Lane Change Control Combined with Ramp Metering: A Strategy to Manage Delays at On-Ramp Merging Sections

Hari Hara Sharan Nagalur Subraveti,Bart Van Arem,Victor L Knoop

doi:10.1155/2021/8638523

Hari Hara Sharan Nagalur Subraveti, Bart Van Arem + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/8638523

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Abstract

Control measures at merging locations aimed at either the mainline traffic or on-ramp traffic do not lead to a fairness in the distribution of total delay across the two streams. This paper presents a control strategy of combining a lane change control with a ramp metering system at motorway merges. The control strategy presents the opportunity to control the delays incurred at the two traffic streams of the merge. An optimization problem is formulated for a multilane motorway with an on-ramp with the aim to minimize the total travel time of the system. The proposed strategy is tested using an incentive-based lane-specific traffic flow model. Results revealed a 17% reduction in the total travel time due to the proposed strategy. Moreover, it was shown that the distribution of delays over the mainline and on-ramp could be controlled via the proposed strategy. The performance of the combined control was also compared to the individual control measures. It was observed that the individual control measures (lane change only and ramp metering only) lead to high delays on either the mainline or on-ramp compared to the combined control, where the balance between the delay for the drivers on the mainline and on-ramp could be regulated. The combined lane change and ramp metering control presents opportunities for the road authorities to manage the total delay distribution across the two traffic streams.

Highlights

Motorway merging sections are recurrent bottlenecks prone to congestion due to the high lane changing (LC) activity near the bottleneck with on-ramp and mainline traffic competing for the same space downstream of the merge.is leads to the onset of congestion and a drop in the queue discharge rate, a phenomenon known as capacity drop [1, 2]
A variety of ramp metering (RM) algorithms have been proposed over the years such as the wellknown feedback based ALINEA [3], feed-forward based ALINEA [6], reinforcement learning based RM [7], RM using microscopic gap detection [8], and RM algorithm based on neural networks [9]. ese studies have indicated the benefits of RM
Classical RM algorithms generally work by comparing a measured or target variable such as flow, occupancy, or density of the motorway against a desired/ reference value to avoid the onset of congestion on the motorway. e benefits of RM mainly in terms of reduced travel times have been highlighted in these studies

Summary

Introduction

Motorway merging sections are recurrent bottlenecks prone to congestion due to the high lane changing (LC) activity near the bottleneck with on-ramp and mainline traffic competing for the same space downstream of the merge. Emerging technologies in the form of Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (and Vehicle-to-Vehicle) communication and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) create opportunities to develop smart traffic management strategies, which can alleviate congestion at recurring bottlenecks such as merging sections Using such emerging technologies, various studies evaluated LC control measures to improve traffic flow efficiency at merging locations. The study did not assume a minimum speed limit for the VSL or take into account the differences between lanes Most of these studies do not discuss the impact of integrated and (or) coordinated control on the distribution of delays across the two traffic streams. Is paper evaluates the performance of a combined control with the aim to reduce the travel times and improve the traffic flow efficiency at a motorway merging section.

System Modelling

Results

B Acceleration lane

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