Expectancy of Multiple Vehicular Breakdowns in a Tunnel

Abstract

One of the principal operating problems at vehicular tunnels is that of traffic stoppages resulting from disabled vehicles. These vehicles break down for such various reasons as flat tires, overheating, no gasoline, and mechanical failures. The stoppages are particularly troublesome in peak traffic periods when the full capacity of the tunnel may be badly needed. Subaqueous tunnels consist of two-lane tubes, so that a stoppage in one lane immediately reduces the capacity of the tube affected by one-half. Actually, the reduction in capacity is even greater than one-half, since the movement of traffic in the unstopped lane is reduced by the operations necessary to remove the disabled vehicle. Operations Research, ISSN 0030-364X, was published as Journal of the Operations Research Society of America from 1952 to 1955 under ISSN 0096-3984.