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Impacts of Lane Changes at Merge Bottlenecks: A Theory and Strategies to Maximize Capacity

In: Traffic and Granular Flow’05

Author

Listed:
  • Jorge Laval

    (Laboratoire Ingénierie Circulation Transport LICIT (INRETS/ENTPE))

  • Michael Cassidy

    (University of California, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering)

  • Carlos Daganzo

    (University of California, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering)

Abstract

Summary Recent empirical observations at freeway merge bottlenecks have revealed (i) a drop in the bottleneck discharge rate when queues form upstream, (ii) an increase in lane-changing maneuvers simultaneous with this “capacity drop”, and (iii) a reversal of the drop when the ramp is metered. This paper shows that a simple vehicle lane-changing theory, which has been shown to explain related phenomena at lane-drops and moving bottlenecks, also explains the new phenomena at merges. In this theory, lane-changing vehicles are modeled as discrete particles endowed with realistic accelerations, and are embedded in a multilane stream where each lane obeys the kinematic wave model. This theory is parsimonious: only one of its four parameters has to be calibrated by running the model. Our simulations show that the theory predicts surprisingly well the cumulative flows at all locations, the vehicle trip times, the number of lane-changing maneuvers, the capacity drop, its recovery upon metering, and the distribution of these measures across lanes and over time. Applications are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Jorge Laval & Michael Cassidy & Carlos Daganzo, 2007. "Impacts of Lane Changes at Merge Bottlenecks: A Theory and Strategies to Maximize Capacity," Springer Books, in: Andreas Schadschneider & Thorsten Pöschel & Reinhart Kühne & Michael Schreckenberg & Dietrich E. Wol (ed.), Traffic and Granular Flow’05, pages 577-586, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-540-47641-2_56
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-540-47641-2_56
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