Traffic Flow Simulation and Development of Delay Models at Toll Plazas

Abstract

The traffic in Metropolitan cities is very complex. Since in Indian traffic condition is heterogeneous, road safety is reduceded and congestion has become a major problem to vehicle users followed by increase in delays to vehicles. A toll road is a public or private roadway for which a charge is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing to help recoup the cost of road construction and maintenance, which amounts in the form of taxation. The present work is intended to highlight the general problems faced at toll roads. At toll plaza’s the delays caused to the vehicle is prime concern since this delay causes loss of fuel and time. Two typical toll plazas around Hyderabad city were selected for the present study namely 1. Nanakramguda toll plaza which is located at outer ring road (manually operated) and 2. Choutuppal Toll plaza (RFID operated) along the NH – 09 (towards Vijayawada). As design criteria, these Toll plazas were designed in such a way that minimum time should be by the vehicle spent at these queuing areas. With this connection, analysis has been carried out at these selected toll plazas based on queuing theory which depends on certain parameters such as service rate, arrival rate, number of lanes and delays occurring. Regression analysis is conducted using multiple linear regression method and delay models are developed. These models are validated statistically. Further, the collected data is used for developing simulation models by using VISSIM software and the output obtained is compared with observed values. Chi- square hypothesis test is conducted for validation of the developed models with reference to VISSIM simulation results