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EVALUATING RAMP METERING AND VARIABLE SPEED LIMITS TO REDUCE CRASH POTENTIAL ON CONGESTED FREEWAYS USING MICRO-SIMULATION
Access this item.
Title
EVALUATING
RAMP
METERING
AND
VARIABLE
SPEED
LIMITS
TO
REDUCE
CRASH
POTENTIAL
ON
CONGESTED
FREEWAYS
USING
MICRO-SIMULATION
Author
Dhindsa, Albinder
Keywords
Microsimulation
Crash Prediction
Variable Speed Limits
Ramp Metering
Abstract
Recent
research
at
UCF
into
defining
surrogate
measures
for
identifying
crash
prone
conditions
on
freeways
has
led
to the
introduction
of
several
statistical
models
which
can
flag
such
conditions
with a
good
degree
of
accuracy.
Outputs
from these
models
have the
potential
to be
used
as
real-time
safety
measures
on
freeways.
They
may
also
act
as the
basis
for the
evaluation
of
several
intervention
strategies
that
might
help
in the
mitigation
of
risk
of
crashes.
Ramp
Metering
and
Variable
Speed
Limits
are
two
approaches
which
have the
potential
of
becoming
effective
implementation
strategies
for
improving
the
safety
conditions
on
congested
freeways.
This
research
evaluates
both
these
strategies
in
different
configurations
and
attempts
to
quantify
their
effect
on
risk
of
crash
on a
9-mile
section
of
Interstate-4
in the
Orlando
metropolitan
region.
The
section
consists
of
17
Loop
Detector
stations
,
11
On-ramps
and
10
off-ramps.
PARAMICS
micro-simulation
is
used
as the
tool
for
modeling
the
freeway
section.
The
simulated
network
is
calibrated
and
validated
for
5
minute
average
flows
and
speeds
using
loop
detector
data.
Feedback
Ramp
Metering
algorithm
,
ALINEA
,
is
used
for
controlling
access
from
up
to
7
on-ramps.
Variable
Speed
Limits
are
implemented
based
on
real-time
speed
conditions
prevailing
in the
whole
9-mile
section.
Both
these
strategies
are
tested
separately
as
well
as
collectively
to
determine
the
individual
effects
of
all
the
parameters
involved.
The
results
have been
used
to
formulate
and
recommend
the
best
possible
strategy
for
minimizing
the
risk
of
crashes
on the
corridor.
The
study
concluded
that
Ramp
Metering
improves
the
conditions
on the
freeway
in
terms
of
safety
by
decreasing
variance
in
speeds
and
decreasing
average
occupancy.
A
safety
benefit
index
was
developed
for
quantifying
the
reduction
in
crash
risk
and
it
indicated
that an
optimal
implementation
strategy
might
produce
benefits
of
up
to
55%.
The
condition
on the
freeway
section
improved
with
increase
in the
number
of
metered
ramps.
It
was also
observed
that
shorter
signal
cycles
for
metered
ramps
were
more
suitable
for
metering
multiple
ramps.
Ramp
Metering
at
multiple
locations
also
decreased
the
segment
wide
travel-times
by
5%
and was
even
able
to
offset
the
delays
incurred
by
drivers
at the
metered
on-ramps.
Variable
Speed
Limits
(VSL)
were
individually
not as
effective
as
ramp
metering
but
when
implemented
along
with
ramp
metering
, they were
found
to
further
improve
the
safety
on the
freeway
section
under
consideration.
By
means
of a
detailed
experimental
design
it
was
observed
that the
best
strategy
for
introducing
speed
limit
changes
was to
raise
the
speed
limits
downstream
of the
location
of
interest
by
5
mph
and not
affecting
the
speed
limits
upstream.
A
coordinated
strategy
-
involving
simultaneous
application
of
VSL
and
Ramp
Metering
-
provided
safety
benefits
of
up
to
56
%
for the
study
section
according
to the
safety
benefit
index.
It
also
improved
the
average
speeds
on the
network
besides
decreasing
the
overall
network
travel
time
by as
much
as
21%.
Adviser
Abdel-Aty, Mohamed
Publisher
University
of
Central
Florida
Degree
M.S.
Degree Discipline
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Degree Grantor
Engineering and Computer Science
Degree Program
Civil Engineering
Graduation Date
2005-12-01
Type
Master's thesis
Access Level
Public - Allow Worldwide Access
Release Date
2006-05-10
Repository
University Archives
Repository Collection
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier
CFE0000913
Access Link
http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0000913
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