Abstract
Over the past few decades, several active traffic control methods have been proposed to improve freeway efficiency at bottleneck locations. Variable speed limit (VSL) is one of these effective controls. Previous studies have evaluated VSL control, but primarily during recurrent congestion only. This study focuses on evaluating the performance of VSL control for both recurrent and non-recurrent congestion. To assess the effectiveness of a previously proposed VSL control in a real-world situation, this study has three evaluation objectives: (1) examine the control performance when recurrent and (or) non-recurrent congestion occurs; (2) assess the effectiveness of the control when a queue encounters the VSL sign; and (3) consider the impact of system detection delay in VSL control. Comparative experiments for Whitemud Drive in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, are simulated in the VISSIM platform, and traffic performance is compared among scenarios with and without control. The simulation results show that VSL improves mobility for both recurrent and non-recurrent congestion. The VSL control reduces total travel time, and improves total travel distance and total flow. Furthermore, it slows down the shockwave propagation speed, improves the average speed on most of the freeway segments, and reduces the duration of traffic recovery.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.