Analyzing performance of ETC plazas using new computer software

    Authors

    H. M. Al-Deek

    Abbreviated Journal Title

    J. Comput. Civil. Eng.

    Keywords

    Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications; Engineering, Civil

    Abstract

    This paper investigates the sensitivity of the peak hour plaza delay to market penetration of the electronic toll collection (ETC) system using the toll plaza simulation model developed by the Transportation Systems Institute at the University of Central Florida. This microscopic and stochastic computer software was applied to the busiest toll plaza in Orlando, Florida. The findings indicate that, for all plaza configurations simulated with the manual lanes operating over capacity, if only as tittle as 10% of the manual users switch to ETC lanes, then the total plaza delay (vehicle-hours) is cut in half, the average queuing delay per vehicle is reduced by more than 90 s, and the peak hour plaza throughput (vph) is increased by more than 20%. When the manual lanes operate under capacity, the increase in ETC usage has no impact on plaza delay or throughput. This study demonstrated that ETC vehicles' accessibility to the dedicated ETC lane(s) from the approach lanes could have a major impact on deciding the location of the dedicated ETC lane(s) within the toll plaza.

    Journal Title

    Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering

    Volume

    15

    Issue/Number

    4

    Publication Date

    1-1-2001

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    309

    Last Page

    319

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000171209400009

    ISSN

    0887-3801

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