IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ortrsc/v44y2010i2p238-253.html

Optimal Motorway Traffic Flow Control Involving Variable Speed Limits and Ramp Metering

Author

Listed:
  • Rodrigo C. Carlson

    (Dynamic Systems and Simulation Laboratory, Technical University of Crete, Chania 73100, Greece, and The Capes Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, Brasília DF 70359-970, Brazil)

  • Ioannis Papamichail

    (Dynamic Systems and Simulation Laboratory, Technical University of Crete, Chania 73100, Greece)

  • Markos Papageorgiou

    (Dynamic Systems and Simulation Laboratory, Technical University of Crete, Chania 73100, Greece)

  • Albert Messmer

    (D-82402 Seeshaupt, Germany)

Abstract

The impact of variable speed limits (VSL) on aggregate traffic flow behaviour on motorways is shown to bear similarities to the impact of ramp metering, in particular, when addressing potentially active bottlenecks. A quantitative model of the VSL impact is proposed that allows for VSL to be incorporated in a macroscopic second-order traffic flow model as an additional control component. The integrated motorway network traffic control problem involving ramp metering and VSL control measures is formulated as a constrained discrete-time optimal control problem and is solved efficiently even for large-scale networks by a suitable feasible direction algorithm. An illustrative example of a hypothetical motorway stretch is investigated under different control scenarios, and it is shown that traffic flow efficiency can be substantially improved when VSL control measures are used, particularly in integration with coordinated ramp metering.

Suggested Citation

  • Rodrigo C. Carlson & Ioannis Papamichail & Markos Papageorgiou & Albert Messmer, 2010. "Optimal Motorway Traffic Flow Control Involving Variable Speed Limits and Ramp Metering," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(2), pages 238-253, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ortrsc:v:44:y:2010:i:2:p:238-253
    DOI: 10.1287/trsc.1090.0314
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/trsc.1090.0314
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/trsc.1090.0314?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Smulders, Stef, 1990. "Control of freeway traffic flow by variable speed signs," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 111-132, April.
    2. Cassidy, Michael J. & Rudjanakanoknad, Jittichai, 2005. "Increasing the capacity of an isolated merge by metering its on-ramp," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 896-913, December.
    3. Zhang, H. M. & Recker, W. W., 1999. "On optimal freeway ramp control policies for congested traffic corridors," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 417-436, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Taniguchi, Yohei & Nishi, Ryosuke & Ezaki, Takahiro & Nishinari, Katsuhiro, 2015. "Jam-absorption driving with a car-following model," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 433(C), pages 304-315.
    2. 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.
    3. Kontorinaki, Maria & Karafyllis, Iasson & Papageorgiou, Markos, 2019. "Local and coordinated ramp metering within the unifying framework of an adaptive control scheme," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 89-113.
    4. Liu, Wei & Yin, Yafeng & Yang, Hai, 2015. "Effectiveness of variable speed limits considering commuters’ long-term response," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 498-519.
    5. Han, Youngjun & Chen, Danjue & Ahn, Soyoung, 2017. "Variable speed limit control at fixed freeway bottlenecks using connected vehicles," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 113-134.
    6. Nishi, Ryosuke & Tomoeda, Akiyasu & Shimura, Kenichiro & Nishinari, Katsuhiro, 2013. "Theory of jam-absorption driving," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 116-129.
    7. Minh Sang Pham Do & Ketoma Vix Kemanji & Man Dinh Vinh Nguyen & Tuan Anh Vu & Gerrit Meixner, 2023. "The Action Point Angle of Sight: A Traffic Generation Method for Driving Simulation, as a Small Step to Safe, Sustainable and Smart Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-27, June.
    8. Li, Xiaopeng & Wang, Xin & Ouyang, Yanfeng, 2012. "Prediction and field validation of traffic oscillation propagation under nonlinear car-following laws," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 409-423.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. Kim, Kwangho & Cassidy, Michael J., 2012. "A capacity-increasing mechanism in freeway traffic," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 46(9), pages 1260-1272.
    12. Mingmin Guo & Zheng Wu & Huibing Zhu, 2018. "Empirical study of lane-changing behavior on three Chinese freeways," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(1), pages 1-22, January.
    13. Li, Haoran & Xiao, Tengfa & Li, Yaqiu & Feng, Yuanjun, 2024. "Development and safety evaluation of an adaptive personalized speed guidance system for on-ramp merging in highway service areas," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    14. Kim, Kwangho & Cassidy, Michael J., 2010. "On-Ramp Metering and Commuter Delay: A Before and After Study," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt0jd2v2z2, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    15. Kontorinaki, Maria & Spiliopoulou, Anastasia & Roncoli, Claudio & Papageorgiou, Markos, 2017. "First-order traffic flow models incorporating capacity drop: Overview and real-data validation," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 52-75.
    16. Zhou, Zhi & Li, Linheng & Qu, Xu & Ran, Bin, 2024. "PACC: A platoon-based adaptive cruise control strategy based on leader-following information topology to mitigate traffic oscillations under CAV environment," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 654(C).
    17. Chen, Danjue & Ahn, Soyoung, 2018. "Capacity-drop at extended bottlenecks: Merge, diverge, and weave," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 1-20.
    18. Jang, Kitae & Cassidy, Michael J., 2012. "Dual influences on vehicle speed in special-use lanes and critique of US regulation," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 46(7), pages 1108-1123.
    19. Cassidy, Michael J & Kim, Kwangho, 2015. "Spatiotemporal Studies of Traffic Phenomenon on Freeways with Limited-access Special Lanes," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt8j0585hg, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    20. Zhang, H.M. & Shen, Wei, 2010. "Access control policies without inside queues: Their properties and public policy implications," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 44(8-9), pages 1132-1147, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:inm:ortrsc:v:44:y:2010:i:2:p:238-253. 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: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    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.