Evaluation of traffic management strategies for special events using probe data

Abstract

Special events can impose burdens to local roads. As these events are temporary and even seasonal in nature, concerned agencies need to identify cost-effective traffic management strategies to control this increased traffic. The current research empirically investigated the traffic flow, traffic volumes, and traffic management strategies for sporting events in Fort Myers, Florida. Extensive data were collected for over five consecutive years on an arterial road. These data contained traffic volumes from available loop detectors and travel time from Bluetooth sensors. Results showed that, like the experience curve effect, manual traffic control seemed to improve the traffic after the first year but leveled off thereafter. Signal retiming was effective for traffic entering games but not after games. The average travel time on a certain road segment for through traffic before the event starts was reduced by >40% after the signal retiming. Variable message signs (VMS), while appeared to help traffic management, might not considerably improve travel time before and after the events on the road investigated. Although an alternative route was introduced for through traffic, most of drivers still used the arterial road even during peak congestion. With an average penetration rate of >4%, this long-term study confirmed that the use of Bluetooth-based systems in collecting traffic probe data are still feasible in the near future. This current study contributes to the traffic management body of knowledge by empirically investigating the traffic management plans used for sporting events with objective and quantitative data in a five-year period.