Title

Tncc And The No-Queue-Maximum-Throughput Indicator At Toll Facilities

Keywords

ETC; Toll collection; Tolling; Traffic

Abstract

Toll Network Capacity Calculator, TNCC, is a queuing model of vehicles passing through a toll collection facility. The plazas have mixed lane- configurations, or in other words, the toll facilities provide more than one type of toll collection service in each of the lanes. TNCC determines a plaza's maximum throughput at a point when there are non- queuing conditions in all of its lanes; namely, it determines the no-queue-maximum-throughput, NQMT. TNCC divides the arriving traffic into four categories and begins its computation with a large arrival volume such that queuing initially occurs at the plaza. TNCC then reduces this value using a computational iteration process until queues no longer exist in the plaza. It does this while keeping the proper proportion of arriving vehicles in the different traffic categories at a value observed at the plaza. These percentages of arriving vehicles in each category are input to the program. After an initial distribution of vehicles into lanes that provide their required service, vehicles are redistributed according to some basic driver behavior assumptions. For instance, the TNCC model assumes drivers choose the lane that has the smallest number of vehicles in the queue. The model also assumes ETC vehicles choose dedicated lanes over mixed lanes. Throughput was determined from input that included lane number, lane type and processing rates for the various categories of traffic. These rates were measured in the field. The results of the calculations met constraints set by the characteristics of the arriving traffic. For instance, variables such as the percentage of arrivals that were patrons utilizing the eLectronic toll collection, ETC. service and the percentage of arrivals that were semi-trucks requiring non-ETC services influenced the plazas' throughput. Functions describing the processing rate for ETC vehicles in the mixed lanes were also developed. The maximum numbers of vehicles that can pass through several real plazas, without queue formation, were computed using TNCC. Videotapes and transaction data at real plazas provided necessary input for these computations.

Publication Date

1-1-2003

Publication Title

Simulation Series

Volume

35

Issue

3

Number of Pages

624-629

Document Type

Article; Proceedings Paper

Personal Identifier

scopus

Socpus ID

84907911828 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84907911828

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