Estimation of Road Capacity at Weaving Sections on Urban Arterials

Traffic movement in weaving sections is influenced by excessive turbulences, not only in freeway segments but also on urban arterials. Such turbulences negatively impact traffic speed, roadway capacity, and safety. While the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM 2010) provides a formal methodology for the operational analysis of weaving sections in freeways, an equivalent methodology is lacking for urban arterials. As such, this paper focuses on the assessment of the impact of weaving maneuvers on urban arterial’s capacity. Developing an estimation procedure for the capacity of an urban arterial weaving section is the main objective of this research. Field data was collected on a typical urban weaving section in Imam-Saud-Bin-Abdel Aziz arterial road in Riyadh, KSA. Collected data was used in the development of a micro simulation traffic model of the case study section, using VISSM traffic simulator. The calibrated model was used as a test-bed for the capacity analysis exercise. A regression model was developed to estimate the weaving section capacity considering the section weaving ratio (VR) and length (L). A reduction in the weaving section capacity (from 11% to 24%) was observed when comparing the developed model estimates to that of the HCM 2010 (for freeways weaving sections). Furthermore, the sensitivity of the developed model to VR and L was more pronounced (about 1.5 times) than that of the HCM.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AHB40 Highway Capacity and Quality of Service.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Sarhan, Mahmoud
  • Talaat, Hoda
  • Mousa, Ragab
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 94th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2015-1-11 to 2015-1-15
• Date: 2015

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 17p
• Monograph Title: TRB 94th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Arterial highways; Case studies; Highway capacity; Microscopic traffic flow; Traffic simulation; Weaving sections
• Identifier Terms: Highway Capacity Manual 2010
• Geographic Terms: Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; I71: Traffic Theory;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01551025
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 15-1156
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Jan 27 2015 11:21AM