Evaluating the Effects of Different Control Strategies on Traffic Operations at Isolated Merge Bottlenecks

The primary objective of this study was to develop variable speed limit (VSL) and ramp metering (RM) strategies that particularly focused on preventing the capacity drop and increasing the discharge flow rate at freeway merge bottlenecks, and to evaluate the effects of the proposed control strategies on traffic operations. A cell transmission model (CTM) was developed to evaluate the effects of the proposed control strategies on traffic operations. The CTM was adjusted and calibrated using real- world traffic data to accurately capture the capacity drop phenomenon. With space-time diagrams and traffic characteristic diagrams, the occurrence mechanism of traffic congestion at the bottleneck under different control strategies was compared. The simulation results showed that total travel time and vehicle delay were reduced under the proposed control strategies. It was found that the VSL control and RM control were effective in improving traffic operations at freeway isolated merge bottlenecks. In addition, the RM control outperformed the VSL control in reducing traffic congestion when the on-ramp flow rate was low.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.08.031
• Record URL:
  • http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042813021575
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/18770428
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2013 Hui Duan et al.
• Authors:
  • Duan, Hui
  • Liu, Pan
  • Li, Zhibin
  • Zha, Liteng
• Conference:
  • 13th COTA International Conference of Transportation Professionals (CICTP 2013)
  • Location: Shenzhen , China
  • Date: 2013-8-13 to 2013-8-16
• Publication Date: 2013-11-6

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 243-254
• Serial:
  • Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences
  • Volume: 96
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 1877-0428
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/18770428/53
• Publication flags:

  Open Access (libre)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bottlenecks; Freeway operations; Highway capacity; Merging control; Merging traffic; Ramp metering; Traffic congestion; Traffic simulation; Variable speed limits
• Uncontrolled Terms: Cell transmission models
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01503456
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 7 2014 4:41PM