Evaluation of Transportation Infrastructure Management Strategies Using Microscopic Traffic Simulation
Publication: Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 13, Issue 2
Abstract
This paper presents a traffic simulation approach to evaluating the relative benefits of transportation management strategies aimed at maximizing the utilization of road infrastructure. The approach is demonstrated using a case study of an infrastructure upgrade of a commuting corridor in Brisbane, Australia. A detailed traffic simulation model was developed for the network under consideration, and a number of different infrastructure management strategies were investigated. These included treatment of the additional road capacity as a bus lane (available for buses only), a high occupancy vehicle lane, and a general traffic lane open to all vehicles. The simulation results showed that a bus lane would produce the best travel time benefits for buses (19% decrease in travel times and 68% improvement in travel time reliability). This, however, was achieved at the expense of reduced benefits to other road users. The work reported in this paper demonstrates the feasibility of using traffic simulation to quantify the benefits of alternative infrastructure strategies based on modeling of individual vehicles and their interactions on the road network.
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Acknowledgments
The work reported in this paper is based on the undergraduate thesis of the first writer while he was completing his bachelor of civil engineering degree at the University of Queensland. The first writer has since graduated and is now working as a traffic engineer for SKM Consulting in Brisbane, Australia.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 13 • Issue 2 • June 2007
Pages: 168 - 174
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Mar 9, 2005
Accepted: Aug 2, 2006
Published online: Jun 1, 2007
Published in print: Jun 2007
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