 using the Ultra GPS Logger mobile application, which recorded location, speed, and time every three seconds. Two trained drivers conducted 969 trips across 17 Origin-Destination (OD) pairs, traversing urban arterial streets three times daily (morning, afternoon, and night) over five days. Each route was divided into 134 segments categorized by interruption types, including normal sections, 3-leg and 4-leg intersections, and roundabouts. The analysis employed Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) metrics, including Buffer Index (BI), Travel Time Index (TTI), Planning Time Index (PTI), 95th percentile travel time, standard deviation, and Coefficient of Variation (CV). Chi-Square tests were used to assess associations between time periods, days of the week, section types, and reliability levels. Results indicated significant variability in travel times, with some routes showing extreme differences between minimum and maximum durations. OD 6 exhibited the highest buffer time (15 minutes), requiring drivers to add substantial extra time to ensure on-time arrival. The study found that normal sections without traffic control devices had a significant effect on TTR compared to intersections and roundabouts. Reliability varied by time of day; the morning period consistently recorded the lowest mean travel times and standard deviations, while afternoon and night periods showed higher BI, TTI, and PTI values, particularly in city center areas with high pedestrian activity and on-street parking. Day-of-week analysis revealed that Friday and Thursday often recorded the highest Buffer Indices. At the segment level, specific links with high TTI (>2) or BI (>100) were identified as primary contributors to trip unreliability. The findings demonstrate that travel time reliability does not imply the absence of congestion but rather indicates the certainty of travel time predictions. The study confirms that GPS-based mobile navigation applications are effective tools for collecting granular urban traffic data. By identifying specific segments and time periods with low reliability, the research provides actionable insights for commuters to avoid delays and for transportation authorities to improve network performance and service levels in urban environments lacking freeway infrastructure.

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed.

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• exposure measurement