Leveraging Location-Based Data for Assessing Network-Level Traffic Impact of Lane Management: A Case Study of Alex Fraser Bridge

Abstract

Lane management is expected to alleviate traffic congestion and improve mobility on roadways. Previous studies have mainly analyzed the impacts of lane management on the road segment rather than the road network. Because lane management strategies can affect traffic flows in the neighboring traffic regions and the entire road network, it is suitable to assess traffic impacts in the entire road network. This study proposed an analytical framework to evaluate lane management’s impacts and economic effects using location-based data, including road segments, traffic zones near road segments, and the road network. Traffic assignments with estimated origin-destination matrices from location-based data allow spatial and temporal impact analysis of lane management. This study analyzed the contraflow lane with movable median barriers installed at the Alex Fraser Bridge (AFB) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, as a case study for lane management. In terms of traffic characteristics, the results showed that the contraflow lane with movable median barriers contributed significantly to improving the states of traffic flow on the AFB (traffic flow increased about 7.4%, travel speed increased about 48.3%, travel time decreased about 31.8%, and volume/capacity ratio decreased about 19.3% on average). This study showed that the contraflow lane on the AFB improved traffic flow and generated an economic benefit of $1.1 M per year (AFB, $12.7 M; zones near the AFB, −$1.4 M; Vancouver area, −$10.1 M) by estimating the changes in the value of travel time before and after lane management. This study contributes to a better understanding of using location-based data for assessing traffic impact and the economic effect of lane management operations at the network level.