Evaluating Active Traffic Management (ATM) Strategies under Non-Recurring Congestion: Simulation-Based with Benefit Cost Analysis Case Study

Abstract

Dynamic hard shoulder running and ramp closure are two active traffic management (ATM) strategies that are used to alleviate highway traffic congestion. This study aims to evaluate the effects of these two strategies on congested freeways under non-recurring congestion. The study's efforts can be considered in two parts. First, we performed a detailed microsimulation analysis to quantify the potential benefits of these two ATM strategies in terms of safety, traffic operation, and environmental impact. Second, we evaluated the implementation feasibility of these two strategies. The simulation results indicated that the implementation of the hard shoulder showed a 50%-57% reduction in delay, a 41%-44% reduction in fuel consumption and emissions, and a 15%-18% increase in bottleneck throughput. By contrast, the implementation of ramp closure showed a 20%-34% decrease in travel time, a 6%-9% increase in bottleneck throughput, and an 18%-32% reduction in fuel consumption and emissions. Eventually, both strategies were found to be economically feasible.