Development of Active Traffic Management Strategies for Minnesota Freeway Corridors

Abstract

In this study, the effectiveness of the I-35W variable advisory speed limit system on the improvement of the traffic flow was evaluated with the real traffic data. The analysis results indicate there was significant reduction in the average maximum deceleration and also the traffic time reliability was substantially improved during a peak hour period. Based on the assessment results, an enhanced version was developed to be able to reflect more effectively the time-variant road traffic conditions in determining the variable speed limits in real time. The coordinated adaptive metering strategy, developed in the previous phase of this research, is also enhanced and implemented in the field in this research. The field test results of the new metering system with the 100 NB corridor indicate substantial improvements in both the mainline and ramp traffic performance compared with those from the old stratified algorithm.