A STUDY OF VEHICLE MERGING BEHAVIOR AT RURAL MOTORWAY INTERCHANGES
THE ARTICLE DESCRIBES A STUDY OF TRAFFIC-MERGING BEHAVIOUR AT THREE INTERCHANGES ON THE M1 MOTORWAY USING TIME-LAPSE CINE PHOTOGRAPHY. THE FLOW CONDITIONS AT THE THREE SITES CORRESPONDED TO LEVEL OF SERVICE A, AND CLOSE AGREEMENT WAS FOUND BETWEEN THE OBSERVED DISTRIBUTION OF AVAILABLE GAPS AND THAT PREDICTED BY THE POISSON AND SHIFTED EXPONENTIAL DISTRIBUTIONS. THE PATTERN OF GAP ACCEPTANCE AND REJECTION IN THIS 'DYNAMIC' MERGING SITUATION IS EXTREMELY COMPLEX, ESPECIALLY WHEN GROUPS OF VEHICLES HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO MERGE DURING THE LONGER THROUGHSTREAM GAPS. ACCEPTED GAPS AS SMALL AS 1.5 SECONDS AND LEAD-TIMES OF ONLY 0.5 SECONDS WERE OBSERVED. DETAILED STUDY OF ABOUT 550 INDIVIDUAL VEHICLE PATHS INDICATES FULL USE OF THE STANDARD DIRECT TAPER ACCELERATION LANE LENGTHS WITH A WIDE RANGE OF DRIVER BEHAVIOUR BETWEEN EASILY DEFIND 'SHORT' AND 'LONG' MERGES. THE VARYING GEOMETRY AT DIFFERENT LOCATIONS ESPECIALLY INFLUENCES THE PATHS TAKEN BY CARS WHILE HEAVY VEHICLES, THOUGH SUBJECT TO ADDITIONAL FACTORS, TEND TO FAVOUR THE LONGER ENTRY PATHS. (A)
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Availability:
- Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00410683
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Authors:
- Ackroyd, L W
- Madden, A J
- Ernest-jones, S R
- Publication Date: 1973-4-9
Language
- English
Media Info
- Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
- Pagination: p. 192-5
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Serial:
- Traffic Engineering & Control
- Volume: 15 N
- Issue Number: n/5
- Publisher: Hemming Group, Limited
- ISSN: 0041-0683
- Serial URL: http://www.tecmagazine.com/
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Acceleration (Mechanics); Decision theory; Equations; Gap acceptance; Interchanges; Merging traffic; Rural areas; Traffic flow; Traffic flow theory; Traffic lanes
- Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00226895
- Record Type: Publication
- Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
- Files: TRIS
- Created Date: Jul 16 1974 12:00AM