Simple Methodology for Evaluating Toll Plaza Operations

Abstract

Currently, the Highway Capacity Manual does not provide any tools for the analysis of toll plazas, specifically for the calculation of queue delay. Calculating delay experienced by vehicles in the plaza is a difficult task because of large variations in plaza design and operations; therefore, various simulation models such as TPSIM, WATSim, AIMSUN, and VISSIM are used extensively for toll plaza modeling. However, the performance of these models depends on their calibration and assumptions. As a result, the model results could differ greatly from reality, and the user would not have a means to evaluate their accuracy in the absence of field data. To solve this problem, a methodology has been developed to determine capacity, queuing patterns, and delays of toll plazas by considering the approach roadway conditions and traffic demand characteristics. This methodology, which is suitable for manual calculation, is suggested to improve users’ understanding of toll plaza operations and to provide a means of evaluating simulation results. The application of this methodology to the Throgs Neck Bridge toll plaza in New York City shows that the queuing pattern and delays can be estimated accurately for the a.m. peak period.

Evaluation of Department of Defense Installation Entry Control Facilities Using Microsimulation

“…According to Aycin ( 22 ), highway toll plazas are structures placed on a highway that every vehicle must pass through, and some form of payment must be made. In this respect, the CZ is similar in configuration and operation to a highway toll plaza.…”

“…For instance, a toll structure, or ID check area, is placed in the corridor that every inbound vehicle must pass through, and some form of payment, or verification of identifications, is received. It is well known that these facilities often operate as bottlenecks where significant queues and delays occur as a result of the capacity of the roadway far exceeding the capacity of the toll structure ( 22 ).…”

“…Historically, macroscopic models have been developed that used the M/M/1 or M/M/n queuing systems (24). However, several authors have utilized simulation models to capture the nuances of toll plaza operations (21)(22)(23). The University of Central Florida ( 21) developed a stochastic microsimulation model named TPSIM that will describe the traffic operations at toll plazas ranging from five to 10 lanes, but does not model the connecting network.…”

Simple Approach to Estimating Changes in Toll Plaza Delays

“…Aycin (6) developed a manual methodology to determine capacity, queuing patterns, and delays of toll plazas considering the approach roadway conditions and traffic demand characteristics and applied it to the Throgs Neck Bridge toll plaza, in New York City.…”

“…A few studies, such as the one by Lin (4), proposed macroscopic delay estimation methodologies for toll plazas and validated their results with calibrated microsimulation models. In two other studies (5,6), a macroscopic approach for delay estimation was developed, but comparison of the estimates with microscopic approaches was not done. Therefore, this study extends the current state of the art by presenting results on a comparative basis.…”