You are not logged in You are not logged in to this journal. Log In

Journal of Transportation Engineering / Volume 132 / Issue 8 / TECHNICAL PAPERS

LOG IN or SELECT A PURCHASE OPTION:

Analytical Procedures for Estimating Capacity of Freeway Weaving, Merge, and Diverge Sections

J. Transp. Eng. 132, 618 (2006); http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-947X(2006)132:8(618) (11 pages)

Hesham Rakha1 and Yihua Zhang2

1Charles Via, Jr., Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, 3500 Transportation Research Plaza (0536), Blacksburg, VA 24061. E-mail: hrakha@vt.edu
2VHB Inc., 115 South 15th St., Suite 200, Richmond, VA 23219. E-mail: yzhang@vhb.com

View MapView Map

(Submitted 15 March 2005; accepted 9 December 2005)

The paper identifies a total of 34 different weaving section configurations that are modeled while operating at capacity using the INTEGRATION software for a wide range of weaving section lengths and travel demand distributions. Subsequently, the simulation results are utilized to develop analytical procedures for estimating the capacity of Type A, B, and C weaving sections. The proposed procedures overcome the shortcomings of the 2000 Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) procedures by considering short (less than 150 m) in addition to long weaving section lengths, by accounting for the source and distribution of weaving flow, and by ensuring that the capacity of a weaving section reverts to basic freeway capacity when the volume ratio is zero (no weaving flows) regardless of the weaving section length. The model can also estimate the capacity of merge and diverge sections at the appropriate boundary conditions. The paper demonstrates that the proposed model capacity estimates are consistent with field data while the HCM procedures tend to overestimate weaving section capacities significantly (exceeding 100%).

© 2006 ASCE

Acknowledgments

The writers acknowledge the financial support of the Mid-Atlantic University Transportation Center (MAUTC) and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) in conducting this research effort. The writers acknowledge the editorial support of Ms. Robin Marshall and Paul Ruggiero in addition to the suggestions provided by the anonymous reviewers.

Article Outline

  1. Introduction
  2. INTEGRATION Framework for Modeling Weaving Sections
  3. State-of-the-Art Weaving Analysis Procedures
  4. Experimental Design
  5. Simulation Results and Proposed Model
    1. Comparison of Simulated and HCM Capacity Estimates
    2. Proposed Weaving Section Capacity Model
    3. Model Validation
    4. Example Illustration
    5. Estimation of Diverge and Merge Capacities
    6. Sensitivity Analysis
  6. Findings and Conclusions

KEYWORDS

RELATED DATABASES

To view database links for this article, you need to log in.

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-947X(2006)132:8(618)

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

0733-947X (print)  
1943-5436 (online)

Publisher

ASCE

For access to fully linked references, you need to log in.

For access to citing articles, you need to log in.


Figures (8) Tables (1)

Access to article objects (figures, tables, multimedia) requires a subscription; log in to view available files.
(Access to supplementary files, where available, is free for this journal.)

Access to article objects (figures, tables, multimedia) requires a subscription; log in to view available files.
(Access to supplementary files, where available, is free for this journal.)


Close

Your Recent History Recent History Help

Recently Viewed

  1. Analytical Procedures for Estimating Capacity of Freeway Weaving, Merge, and Diverge Sections
  2. Optimization of Ground-Penetrating Radar Data to Predict Layer Thicknesses in Flexible Pavements
  3. Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS): History, Applications, and Future Enhancements
  4. Hybrid State Plane Coordinate System for Transforming a Citywide Survey Control Network to Surface V...
  5. Finite‐Element Volumes
close