United States Department of Transportation
i
Evaluation of the effect of MnPASS lane design on mobility and safety : final report.
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2014-06-01
[PDF-9.14 MB]
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Abstract:Dynamically priced High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes have been recently added to the traffic operations arsenal in
an attempt to preserve infrastructure investment in the future by maintaining a control on demand. This study
focuses on the operational and design features of HOT lanes. HOT lanes’ mobility and safety are contingent on the
design of zones (“gates”) that drivers use to merge in or out of the facility. Existing methodologies for the design of
access zones are limited to engineering judgment or studies that take into consideration undersized amount of
observations. Case in point is the fact that the design philosophes between the two HOT facilities in Minnesota are
diametrically opposed. Specifically, the I-394 freeway, the first dynamically priced HOT lane, was designed with a
closed access philosophy, meaning that for the greater length of the roadway access to the HOT lane is restricted
with only specific short-length sections where access is allowed. In contrast I-35W, the second HOT corridor, was
designed with an open access philosophy where lane changes between the HOT and the GPLs are allowed
everywhere except for a few specific locations. This contradiction generated questions as to effect each case has on
safety and mobility. This study presents an assessment of safety and mobility on the two facilities as they operate
today and highlights the issues present on either design. In addition, two design tools were developed, the first
assisting in the optimal design of access zones based on traffic measurements, and the second allowing the
assessment of the influence congested General Purpose Lanes can have on the mobility and safety of the HOT
under different traffic conditions and utilization due to changes in pricing strategy.
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