Traffic Theory

This report describes the results of a PATH-funded study conducted by the Cal Poly Transportation Electronics Laboratory intended to assess advanced imaging technologies for potential application toroadway surveillance and detection. A major motivation for this study was the possibility of improvedvisibility under conditions of fog or dust using wavelengths longer than that of the visible spectral band. Technologies considered included ten types of infrared video cameras and one millimeter-wave still-frame imaging system. Evaluation criteria were structured to reflect the surveillance...

This working paper is the second part of a series comparing dynamic traffic flow models. It documents the results of comparison based on the framework defined in Part 1. The traffic models selected for comparison are DINOSAUR, DYNASMART, INTEGRATION, and METS. The areas of comparison comprise four categories: functionality, traffic dynamics, route choice mechanism, and network performance.The first category was compared with a checklist of functions. A total of thirteen test scenarios were constructed to compare models for the last three categories.

We study the system optimum dynamic traffic assignment (SODTA) in a network consisting of a freeway and neighboring city streets. There is only one bottleneck in the freeway and every destination is somewhere downstream of the bottleneck. Vehicles can be diverted through off-ramps leading to alternative local street routes. We formulate the problem and determine a graphical solution procedure based on Newell's cumulative plots, which yields the optimal diverted flow over time. On-ramps can be conveniently incorporated in this procedure yielding SO metering rates. The following variants are...

Most special-use freeway lanes in the US, whether reserved for carpools, toll-paying commuters or both, are physically separated from the adjacent regular-use lanes by some form of barrier. Vehicle movements in and out of a special lane of this type are permitted only at select access points along the route. The barrier at each select point might open for a distance of 400 m or so. Limiting access in this way is said to reduce the “turbulence” that might otherwise occur were the special lane not to have a buffer, such that vehicles could instead enter or exit that lane anywhere along its...