AN EVALUATION OF RAMP CONTROL ON THE HARBOR FREEWAY IN LOS ANGELES

A RAMP CONTROL PROJECT IS DESCRIBED ON THE 8-LANE HARBOR FREEWAY IN LOS ANGELES. CONGESTION OCCURRED EACH WEEKDAY IN THE 4 OUTBOUND LANES DURING THE EVENING PEAK PERIOD, WHILE THE ADJACENT PARALLEL STREETS WERE RELATIVELY UNCROWDED. THE CONTROL PROJECT IS DESIGNED TO REDUCE TOTAL TRAVEL TIME THROUGH THE FREEWAY CORRIDOR BY METERING 5 ON-RAMPS AND CLOSING 1 RAMP IN A 5-MILE SECTION DURING THE PEAK PERIOD. SOME UNUSUAL TECHNIQUES ARE BEING EMPLOYED: BUSES ARE ALLOWED TO BYPASS RAMP QUEUES AND TO MAKE LEFT TURNS WHERE OTHER TRAFFIC CANNOT; STORAGE OF QUEUED VEHICLES ON A FRONTAGE ROAD IS CARRIED BACK ACROSS AN INTERVENING MAJOR THOROUGHFARE BY TIMING THE INTERSECTION SIGNAL SO THAT THE INTERSECTION ITSELF REMAINS CLEAR; AND, AT ONE LOCATION, STORAGE ROOM IS INCREASED AND HIGH METERING RATES ARE MADE POSSIBLE BY THE RELEASE OF VEHICLES 2-ABREAST AT THE RAMP SIGNAL. RESULTS SHOW THAT FREEWAY USERS ARE SAVING ABOUT 1,000 VEHICLE-HOURS PER DAY AGAINST A LOSS, OR INCREASED TRAVEL TIME FOR DIVERTED OR DELAYED RAMP TRAFFIC, OF ABOUT 130 VEHICLE-HOURS. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1970/303/303-004.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Paper sponsored by Committee on Freeway Operations and presented at the 49th Annual Meeting. 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:
  • Newman, Leonard
  • Dunnet, Alex M
  • Meis, Gerald J
• Publication Date: 1970

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; Photos; References;
• Pagination: pp 44-55
• Monograph Title: Freeway operations, surveillance and communications
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 303
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Control; Freeway operations; Interchange ramps; Intersections; On ramps; Queuing; Traffic congestion; Traffic signal timing; Travel time; User benefits
• Geographic Terms: Los Angeles (California)
• Old TRIS Terms: Freeway ramps; Metering
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00225795
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Sep 21 1970 12:00AM