IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v35y2001i2p143-156.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An observed traffic pattern in long freeway queues

Author

Listed:
  • Cassidy, M. J.
  • Mauch, Michael

Abstract

A simple exercise in data analysis showed that, in queued traffic, a well-defined relation exists between the flow on a homogeneous freeway segment and the segment's vehicle accumulation. The exercise consisted of constructing cumulative vehicle arrival curves to measure the flows and densities on multiple segments of a queued freeway. At this particular site, each interchange enveloped by the queue exhibited a higher on-ramp flow than off-ramp flow and as a consequence, motorists encountered a steady improvement in traffic conditions (e.g., reduced densities and increased speeds) as they traveled from the tail of the queue to the bottleneck. This finding has practical implications for freeway traffic planning and management. Perhaps most notably, it suggests that the first-order hydrodynamic theory of traffic is adequate for describing some of the more relevant features of queue evolution. This and other practical issues are discussed in some detail.

Suggested Citation

  • Cassidy, M. J. & Mauch, Michael, 2001. "An observed traffic pattern in long freeway queues," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 143-156, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:35:y:2001:i:2:p:143-156
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965-8564(99)00052-X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cassidy, Michael J., 1998. "Bivariate relations in nearly stationary highway traffic," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 49-59, January.
    2. Paul I. Richards, 1956. "Shock Waves on the Highway," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 4(1), pages 42-51, February.
    3. Newell, G. F., 1993. "A simplified theory of kinematic waves in highway traffic, part II: Queueing at freeway bottlenecks," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 289-303, August.
    4. Newell, G. F., 1993. "A simplified theory of kinematic waves in highway traffic, part III: Multi-destination flows," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 305-313, August.
    5. Cassidy, Michael J. & Bertini, Robert L., 1999. "Some traffic features at freeway bottlenecks," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 25-42, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Lei & Levinson, David, 2010. "Ramp metering and freeway bottleneck capacity," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 218-235, May.
    2. Michael Z. F. Li, 2008. "A Generic Characterization of Equilibrium Speed-Flow Curves," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(2), pages 220-235, May.
    3. Mauch, Michael, 2002. "Analyses of Start-Stop Waves in Congested Freeway Traffic," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt9kb9x6n5, University of California Transportation Center.
    4. Gu, Weihua & Gayah, Vikash V. & Cassidy, Michael J. & Saade, Nathalie, 2014. "On the impacts of bus stops near signalized intersections: Models of car and bus delays," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 123-140.
    5. Mauch, Michael & Cassidy, Michael J., 2004. "Freeway Traffic Oscillations: Observations and Predictions," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt89c3h1vv, University of California Transportation Center.
    6. Cassidy, Michael J., 2002. "Critique of a Freeway On-Ramp Metering Scheme and Broader Related Issues," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt804724nd, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    7. Jiang, Rui & Wu, Qing-Song, 2003. "Study on propagation speed of small disturbance from a car-following approach," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 85-99, January.
    8. Zheng, Shi-Teng & Jiang, Rui & Tian, Jun-Fang & Zhang, H.M. & Li, Zhen-Hua & Gao, Lan-Da & Jia, Bin, 2021. "Experimental study on properties of lightly congested flow," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 1-19.
    9. Juan Carlos Muñoz & Carlos F. Daganzo, 2003. "Structure of the Transition Zone Behind Freeway Queues," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 37(3), pages 312-329, August.
    10. Qian, Wei-Liang & F. Siqueira, Adriano & F. Machado, Romuel & Lin, Kai & Grant, Ted W., 2017. "Dynamical capacity drop in a nonlinear stochastic traffic model," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 328-339.
    11. Lago, Alejandro & Daganzo, Carlos F., 2003. "A Network Model of Departure Time Choice with Spillovers and Merging Effects. Part I: Building Block," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt1rw9v116, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    12. Menendez, Monica & Daganzo, Carlos F., 2007. "Effects of HOV lanes on freeway bottlenecks," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 41(8), pages 809-822, October.
