Determining Appropriate Lane-Changing Spacing for Off-Ramp Areas of Urban Expressways

Zhufei Huang, Zihan Zhang, Haijian Li, Lingqiao Qin and Jian Rong
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Zhufei Huang: Beijing Engineering Research Center of Urban Transportation Operation Support, 100 Pingleyuan, Chaoyang District, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
Zihan Zhang: China Academy of Urban Planning & Design, Beijing 100044, China
Haijian Li: Beijing Engineering Research Center of Urban Transportation Operation Support, 100 Pingleyuan, Chaoyang District, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
Lingqiao Qin: TOPS Laboratory, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1415 Engineering Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Jian Rong: Beijing Engineering Research Center of Urban Transportation Operation Support, 100 Pingleyuan, Chaoyang District, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 7, 1-15

Abstract: Congestion has become a significant issue in recent years and has greatly affected the efficiency of urban traffic operation. Random and disorderly lane-changing behavior greatly reduces traffic capacity and safety. This paper is mainly concerned with the relationship of lane-changing spacing intervals provided by off-ramp facilities and traffic flow conditions. Through field investigations in Beijing, several typical lane-changing behaviors at off-ramp areas are analyzed. By using field traffic data and actual road geometry parameters, VISSIM-based micro-behavior simulations at off-ramp areas are implemented to obtain traffic flow conditions with different lane-changing spacing intervals and other model parameters, such as traffic volume and ratio of off-ramp vehicles. Then, the numerical relationships between traffic flow state and model parameters can be shown. The results show that with increasing traffic volume and the ratio of off-ramp vehicles, the lane-changing spacing interval required by vehicles should be increased. For the same ratio of off-ramp vehicles, if the traffic volume increases by 100 pcu/h/lane (pcu is a unit to stand for a standard passenger car), the corresponding lane-changing spacing interval should be increased by a spacing of 50–100 m to avoid increasing congestion. Based on the results of this paper, smart lane management can be implemented by optimizing lane-changing spacing intervals and lane-changing behaviors to improve traffic capacity.

Keywords: traffic engineering; traffic simulation; lane-changing behavior; off-ramp (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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