Evaluation of Transportation Infrastructure Management Strategies Using Microscopic Traffic Simulation

Abstract

This paper presents a traffic simulation approach to evaluating the relative benefits of transportation management strategies aimed at maximizing the utilization of road infrastructure. The approach is demonstrated using a case study of an infrastructure upgrade of a commuting corridor in Brisbane, Australia. A detailed traffic simulation model was developed for the network under consideration, and a number of different infrastructure management strategies were investigated. These included treatment of the additional road capacity as a bus lane (available for buses only), a high occupancy vehicle lane, and a general traffic lane open to all vehicles. The simulation results showed that a bus lane would produce the best travel time benefits for buses (19% decrease in travel times and 68% improvement in travel time reliability). This, however, was achieved at the expense of reduced benefits to other road users. The work reported in this paper demonstrates the feasibility of using traffic simulation to quantify the benefits of alternative infrastructure strategies based on modeling of individual vehicles and their interactions on the road network.