Research on the impact of entry points on urban arterial roads in the framework of Kerner’s three-phase traffic theory

Abstract

Urban arterial roads, characterized by high traffic volumes and driveway densities, are prone to congestion and accidents due to external disturbances. The disturbance from the driveways (entry points) between arterials and adjacent properties has aroused wide concern in recent years. In this paper, based on the well-known KKSW (Kerner–Klenov–Schreckenberg–Wolf) CA (cellular automaton) model, an adapted KKSW-EP (entry points) CA model is proposed to study the influence of entry points on urban arterial roads. Traffic flow patterns under several entrance inflow rates and different locations of entry points are found by simulation. Besides, explanations for these patterns are provided in the framework of Kerner’s three-phase traffic theory. Moreover, the impact of entry points on the safety of urban arterial roads is also assessed. The results show that the congested patterns on the two lanes upstream of the entry point are not the same because they are caused by different types of bottlenecks and the right lane suffers from greater bottleneck strength. The safety assessment shows that severe conflicts are associated with the speed difference between vehicles caused by entry points and wide moving jams.