Capacity drop: A relation between the speed in congestion and the queue discharge rate

It has been empirically observed for years that the queue discharge rate is lower than the pre-queue capacity. This is called the capacity drop. The magnitude of capacity drop varies over a wide range depending on the local traffic conditions. However, up to now it is unknown what determines the capacity drop value. In fact, there is still no thorough empirical analysis revealing a reliable relation between the congestion level and the capacity drop. This paper tries to fill in the gap by revealing the relation between the vehicle speed in congestion and the queue discharge rate through empirical analysis. The queue discharge rate is shown to increase considerably with increasing speed in the congestion. This finding indicates a promising speed-control scheme for increasing queue discharge rates.

[1]  Hwasoo Yeo,et al.  Estimation of Capacity Drop in Highway Merging Sections , 2012 .

[2]  Markos Papageorgiou,et al.  Local Feedback-Based Mainstream Traffic Flow Control on Motorways Using Variable Speed Limits , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems.

[3]  M. Cassidy,et al.  Some traffic features at freeway bottlenecks , 1999 .

[4]  Serge P. Hoogendoorn,et al.  Capacity drop: a comparison between stop-and-go wave and standing queue at lane-drop bottleneck , 2014 .

[5]  Carlos F. Daganzo,et al.  MOVING BOTTLENECKS: A THEORY GROUNDED ON EXPERIMENTAL OBSERVATION , 2002 .

[6]  Werner Brilon,et al.  Reliability of Freeway Traffic Flow: A Stochastic Concept of Capacity , 2005 .

[7]  Dirk Helbing,et al.  Empirical Features of Congested Traffic States and Their Implications for Traffic Modeling , 2007, Transp. Sci..

[8]  Benjamin Coifman,et al.  Driver relaxation impacts on bottleneck activation, capacity, and the fundamental relationship , 2013 .

[9]  Nikolaos Geroliminis,et al.  Empirical observations of capacity drop in freeway merges with ramp control and integration in a first-order model , 2013 .

[10]  Soyoung Ahn,et al.  On the periodicity of traffic oscillations and capacity drop : the role of driver characteristics , 2014 .

[11]  Michael J. Cassidy,et al.  Relation between traffic density and capacity drop at three freeway bottlenecks , 2007 .

[12]  Ludovic Leclercq,et al.  Capacity drops at merges: An endogenous model , 2011 .

[13]  Michael J. Cassidy,et al.  Increasing Capacity of an Isolated Merge by Metering its On-Ramp , 2004 .

[14]  Carlos F. Daganzo,et al.  A BEHAVIORAL THEORY OF MULTI-LANE TRAFFIC FLOW. PART I, LONG HOMOGENEOUS FREEWAY SECTIONS , 1999 .

[15]  Carlos F. Daganzo,et al.  Lane-changing in traffic streams , 2006 .

[16]  Victor L. Knoop,et al.  Capacity Drop: A Comparison Between Stop-and-Go Wave and Queue Congestion at Lane-Drop Bottleneck , 2015 .

[17]  Fred L. Hall,et al.  FREEWAY CAPACITY DROP AND THE DEFINITION OF CAPACITY , 1991 .

[18]  James H Banks,et al.  TWO-CAPACITY PHENOMENON AT FREEWAY BOTTLENECKS: A BASIS FOR RAMP METERING? , 1991 .