Optimal Reservation Volume of Urban Roads Based on Travel Reservation Strategy

Improving the spatial-temporal balance between the supply and demand of urban transportation and alleviating traffic congestion are important ways to build sustainable cities. The travel reservation strategy (TRS) is more flexible and refined than traditional traffic demand management methods. This study aims to determine the optimal reservation volume (ORV) for urban roads and verify the effectiveness of the TRS. First, we employed the sustained flow index to estimate the ORV from the degree of trade-off between the road breakdown probability and capacity. Then, a bilevel programming model based on ORV constraints was established to analyse the effectiveness of the TRS. The results indicated that the ORV range is 0.79–0.89 times the road capacity. The TRS can achieve the best steady benefit when the demand for reservation travel reaches at least 40%. Selecting the most congested critical roads in the network to implement TRS is more effective than on a large area. The driver default behavior will increase the V/C ratios and travel costs of all roads in the network. It has been proven that the reservation transportation mode will promote the spatial-temporal balance between supply and demand to alleviate traffic congestion.