Development of Active Traffic Management Strategies for Minnesota Freeway Corridors with Enhanced Variable Speed Limit Control System

Principal Investigator(s):

Eil Kwon, Professor, UMD-Civil Engineering

Project summary:

In this project, the effectiveness of the I-35W variable advisory speed limit system on the improvement of the traffic flow was evaluated with real traffic data. The analysis results indicate there was significant reduction in the average maximum deceleration. In addition, 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, was 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.

Sponsor(s):

Project details:

  • Project number: 2012007
  • Start date: 09/2011
  • Project status: Completed
  • Research area: Transportation Safety and Traffic Flow
  • Topics: Congestion, Traffic operations

Reports or Products:

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