REAL-TIME EVALUATION OF FREEWAY QUALITY OF TRAFFIC SERVICE

THE FREEWAY CONTROL PROCESS FOLLOWS REASONABLY WELL-KNOWN LAWS THAT CAN BE STATED MATHEMATICALLY. THE PROCESS CAN VARY DUE TO CHANGES IN FLOW CHARACTERISTICS, INPUT CONSTITUENTS, ECONOMIC FACTORS, OR POLICY DECISIONS; BUT GENERALLY THE CONTROL ACTION TO BE EXERCISED CAN BE DETERMINED FROM THE MATHEMATICS OF THE PROBLEM. CONSEQUENTLY, A FREEWAY CONTROL SYSTEM CAN PERMIT A CONTROL COMPUTER TO MAKE DECISIONS TO SELECT AND IMPLEMENT CONTROL ALTERNATIVES. THIS PAPER DEALS WITH THE TECHNIQUES AND METHODOLOGY NEEDED TO EFFECTIVELY CONTROL A FREEWAY SYSTEM IN REAL-TIME. THE EXTENT TO WHICH AN OPTIMUM CONTROL POLICY CAN BE ESTABLISHED IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE PERTINENT TRAFFIC AND CONTROL SYSTEM VARIABLES CAN BE MEASURED AND INTERPRETED. TOWARD THIS IDEA, THE REPORT DEVELOPS INPUT-OUTPUT ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES THAT CAN BE APPLIED TO A CONTROL ENVIRONMENT. USING THIS ANALYSIS, A METHOD OF TRAFFIC BLOCK DETECTION AND LOCATION IS PRESENTED AND A STEP-BY-STEP CONTROL ACTION IS DEVELOPED. WITH THE APPLICATION OF REAL-TIME CONTROL TO THE PROBLEMS OF FREEWAY CONGESTION, THE TRUE SCIENCE OF FREEWAY OPERATION HAS EMERGED. THE APPEALING IDEA OF REACTING TO THE PROBLEM AS IT HAPPENS CAN NOW BE REALIZED. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1969/289/289-004.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Paper sponsored by Committee on Quality of Traffic Service. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Whitson, Robert H
  • Burr, Johann H
  • DREW, DONALD R
  • McCasland, William R
• Publication Date: 1969

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 38-50
• Monograph Title: Highway capacity
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 289
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Computers; Freeway operations; Traffic congestion; Traffic control; Traffic flow; Traffic signal control systems
• Old TRIS Terms: Traffic control systems
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00225582
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: Paper No 1
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jan 12 1970 12:00AM