Modifying Ramp Management Strategies to Enhance Resiliency of Freeway Facilities

Increased traffic demand of coastal areas during emergency evacuations have been shown to affect transportation systems negatively. Constrained state and federal budgets to add system capacity suggests that the available transportation infrastructures should be utilized in a more efficient manner. Ramp management strategies have been shown to improve performance of freeway facilities by metering the vehicles at on-ramps through signalization. The number of vehicles prescribed to enter the freeway is usually calculated by an online adaptive traffic control that attempts to optimize the freeway performance by striking a balance between allowable turbulence of the mainline freeway and the vehicles waiting at the onramp. Despite the advancements in traffic flow analysis, few, if any, research has been carried out to modify a ramp metering algorithm and meter the on-ramps as a function of the mainline capacity based on stochastic approach. As a result, this research will aim to estimate the capacity distribution function of a real-world freeway section located in a coastal area and modify its ramp metering algorithm (i.e. activate the on-ramp signals as a function of the capacity of the mainline) to postpone freeway flow-breakdowns. To test the validity of the proposed modifications, a microsimulation software (e.g. VISSIM) will be used and Measures of Effectiveness (MOE) such as elapsed time until breakdown, mainline speed, average network delay, and total travel time will be used. Application of the ramp management algorithms modified by this method becomes increasingly important during emergency evacuation in which resilient and efficient operation of the freeways is of great interest to serve the increased demand of coastal areas.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $124581
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3551747130

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Maritime Transportation Research and Education Center

  University of Arkansas
  Fayetteville, AR  United States  72701
• Performing Organizations:

  Louisiana State University

  3660G Patrick F. Taylor Hall
  Civil and Environmental Engineering
  Baton Rouge, LA  United States  70803
• Principal Investigators:

  Wolshon, Brian

• Start Date: 20200701
• Expected Completion Date: 20230930
• Actual Completion Date: 20240930
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Algorithms; Coasts; Evacuation; Freeways; Highway capacity; Interchange ramps; Ramp metering; Traffic delays; Traffic flow; Travel time; Validation
• Identifier Terms: VISSIM (Computer model)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01752828
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Maritime Transportation Research and Education Center
• Contract Numbers: 69A3551747130
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Sep 24 2020 2:40PM