Energy consumption: origins, effects, control, reduction

The paper reviews the significant contribution of the Australian Road Research Board to recent advances in traffic fuel consumption analysis. Such work by ARRB and by various other bodies has led to improvements in the set of fuel consumption models and to their subsequent wider use for estimating fuel consumption in a wide range of situations. This paper focuses on the use of fuel consumption models, as components of traffic models, to aid decisions relating to urban traffic management. Estimation of fuel consumption as a part of the assessment of alternative forms of intersection traffic control is considered in detail. This shows that fuel consumption changes can, in some traffic conditions, be significant and should be taken into consideration in traffic management practice. The paper concludes with a brief consideration of micro level fuel consumption changes in a broader system and management policy context. This shows the possible magnitude of fuel conservation from traffic supply related actions and the importance of seeing fuel consumption in relation to other management objectives and policies (A).