Empirical Measurement of Freeway Oscillation Characteristics: An International Comparison

A country-specific analysis of freeway traffic oscillations was conducted. Loop detector data from sites in the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom were analyzed. With the use of a method applied in previous work, traffic oscillations were identified in all three countries. Calculation of the cross-correlation coefficient revealed that they traveled upstream at speeds of about 19 to 20 km/h at the U.S. site, 16 km/h at the German site, and 14 km/h on the U.K. freeway. Similar magnitudes were found in the literature verifying the hypothesis that they propagated faster in the United States than in Germany. Furthermore, an oscillation frequency was identified by calculation of the data’s autocorrelation. However, since the oscillation frequency was likely to be site specific, conclusions regarding general differences between the frequencies measured in different countries cannot yet be made. For the sites analyzed, it was found that oscillations appeared every 8 to 12 min on the M4 (U.K. site), every 10 to 30 min on the A9 (German site), and every 3 to 6 min on OR-217 (U.S. site). Although the magnitudes of the latter two countries were supported by the literature, further empirical research on several different sites should be pursued to draw final conclusions.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.3141/2088-07
• Summary URL:
  • http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=Empirical+Measurement+of+Freeway+Oscillation+Characteristics%3a+An+International+Comparison&author=B.+Zielke&author=R.+Bertini&author=M.+Treiber&publication_year=2008
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/9780309126038
• Authors:
  • Zielke, Benjamin A
  • Bertini, Robert Lawrence
  • Treiber, Martin
• Publication Date: 2008

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 57-67
• Monograph Title: Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics 2008
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board
  • Issue Number: 2088
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Empirical methods; Freeway operations; Perturbations; Traffic characteristics
• Uncontrolled Terms: Traffic flow disturbance propagation; Traffic oscillations
• Geographic Terms: Germany; United Kingdom; United States
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; I71: Traffic Theory;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01099838
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 9780309126038
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: May 22 2008 7:42AM