Effects of Open Road Tolling on Safety Performance of Freeway Mainline Toll Plazas

Advances in intelligent transportation systems technologies promoted the implementation of open road tolling (ORT) on tolled freeways worldwide. This new tolling solution converts existing barrier toll booths to express lanes that are capable of collecting tolls at high speed. ORT has demonstrated numerous benefits in reducing traffic congestion and air pollution. However, the effects of ORT on safety are still not clear because most ORT systems have been operated for a relatively short period. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the safety impacts of ORT by examining recent practices in New Jersey. Multiple-year crash data at toll plazas before and after the implementation of the ORT systems were analyzed. The full Bayes methodology was employed to develop crash frequency models as a function of traffic and toll plaza configurations. These models were used to estimate the crash frequency on the assumption that the ORT systems were not installed. The estimations were then compared with the observed crash counts that occurred after the deployment of the ORT systems. Comparisons showed that crash reductions were obtained at most of the toll plazas. The overall comparison showed that crash frequency decreased by about 24% after the deployment of the ORT systems and suggested that the use of ORT is a beneficial solution to improve the safety of the toll plazas. From an implementation point of view, the analysis results also indicated that special attention should be paid to operational elements such as signage, diversion, and merge designs of the ORT systems.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.3141/2324-12
• Summary URL:
  • http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=Effects+of+Open+Road+Tolling+on+Safety+Performance+of+Freeway+Mainline+Toll+Plazas&author=H.+Yang&author=K.+Ozbay&author=B.+Bartin&publication_year=2012
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/9780309263184
• Authors:
  • Yang, Hong
  • Ozbay, Kaan
  • Bartin, Bekir
• Publication Date: 2012

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 101–109
• Monograph Title: Intelligent Transportation Systems and Vehicle–Highway Automation 2012
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board
  • Issue Number: 2324
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automated toll collection; Before and after studies; Crash rates; Highway safety; Toll plazas
• Uncontrolled Terms: Bayesian analysis
• Geographic Terms: New Jersey
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; I73: Traffic Control; I82: Accidents and Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01370349
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 9780309263184
• Report/Paper Numbers: 12-3885
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: May 16 2012 4:09PM