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Extended bottlenecks, the fundamental relationship, and capacity drop on freeways

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  • Coifman, Benjamin
  • Kim, Seoungbum

Abstract

This paper presents evidence that the commonly used point bottleneck model is too simplistic for freeway bottlenecks, the actual mechanism appears to occur over an extended distance. We find evidence of subtle flow limiting and speed reducing phenomena more than a mile downstream of a lane drop bottleneck. These phenomena impact the fundamental relationship, FD. Close to the lane drop the free flow regime appears to come from a "parabolic" FD, but further downstream the relationship straightens to a "triangular" FD and throughput increases. We develop a theory to explain the underlying mechanisms. These insights should help resolve the decades long debate about the shape of the FD. The phenomena also provide a mechanism that may contribute to the empirically observed capacity drop often seen at bottlenecks. Although we study a lane drop, this work should be transferable to other bottlenecks where the capacity restriction persists for an extended distance, e.g., a corridor with a fixed number of lanes and an on-ramp bottleneck.

Suggested Citation

  • Coifman, Benjamin & Kim, Seoungbum, 2011. "Extended bottlenecks, the fundamental relationship, and capacity drop on freeways," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 45(9), pages 980-991, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:45:y:2011:i:9:p:980-991
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Jun Du & Bin Jia & Shiteng Zheng, 2022. "Stability Analysis of Continuous Stochastic Linear Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-13, March.
    3. Xing-jian Xue & Feng Shi & Qun Chen, 2014. "Capacity Estimation for On-Ramp Merging Section of Urban Expressway Based on Time Headway Loss," Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society, Hindawi, vol. 2014, pages 1-9, February.
    4. Ouyang, Pengying & Liu, Pan & Guo, Yanyong & Chen, Kequan, 2023. "Effects of configuration elements and traffic flow conditions on Lane-Changing rates at the weaving segments," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    5. Kai Yuan & Victor L. Knoop & Serge P. Hoogendoorn, 2017. "A Microscopic Investigation Into the Capacity Drop: Impacts of Longitudinal Behavior on the Queue Discharge Rate," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(3), pages 852-862, August.
    6. Li, Xiang & Sun, Jian-Qiao, 2017. "Studies of vehicle lane-changing dynamics and its effect on traffic efficiency, safety and environmental impact," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 467(C), pages 41-58.
    7. Ponnu, Balaji & Coifman, Benjamin, 2015. "Speed-spacing dependency on relative speed from the adjacent lane: New insights for car following models," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 74-90.
    8. 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.
    9. Jun Niu & Shan Lin & Erlong Lou & Zongdian Li & Kaiqun Chen & Haijian Li, 2022. "Design and Simulation of a Variable Speed Limit System for Freeway Bottleneck Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    10. Xiqun (Michael) Chen & Zhiheng Li & Li Li & Qixin Shi, 2014. "A Traffic Breakdown Model Based on Queueing Theory," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 485-504, December.

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