Lane flow distribution on a three-lane freeway: General features and the effects of traffic controls

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• 作者：Auré ; lien Duret^a ; Soyoung Ahn^b ; ^{sue.ahn@asu.edu} ; Christine Buisson^c
• 关键词：Effect of trucks ; Freeway traffic ; Lane-changing behavior ; Lane flow distribution ; Variable speed limits
• 刊名：Transportation Research Part C ; Emerging Technologies
• 出版年：2012
• 期刊代码：177_0968090x
• 类别：et
• 出版时间：October, 2012
• 卷：24
• 期：Complete
• 页码：157-167
• 文件大小：521 K

摘要

The analysis of real data shows that free-flow traffic on a three-lane freeway obeys specific lane flow distributions and that the fraction of the total flow in each lane changes with distinct (linear) trends with respect to the total flow. More precisely, the fraction of the total flow in the median lane increases linearly, whereas the opposite trend is observed for the center lane and particularly for the shoulder lane. Remarkably, the shoulder lane flow is often bounded below its capacity and starts to decrease or stabilize as the total flow continues to increase. The maximum observable flow in the shoulder lane is derived based on the linear trends of lane flow distribution. Findings also show that a driving ban for trucks and variable speed limits profoundly impact the lane flow distributions and increase utilization of the shoulder lane by reducing the speed difference between the shoulder and the passing lanes. The results highlight the major impact of discretionary lane-changing choice.