Traffic Diversion Effect of Ramp Metering at Individual and System Levels

Understanding traffic diversion due to control actions is essential to the success of advanced traffic management systems such as ramp metering, arterial signal control, and traveler information services. This paper explores the systemwide traffic diversion effect of a well-documented control algorithm on a large real-world network. By using an unconventional positive approach that models how travelers actually learn the road network experientially and make heuristic route search and choice decisions in the presence of information and decision costs, this research is able to explore traffic diversion as an emergent process, with travelers’ decision-making processes individually traced. The supply-side effect of ramp metering is modeled as capacity changes at freeway bottlenecks and metered entrance ramps. Results show that only 1% of all peak-hour travelers (6,200) on the Twin Cities (Minneapolis–St. Paul), Minnesota, network change routes after meters are deployed, even though a much larger number of them (14%) are significantly hurt by the algorithm. It is also evident that ramp meters can benefit and hurt all types of roads in a large network, including freeways, local streets, and ramps. An important conclusion with practical significance is that different behavioral assumptions could produce opposing policy recommendations in traffic operations. For instance, models with normative assumptions (e.g., DUE) lead to systematic benefit overestimation because of a particular microbehavioral mechanism.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.3141/2012-03
• 
• Summary URL:
  http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=Traffic+Diversion+Effect+of+Ramp+Metering+at+Individual+and+System+Levels&author=L.+Zhang&publication_year=2007
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://www.trb.org/Main/Public/Blurbs/159610.aspx
• Authors:
  • Zhang, Lei
• Publication Date: 2007

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: pp 20-29
• Monograph Title: Freeway Operations and High-Occupancy Vehicle Systems 2007
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board
  • Issue Number: 2012
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Advanced traffic management systems; Algorithms; Arterial highways; Decision making; Highway operations; Peak hour traffic; Ramp metering; Route choice; Traffic diversion; Traveler information and communication systems
• Geographic Terms: Twin Cities Metropolitan Area (Minnesota)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01049618
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 9780309104388
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 8 2007 6:47PM