Intensity of Lane Changing At a Freeway Ramp Weave Section

Abstract

The study of lane-changing behavior of drivers is important for development of microscopic simulation models as they attempt to closely replicate real world phenomena. This paper presents the lane changing intensity at a ramp weave section observed from field data collected using aerial photography at 1-second intervals. Frequency and percentages of lane changing versus position of lane changes was observed for vehicles moving from the shoulder lane to the auxiliary lane and vice versa. The percentage of weaving vehicles from and to the auxiliary lane shows that the first 300 feet from the entrance gore represents a section of intense lane changing. The number of lane changes from the shoulder lane to the auxiliary lane was found to be double compared to the number of lane changes from the auxiliary lane to the shoulder lane. This paper also presents the frequency and percentages of lane changing from the shoulder to the median lane which occurs more heavily in the later part of the freeway section. This study may also be used to improve traffic operations by analyzing the adequacy of length of acceleration and auxiliary lanes.

Meeting Name

9th International Conference on Applications of Advanced Technology in Transportation

Department(s)

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Keywords and Phrases

Highways; Roads -- Interchanges and intersections; Traffic congestion; Traffic flow

Document Type

Article - Conference proceedings

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2006 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Aug 2006

Link to Full Text

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