DETERMINISTIC ASPECTS OF FREEWAY OPERATIONS AND CONTROL

THE MOST VIGOROUS ATTEMPT TO ELIMINATE TRAFFIC CONGESTION WAS THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FREEWAY, A CONCEPT BASED ON /1/ THE REDUCTION OF VEHICLE-TO-VEHICLE CONFLICTS, /2/ ELIMINATION OF VEHICLE-TO-PEDESTRIAN CONFLICTS, AND /3/ ELIMINATION OF DELAY-PRODUCING TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICES. STILL, PRACTICALLY ALL MAJOR CITIES ARE TROUBLED WITH SEVERE PEAK HOUR CONGESTION ON NEWLY COMPLETED FREEWAYS. THE AUTOMATIC EVALUATION OF FREEWAY TRAFFIC FLOW WILL BE A VITAL ELEMENT OF ANY FUTURE CONTROL SYSTEM. ESSENTIAL TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF FREEWAY CONTROL TECHNIQUES IS THE DETERMINATION OF SUITABLE CONTROL PARAMETERS. A NUMBER OF DESCRIPTIVE THEORIES OF VEHICULAR TRAFFIC HAVE BEEN PUT FORWARD. THE DETERMINISTIC MODELS OF TRAFFIC FLOW ARE REVIEWED WHICH INCLUDE CONTINUOUS FLOW MODELS AND INDIVIDUAL VEHICLE MODELS WHICH DESCRIBE THE MACROSCOPIC AND MICROSCOPIC PROPERTIES, RESPECTIVELY, OF THE TRAFFIC FLOW PHENOMENA. THE APPLICABILITY OF THESE DETERMINISTIC MODELS TO FREEWAY TRAFFIC WAS TESTED ON THE GULF FREEWAY IN HOUSTON , TEXAS. TIME-LAPSE AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY WITH A 60% OVERLAP WAS UTILIZED TO INSURE A GIVEN POINT ON THE FREEWAY APPEARING ON THREE CONSECUTIVE PHOTOS. REGRESSION ANALYSES BASED ON THE MACROSCOPIC HYPOTHESES ARE SUMMARIZED IN A TABLE. THE MICROSCOPIC ANALYSES WERE INCONCLUSIVE.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1965/99/99-002.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • DREW, DONALD R
• Publication Date: 1965

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 48-58
• Monograph Title: Freeway characteristics, operations and accidents
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 99
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aerial photography; Analysis; Determinants (Mathematics); Distributions (Statistics); Freeway operations; Freeways; Mathematical analysis; Mathematical models; Regression analysis; Traffic; Traffic congestion; Traffic control; Traffic flow; Traffic flow theory; Vehicles
• Identifier Terms: Gulf Freeway
• Uncontrolled Terms: Deterministic models; Traffic analysis
• Geographic Terms: Houston (Texas)
• Old TRIS Terms: Continuous distributions
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00224755
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Dec 12 1994 12:00AM