Applications of Freeway Ramp Metering in Alabama: Final Report

Details

• Creators:
  Sisiopiku, Virginia P. ; Das, Anirban ; Sullivan, Andrew J.
• Corporate Creators:
  University of Alabama at Birmingham. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Corporate Contributors:
  University Transportation Center for Alabama
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Air pollution
  • Arterial highways
  • Benefit cost analysis
  • Best practices
  • Exhaust gases
  • Freeway operations
  • Freeways
  • Fuel consumption
  • Highway traffic control
  • Interstate highways
  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  UTCA Report 04203
• Resource Type:
  Research Paper
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States;Alabama
• Edition:
  Final report 1/1/04-12/31/04
• Corporate Publisher:
  University Transportation Center for Alabama
• Abstract:
  Freeway ramp metering systems have been successfully used in U.S. cities since the 1960s, to improve traffic flow on urban freeways, increase freeway speeds, reduce overall travel times, and improve travel time consistency. These systems improve freeway flow by regulating the rate at which vehicles are allowed to enter the freeway at the entrance ramps. By monitoring flow conditions on the freeway in real-time, these systems can continually adjust the entrance ramp flows to maintain optimum flow on the freeway. However, ramp metering options are not without drawbacks. While they can reduce delays on the freeway, they typically increase delays on the ramps and can adversely impact traffic flow on arterial operations. Moreover, they typically reduce air pollution and emissions, but often increase system-wide fuel consumption due to increased ramp delays. Also, some public opposition has been observed in several areas where ramp metering strategies were first introduced. This project assessed the applicability of various ramp metering strategies to congested freeway segments in Alabama. The report contains a comprehensive review of ramp metering practices, a synthesis of best practices based on experiences in other states, identification of Birmingham Interstate corridors that may benefit from ramp metering, and evaluation of impacts of various ramp metering options on selected corridors through a simulation study and a cost-benefit analysis. The simulation study was performed using the CORSIM microsimulation model and the cost-benefit analysis was based on the IDAS software.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  DTSR0023424
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/37931/dot_37931_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.39 MB]
• Collection(s):
  University Transportation Centers ; US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b77134f93edd0e3354b7cea957a250a37797c7f53487118a5aea9ca007e72dde6d1d8603a59d19695c0dad3db8ffcb589e7db8234cdcdb51d165ecd729099080