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Bottlenecks, Shockwave, and Off-Ramp Blockage on Freeways

Author

Listed:
  • Jingqiu Guo

    (Key Laboratory of Road and Traffic Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
    The first three authors contributed to this work equally.)

  • Xinyao Chen

    (Zhejiang University Urban-Rural Planning & Design Institute, Hangzhou 310000, China
    The first three authors contributed to this work equally.)

  • Yuqi Pang

    (Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Communications Planning, Design & Research, Hangzhou 310006, China
    The first three authors contributed to this work equally.)

  • Yibing Wang

    (Institute of Intelligent Transportation Systems, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China)

  • Pengjun Zheng

    (Faculty of Maritime and Transportation, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China)

Abstract

Freeway congestion may spill back for several kilometers, blocking a number of on/off-ramps upstream. As a consequence, flows at the off-ramps may be substantially reduced, and vehicles bound for the off-ramps are trapped in the mainstream congestion, causing intensified spillback of congestion that blocks even more off-ramps further upstream. Such off-ramp blockage is readily understood and its impact is empirically recognized, but there is a lack of analysis to provide more insights. In this paper, some flow conditions for the activation of bottlenecks and congestion propagation are first established, and the mechanism of the off-ramp blockage is theoretically explored. Macroscopic and microscopic simulations are conducted to demonstrate the analytical results, and some general relations between the total demand, total inflow, total off-ramp outflow, and the number of vehicles within a freeway system are examined.

Suggested Citation

  • Jingqiu Guo & Xinyao Chen & Yuqi Pang & Yibing Wang & Pengjun Zheng, 2019. "Bottlenecks, Shockwave, and Off-Ramp Blockage on Freeways," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-23, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:18:p:4991-:d:266684
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    References listed on IDEAS

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