    13. Martin Schönhof & Dirk Helbing, 2007. "Empirical Features of Congested Traffic States and Their Implications for Traffic Modeling," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 41(2), pages 135-166, May.
    14. Sun, Jie & Zheng, Zuduo & Sun, Jian, 2020. "The relationship between car following string instability and traffic oscillations in finite-sized platoons and its use in easing congestion via connected and automated vehicles with IDM based control," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 58-83.
    15. Bae, Bumjoon & Liu, Yuandong & Han, Lee D. & Bozdogan, Hamparsum, 2019. "Spatio-temporal traffic queue detection for uninterrupted flows," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 20-34.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yan, Qinglong & Sun, Zhe & Gan, Qijian & Jin, Wen-Long, 2018. "Automatic identification of near-stationary traffic states based on the PELT changepoint detection," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 39-54.
    2. Michael Z. F. Li, 2008. "A Generic Characterization of Equilibrium Speed-Flow Curves," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(2), pages 220-235, May.
    3. Windover, John R. & Cassidy, Michael J., 2001. "Some observed details of freeway traffic evolution," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 881-894, December.
    4. Seo, Toru & Kawasaki, Yutaka & Kusakabe, Takahiko & Asakura, Yasuo, 2019. "Fundamental diagram estimation by using trajectories of probe vehicles," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 40-56.
    5. Yin, Ruyang & Zheng, Nan & Liu, Zhiyuan, 2022. "Estimating fundamental diagram for multi-modal signalized urban links with limited probe data," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 606(C).
    6. Zhou, Fang & Li, Xiaopeng & Ma, Jiaqi, 2017. "Parsimonious shooting heuristic for trajectory design of connected automated traffic part I: Theoretical analysis with generalized time geography," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 394-420.
    7. Jin, Wen-Long & Gan, Qi-Jian & Lebacque, Jean-Patrick, 2015. "A kinematic wave theory of capacity drop," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 316-329.
    8. Sun, Zhe & Jin, Wen-Long & Ritchie, Stephen G., 2017. "Simultaneous estimation of states and parameters in Newell’s simplified kinematic wave model with Eulerian and Lagrangian traffic data," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 106-122.
    9. Jin, Wen-Long, 2017. "A first-order behavioral model of capacity drop," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 438-457.
    10. Newell, G. F., 2002. "A simplified car-following theory: a lower order model," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 195-205, March.
    11. Coifman, Benjamin, 2015. "Empirical flow-density and speed-spacing relationships: Evidence of vehicle length dependency," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 54-65.
    12. Punzo, Vincenzo & Montanino, Marcello, 2016. "Speed or spacing? Cumulative variables, and convolution of model errors and time in traffic flow models validation and calibration," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 21-33.
    13. Huanping Li & Jian Wang & Guopeng Bai & Xiaowei Hu, 2021. "Exploring the Distribution of Traffic Flow for Shared Human and Autonomous Vehicle Roads," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-21, June.
    14. Cassidy, Michael J. & Jang, Kitae & Daganzo, Carlos F., 2010. "The smoothing effect of carpool lanes on freeway bottlenecks," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 65-75, February.
    15. Ngoduy, D. & Liu, R., 2007. "Multiclass first-order simulation model to explain non-linear traffic phenomena," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 385(2), pages 667-682.
    16. Ma, Tao & Zhou, Zhou & Antoniou, Constantinos, 2018. "Dynamic factor model for network traffic state forecast," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 281-317.
    17. Pedro Cesar Lopes Gerum & Andrew Reed Benton & Melike Baykal-Gürsoy, 2019. "Traffic density on corridors subject to incidents: models for long-term congestion management," EURO Journal on Transportation and Logistics, Springer;EURO - The Association of European Operational Research Societies, vol. 8(5), pages 795-831, December.
    18. Martínez, Irene & Jin, Wen-Long, 2020. "Optimal location problem for variable speed limit application areas," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 221-246.
    19. Jin, Wen-Long, 2017. "Kinematic wave models of lane-drop bottlenecks," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 507-522.
    20. Flötteröd, G. & Osorio, C., 2017. "Stochastic network link transmission model," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 180-209.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:35:y:2001:i:2:p:143-156. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/547/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.