Capacity of Freeway Merge Areas with Different On-Ramp Traffic Flow
Abstract
This paper is aimed at investigating the influence of different types of traffic flows on the capacity of freeway merge areas. Based on the classical gap-acceptance model, two calculating models were established specifically considering randomly arriving vehicles and individual difference in driving behaviours. Monte-Carlo simulation was implemented to reproduce the maximum traffic volume on the designed freeway merge area under different situations. The results demonstrated that the proposed calculating models have better performance than the conventional gap-acceptance theory on accurately predicting the capacity of freeway merge areas. The findings of research could be helpful to improve the microscopic traffic flow simulation model from a more practical perspective and support the designing of freeway merge areas as well.References
Michael RM, Neil JP, Robert ES, editors. Highway Capacity Manual 2010. Washington,DC: Transportation Research Board of National Academies; 2010.
Persaud B, Yagar S, Tsui D, Look H. Breakdown-related capacity for freeway with ramp metering. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. 2001;1748(1):110-115.
Srivastava A, Geroliminis N. Empirical observations of capacity drop in freeway merges with ramp control and integration in a first-order model. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies. 2013;30:161-177.
Zhang GH, Wang YH. Optimizing Coordinated Ramp Metering: A Preemptive Hierarchical Control Approach. Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering. 2013;28(1):22-37.
Al-Obaedi J, Yousif S. Microsimulation Model for Motorway Merges with Ramp-Metering Controls. Intelligent Transportation Systems, IEEE Transactions on. 2012;13(1):296-306.
Albanese M, Camus R, Longo G. Capacity and queue modeling for on-ramp-freeway junctions. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. 2003;1852(1):256-264.
Tian ZZ, Wu N. Probability of Capacity Enhancement and Disruption for Freeway Ramp Controls Analysis by Gap-Acceptance and Queuing Models. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. 2012;2278(1):1-12.
Qiu F, Li WQ, Zhang J, Zhang XC, Xie QF. Exploring suitable traffic conditions for intermittent bus lanes. Journal of Advanced Transportation. 2014. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/atr.1265.
Qiu F, Li WQ, Jia XH. Layout length of mixed-traffic bus approach [In Chinese]. Journal of Southeast university (Natural Science Edition). 2011;5:1104-1108.
Xin W, Michalopoulos PG, Hourdakis J, Lau D. Minnesota’s new ramp control strategy: design overview and preliminary assessment. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. 2004;1867(1):69-79.
Dahl J, Lee C. Empirical Estimation of Capacity for Roundabouts Using Adjusted Gap-Acceptance Parameters for Trucks. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. 2012;2312(1):34-45.
Wu JC, Jin X, Horowitz AJ. Methodologies for Estimating Vehicle Queue Length at Metered On-Ramps. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. 2008;2047(1):75-82.
Hunt M, Harper DN, Lie C. Mind the gap: Training road users to use speed and distance when making gap-acceptance decisions. Accident Analysis & Prevention. 2011;43(6):2015-2023.
Bhouri N, Kauppila J. Managing Highways for Better Reliability. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. 2011;2229(1):1-7.
Lee G. Modeling gap-acceptance at freeway merges [PhD thesis]. Massachusetts Institute of Technology; 2006[cited 2013 Dec 25]. Available from: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Library E-Reserve.
Daamen W, Loot M, Hoogendoorn SP. Empirical Analysis of Merging Behavior at Freeway On-Ramp. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. 2010;2188(1):108-118.
Kondyli A, Elefteriadou L. Driver Behaviour at Freeway-Ramp Merging Areas. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. 2009;2124(1):157-166.
Kou C, Machemehl RB. Modeling vehicle acceleration deceleration behaviour during merge maneuvers. Canadian journal of civil engineering. 1997;24(3):350-358.
Wu J, Mcdonald M, Chatterjee K. A detailed evaluation of ramp metering impacts on driver behavior. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour. 2007;10(1):61-75.
Kondyli A, Elefteriadou L. Modeling Driver Behavior at Freeway-Ramp Merges. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. 2011;2249(1):29-37.
Brilon W, Koenig R, Troutbeck RJ. Useful estimation procedures for critical gaps. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice. 1999;33(3):161-186.
Ulerio JM, Roess RP, Lee JW. Comparative analysis of FRESIM and 1994 Highway Capacity Manual models for ramp junctions with an independent data base. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. 1997;1572(1):43-50.
Sarvi M, Kuwahara M. Microsimulation of freeway ramp merging processes under congested traffic conditions. Intelligent Transportation Systems, IEEE Transactions on. 2007;8(3):470-479.
Elefteriadou L, Fang C, Roess R, Prassas E. Methodology for evaluating the operational performance of interchange ramp terminals. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. 2005;1920(1):13-24.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
