Origin-destination traffic variance and skewness

Origin-destination traffic is the traffic originating in one region and terminating in another, irrespective of routing. A significant problem in traffic theory is to describe the day-to-day statistical distribution of Origin-Destination (O-D) traffic. The problem is an important and basic problem to practitioners. Only with this knowledge can they develop schemes to optimize the flow of traffic throughout the network. This paper shows how a simple equation [1] can be used in simulation studies to give the day-to-day skewness of O-D traffic. The simulation study is continued by a presentation of a statistical and empirical study of the nature of international O-D traffic. We find that the traffic intensity for any fixed hour from day-to-day follows a bi-truncated Normal distribution.