KINEMATIC WAVE THEORY OF BOTTLENECKS OF VARYING CAPACITY

THIS PAPER DISCUSSES THE PROBLEM OF BOTTLENECKS ON A MULTIPLE-LANE FACILITY USING THE METHODS OF KINEMATIC WAVES ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED, IN SO FAR AS TRAFFIC IS CONCERNED, BY LIGHTHILL AND WHITHAM. THE SPECIFIC PROBLEM THAT IS ANALYZED IN AN IDEALIZED SITUATION IS WHERE A CONSTANT FLOW, Q SUB 0, OF ONCOMING VEHICLES ON THE MAIN ROAD IS ASSUMED TO ENTER A SECTION OF ROADWAY WHICH SERVES AS A BOTTLENECK. IN THIS LATTER SECTION THE THROUGHPUT CAPACITY IS A FUNCTION OF TIME. THE NORMAL CAPACITY IS TAKEN AS Q SUB 1 WHERE Q SUB 1 IS GREATER THAN Q SUB 0, THEN AT SOME ARBITRARY TIME THE CAPACITY FALLS LINEARLY IN TIME FOR A PERIOD TAU SUB 1 TO A VALUE Q SUB 2 WHEN Q SUB 2 IS LESS THAN Q SUB 0. THE CAPACITY REMAINS THERE FOR A PERIOD TAU SUB 2 AND THEN RISES LINEARLY DURING A PERIOD TAU SUB 3 TO THE NORMAL Q SUB 1 VALUE. IT IS THEN SHOWN THAT DISTURBANCE MOVES BACK FROM THE BOTTLENECK AND THEN FORWARD AND THROUGH IT. IN ADDITION, AN EXPLICIT EXPRESSION IS DERIVED FOR THE DURATION OF THE "HOLD UP."

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 52, ParT 3, PP 564-572
• Corporate Authors:

  Cambridge Philosophical Soc Proceedings

  ,    
• Authors:
  • De, S C
• Publication Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bottlenecks; Equations; Highway capacity; Kinetics; Multilane highways; Theory; Time; Traffic flow; Waves
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00227103
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 5 1970 12:00AM