Ramp meters in the Twin Cities have been the subject of a recent test of their effectiveness, involving turning them off for eight weeks. This paper analyzes the results with and without ramp metering for several representative freeways during the afternoon peak period. Seven performance measures: mobility, equity, productivity, consumers' surplus, accessibility, travel time variation and travel demand responses are compared. It is found that ramp meters are particularly helpful for long trips relative to short trips. Ramp metering, while generally beneficial to freeway segments, may not improve trip travel times (including ramp delays). The reduction in travel time variation comprises another benefit from ramp meters. Non-work trips and work trips respond differently to ramp meters. The results are mixed, suggesting a more refined ramp control algorithm, which explicitly considers ramp delay, is in order.
Since the passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act in 1991, a significant number of state highway agencies have started to develop and implement statewide travel demand models to meet policy and legislative development needs. Currently, however, a lack of up-to-date multimodal and inter-regional passenger travel data hampers analysts' ability to conduct quantitative assessments of long-distance travel infrastructure investment needs, at both the national and statewide levels. Despite these data limitations, but also largely shaped by them, long-distance travel modelling has become an increasingly popular topic in recent years. This paper reviews several methodologies for multimodal inter-regional travel demand estimation, drawing examples from both state-specific modelling within the USA and from fully national models being developed and applied in other parts of the world, notably in Europe.
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