scholarly journals Variable Speed Limits: Safety and Operational Impacts of a Candidate Control Strategy for Freeway Applications

2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 671-680 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Allaby ◽  
Bruce Hellinga ◽  
Mara Bullock
Keyword(s):  
Control Strategy ◽  
Variable Speed ◽  
Speed Limits ◽  
Variable Speed Limits ◽  
Operational Impacts ◽  
Candidate Control

scholarly journals Integrated Traffic Control for Freeways using Variable Speed Limits and Lane Change Control Actions

2019 ◽  
Vol 2673 (9) ◽  
pp. 602-613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasileios Markantonakis ◽  
Dimitrios Ilias Skoufoulas ◽  
Ioannis Papamichail ◽  
Markos Papageorgiou
Keyword(s):  
Control Strategy ◽  
Traffic Control ◽  
Traffic Congestion ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Feedforward Control ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Connected Vehicles ◽  
Variable Speed ◽  
Speed Limits ◽  
Variable Speed Limits

The wide deployment of vehicle automation and communication systems (VACS) in the next decade is expected to influence traffic performance on freeways. Apart from safety and comfort, one of the goals is the alleviation of traffic congestion which is a major and challenging problem for modern societies. The paper investigates the combined use of two feedback control strategies utilizing VACS at different penetration rates, aiming to maximize throughput at bottleneck locations. The first control strategy employs mainstream traffic flow control using appropriate variable speed limits as an actuator. The second control strategy delivers appropriate lane-changing actions to selected connected vehicles using a feedback-feedforward control law. Investigations of the proposed integrated scheme have been conducted using a microscopic simulation model for a hypothetical freeway featuring a lane-drop bottleneck. The results demonstrate significant improvements even for low penetration rates of connected vehicles.

scholarly journals Homogenization Effects of Variable Speed Limits

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvaro Garcia-Castro ◽  
Andres Monzon
Keyword(s):  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Variable Speed ◽  
Variable Speed Limit ◽  
Speed Limits ◽  
Key Indicator ◽  
Variable Speed Limits ◽  
Performance And Emissions ◽  
Speed Management ◽  
Road Performance

Abstract Changing factors (mainly traffic intensity and weather conditions) affecting road conditions require a suitable optimal speed at any time. To solve this problem, variable speed limit systems (VSL) - as opposed to fixed limits - have been developed in recent decades. This term has included a number of speed management systems, most notably dynamic speed limits (DSL). In order to avoid the indiscriminate use of both terms in the literature, this paper proposes a simple classification and offers a review of some experiences, how their effects are evaluated and their results This study also presents a key indicator which measures the speed homogeneity and a methodology to obtain the data based on floating cars and GPS technology applying it to a case study on a section of the M30 urban motorway in Madrid (Spain). It also presents the relation between this indicator and road performance and emissions values.

An integrated control method based on the priority of ways in a freeway network

2016 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 843-852 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minghui Ma ◽  
Shidong Liang
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Congestion ◽  
Control Method ◽  
Integrated Control ◽  
Adaptive Controller ◽  
Ramp Metering ◽  
Traffic Density ◽  
Variable Speed ◽  
Speed Limits ◽  
Variable Speed Limits ◽  
Freeway Networks

Traffic congestion is a common problem in merging regions of freeway networks. An adaptive integrated control method involving variable speed limits and ramp metering is presented with the aim of easing traffic congestion at merging regions. The problem of the imbalanced rights of ways of the upstream mainline and on-ramp at the merging region is solved by constructing the evaluation indices of congestion degree. Specifically, the traffic density and queue length of the upstream mainline and on-ramp are selected for use in the evaluation indices. Then, an adaptive controller is designed, integrating variable speed limits and ramp metering. The proposed method is tested in simulations considering a real freeway network in China calibrated by real traffic variables. The results show that the proposed adaptive integrated control method can prevent traffic flow breakdown and maintain a high outflow at the merging region during peak periods. The adaptive integrated control may lead to a 17% improvement in traffic delay.

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