Service headway distribution analysis of FASTag lanes under mixed traffic conditions

Abstract

The service headway at toll-plaza is an important microscopic parameter for capacity estimation, level-of-service (LOS) analysis, simulation studies, safety and delay studies, etc. Service headway is composed of processing time (includes reading the FASTag information of the vehicle by sensors) and the clearance time of the vehicle. The present study aims to analyze the variations in service headway in terms of best-fitted distribution for different vehicle classes, leader–follower pair in the same toll-lane, and locations for FASTag lanes operating under mixed traffic conditions. It is observed that the service headway is lower for Small Car (SC) (6.88 s) and maximum for Trailer (15.42 s), with an average service headway of 10.53 s for all leader–follower pairs. The results show that the best-fitted distribution for different vehicle classes at different locations is Generalized Extreme Value (GEV), followed by Generalized Inverse Gaussian (GIG) and then Inverse Gaussian distribution. The present study results will be used for the development of the microsimulation model, capacity analysis, and safety analysis at toll plazas operating under mixed traffic conditions.