Abstract

This paper focus on evaluation of impacts of traffic control strategies on traffic congestion relief. The traffic simulation network is modeled in a traffic microsimulation environment and the calibration with the real world data. As for traffic control strategies, fixed-time ramp metering, speed limit control and integrated control are tested and performances are compared with the actual condition along the stretch. The results indicate that there is an optimal cycle length for fixed time ramp metering and the best performance achieved at 15 s. The speed limits are tested for 60 to 100 km/h range with 10 km/h increments. Maximum performance is achieved at the speed of 70 km/h. The performance of integrated control is also examined. The results show that, 15 s cycle time fixed-time ramp metering along with 70 km/h speed limit control has the best performance overall. Furthermore, the results also suggest that the viability of integrated traffic control in metropolitan freeways is highly auspicious.

Key words: Traffic simulation, congestion management, ramp metering, speed limit control.