Mitigtion of queue formations on the motorway using temporal reduction in speed limits

Towers, J.R. (2021) Mitigtion of queue formations on the motorway using temporal reduction in speed limits. Bachelor's Thesis, Mathematics.

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Abstract

The study of traffic flow has become increasingly popular since its conception in the 1950s. One of the main focuses in this field is on the ability to accurately simulate traffic networks at different levels of detail. These simulations can then be tailored to a specific situation and be used to optimise the flow of traffic on a given stretch of road. This study looks into the mitigation of queue formation as a result of an active bottleneck along a simple stretch of motorway, with no entrances/exits, via the introduction of a temporarily reduced speed limit. Through the use of shock wave analysis, it was found that a reduced speed limit can greatly reduce the queue that forms immediately upstream of the bottleneck, but depending on it's characteristics could also disrupt traffic to an almost equal degree the moment it is taken out of effect. Three characteristics are found to be of importance; the duration, the reach and finally the magnitude of the temporary reduced speed limit. The optimum duration is given by the total queuing time and from this the optimum distance where the reduced speed limit is put into effect can be determined such that the forward propagating shock wave, as a result of the change in speed, does not catch up with the queue. Finally, a lower bound is determined for the magnitude of the reduced speed limit so that traffic remains in a free flow state and further congestion is avoided.

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor's Thesis)
Supervisor name:	Besselink, B.
Degree programme:	Mathematics
Thesis type:	Bachelor's Thesis
Language:	English
Date Deposited:	15 Jul 2021 12:21
Last Modified:	15 Jul 2021 12:21
URI:	https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/25256

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