MERGING BEHAVIOR AT FREEWAY ENTRANCE RAMPS

THE REPORT IS DIVIDED INTO TWO MAIN SECTIONS. SECTION I DISCUSSES THE PHENOMENA OF MERGING BEHAVIOR IN GENERAL TERMS AND PRESENTS A CONCEPTUAL FRAMWORK FOR THE ANALYSIS OF GAP- ACCEPTANCE AND REJECTION AT A FREEWAY ENTRANCE RAMP. THIS SECTION ALSO CONTAINS A BRIEF CRITICAL REVIEW OF PREVIOUS RESEARCH WORK IN THE FIELD, BOTH EMPIRICAL AND THEORETICAL. SECTION II DESCRIBES A SERIES OF EMPIRICAL STUDIES, CONDUCTED DURING THE SUMMER OF 1965 AT ONE LEFT-HAND AND ONE RIGHT-HAND ENTRANCE RAMP IN THE CHICAGO AREA. APART FROM BEING LOCATED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE TRAVELLED WAY THESE TWO RAMPS HAD BASICALLY SIMILAR DESIGN CHARACTERISTICS. INCLUDED IN THIS SECTION ARE EMPIRICAL COMPARISONS OF ALTER- NATIVE ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES, A CONSIDERATION OF GAP- ACCEPTANCE AND MERGING BEHAVIOR AS BOTH A DYNAMIC AS WELL AS A STATIC PHENOMENA, AN EVALUATION OF CRITICAL GAP SIZE AND GAP STRUCTURE, AN ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF RELATIVE MERGING SPEED ON GAP ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA AND A STUDY OF MULTIPLE VEHICLE MERGES. IN EACH OF THE ABOVE ANALYSES, COMPARISONS ARE ALSO DRAWN BETWEEN THE RESULTS OBTAINED AT LEFT-HAND AND RIGHT-HAND RAMPS. /BPR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Hpr, Ihr-63
• Corporate Authors:

  Northwestern University, Evanston

  Department of Civil Engineering, 600 Foster Street
  Evanston, IL  United States  60208
• Authors:
  • Worrall, R D
  • Coutts, D W
  • Echterhoff-Hammerschmid, E
  • Berry, D S
• Publication Date: 1965-9

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Analysis; Design; Gap acceptance; Interchange ramps; Location; Merging traffic; Spacing; Speed; Studies; Vehicles
• Geographic Terms: Chicago (Illinois)
• Old TRIS Terms: Freeway entrances and exits; Freeway ramps; Ramp location & spacing
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00224814
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Bureau of Public Roads /US
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 1 1994 12:00AM