A problem of limited-access special lanes. Part II: Exploring remedies via simulation

摘要

Spatiotemporal analyses of freeway sites in Part I have shown that special-lane access points are prone to become bottlenecks. These can degrade traffic flows, sometimes in all lanes. Part II explores select impacts of re-designing the means of entering and exiting a special lane, and of altering the policy governing its use. Parametric tests were conducted using a computer simulation model that was calibrated to one of the sites studied in Part I; one with a buffer-separated carpool lane. Though less reliable than what might have been observed via experiments in real settings, the simulated findings seem to offer useful insights nonetheless.