Traffic micro-simulation model for design and operational analysis of barrier toll stations

Abstract

The objective of this paper was the development of a microscopic traffic simulation model for design, assessment, and operational analysis of toll stations. A simulation software using VB.NET was created to simulate the stochastic nature of traffic arrival, toll collection time, and driver decision making. The developed simulation model was used to analyze different scenarios of traffic volumes, toll booth capacity, driver types, and configuration of toll station. Results showed that volume per toll lane and method of payment significantly affect the average delay and maximum queue lengths of a toll station. Recommendations on number of toll booths are presented in order to process peak traffic hours without excessive delay times or long queues.

Keywords

• Traffic simulation
• Modeling
• Toll stations
• Driver decision