(194-1716-2-PB)CONCEPTUALIZATION OF TRAFFIC FLOW FOR DESIGNING TOLL PLAZA CONFIGURATION: A CASE STUDY USING SIMULATION WITH ESTIMATED TRAFFIC VOLUME

摘要

Computer simulation is one of the popular approaches to the design of toll plazas. Toll plaza configurations such as toll collection methods, number of toll booths, and types of vehicles have been studied in the literature. Traffic flow types can be another influential factor when designing toll plazas, especially in case that traffic flow information is not available, but only the estimate of traffic volumes. Few studies have reported the effect of traffic types on toll plaza performances. In this article, a discrete-event simulation method is used to analyze the sensitivity of toll plaza performance for different types of traffic flow. Two traffic patterns, deterministic and probabilistic traffic flow, is considered. This study is based on a proposed project for building a toll bridge in the eastern North Carolina. The estimated future traffic counts for the toll bridge are used to study the difference between the two traffic patterns.