Toll Plaza Merging Traffic Control for Throughput Maximization
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 136, Issue 1
Abstract
A simple real-time merging traffic control concept is proposed for efficient toll plaza management in cases where the total flow exiting from the toll booths exceeds the capacity of the downstream highway (or bridge, or tunnel), leading to congestion and reduced efficiency due to capacity drop. Merging traffic control aims at maintaining the number of vehicles in the merge area close to a critical value that maximizes throughput; to this end, an algorithm known from local ramp metering operations is proposed (ALINEA). The potential control concept efficiency is demonstrated by use of microscopic simulation applied to a particular toll plaza infrastructure with and without merging traffic control. It is shown that the employed feedback regulator is little sensitive to various settings which indicates easy applicability with low fine-tuning needs in potential field applications. The case of partially uncontrolled lanes (e.g., for high-occupancy vehicles, buses or other vehicles) is also addressed.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 136 • Issue 1 • January 2010
Pages: 67 - 76
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Dec 26, 2007
Accepted: Sep 1, 2009
Published online: Dec 15, 2009
Published in print: Jan 2010
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