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Mathematical analysis of effects of lanes' number on expressway capacity

  • Xiaobao Yang*
  • , Ning Zhang
  • *Corresponding author for this work
  • Beijing Jiaotong University

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Methodological gaps exist in the literature on analyzing the relationship between expressway capacity and the number of lanes. Based on extensive field survey of traffic flow in Beijing, the findings show average capacity per lane decreases with increasing number of lanes on uninterrupted expressway segments. An explanation and trend of the decrease are analyzed upon the mathematical analysis. The rationality of the explanation is validated by the surveyed data. It reveals that the increase of lane-changing activity and its associated disturbance to traffic stream causes significant reduction in average capacity per lane on freeways. The results of the researches are the background support that tends to revise the highway capacity manuals, optimize planning and design of road network, and improve supervision and control of traffic network.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)603-606
Number of pages4
JournalWuhan Ligong Daxue Xuebao (Jiaotong Kexue Yu Gongcheng Ban)/Journal of Wuhan University of Technology (Transportation Science and Engineering)
Volume32
Issue number4
StatePublished - Aug 2008

Keywords

  • Expressway capacity
  • Marginal decrease
  • Mathematical analysis
  • The number of lanes

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