CONGESTION MANAGEMENT BY DYNAMIC GUIDANCE ON TORONTO'S DUAL ROADWAY FREEWAY

Since becoming fully operational in January 1991, the 13 Changeable Message Signs (CMSs) in the COMPASS system on the Toronto portion of Highway 401 in Ontario, Canada, have been used to provide information to drivers on lane blocking incidents. Congestion management has been developed for the purpose of balancing traffic and in response to public requests for information on traffic conditions to be shown on the signs. Congestion management was made operational throughout the system in February 1993. This paper describes the reasons for congestion management, its design and implementation, the operational experience to date and the results of an operational review of Congestion Management. Results of the review show that Congestion Management has brought about an overall improvement in the quality of traffic flow. This is reflected in an increase in average peak period speeds and a reduction in both the duration and severity of the peak. Furthermore, a survey of over 600 drivers indicated a high degree of acceptance of the system.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • First in a series on Management of Traffic Systems conducted by Alberto J. Santiago and Sam Yagar on behalf of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
• Corporate Authors:

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • MASTERS, P
  • Paesani, G
  • Coady, A
• Conference:
  • Large Urban Systems. Proceedings of the Advanced Traffic Management Conference
  • Location: St. Petersburg, Florida
  • Date: 1993-10-3 to 1993-10-8
• Publication Date: 1993-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: v.p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Divided highways; Driver information systems; Traffic congestion; Traffic speed; Variable message signs
• Geographic Terms: Ontario (Province); Toronto (Canada)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00662949
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jul 8 1994 12:00AM