00965571

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/1844-11

http://scholar.google.com...erde&publication_year=2003

At-grade highway-railroad crossings cause traffic control problems that have a bearing not only on traffic safety but also on traffic flow efficiency. Crossings located near freeway exits pose particularly acute problems, as long closures could result in vehicle queues that spill back onto freeway lanes. A potential solution to this problem was evaluated by investigating the use of variable message signs to divert exiting freeway traffic through non-congested alternate exits. This was done using the crossing near the Fredericksburg Road exit on Interstate 10 (I-10) in San Antonio, Texas, as a case study. In the evaluation, microscopic simulation was used to determine the impacts of train operations at the crossing and the potential benefits of a variable-message sign (VMS) system installed on I-10. These effects were gauged by considering scenarios with varying levels of train duration, traffic demand on the freeway exit, and driver compliance to the displayed messages. While little network improvements were obtained, the analysis demonstrates the capability of the INTEGRATION software in analyzing such scenarios and the extent to which exiting freeway traffic may benefit from the VMS system, as well as the need to consider fuel consumption and vehicles emissions in the evaluations.

This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1844, Traffic Control Devices, Visibility, and Rail-Highway Grade Crossings 2003.

English

p. 85-93

2003

Transportation Research Record

0309085799

Figures (5) ; References (24) ; Tables (2)

Benefits; Case studies; Exhaust gases; Freeways; Fuel consumption; Impacts; Microscopic traffic flow; Railroad grade crossings; Traffic diversion; Traffic flow; Traffic queuing; Traffic safety; Variable message signs

INTEGRATION (Computer model)

San Antonio (Texas)

Energy; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Railroads; I73: Traffic Control

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Nov 18 2003 12:00AM

• DANCING DIAMONDS IN HIGHWAY WORK ZONES: EVALUATION OF ARROW-PANEL CAUTION DISPLAYS
• DETECTION AND IDENTIFICATION OF LIGHT-EMITTING DIODE TRAFFIC SIGNALS BY PROTAN OBSERVERS
• DRIVER UNDERSTANDING OF PAVEMENT MARKING COLORS AND PATTERNS
• DRIVING SIMULATORS FOR EVALUATION OF NOVEL TRAFFIC-CONTROL DEVICES: PROTECTED-PERMISSIVE LEFT-TURN SIGNAL DISPLAY ANALYSIS
• FORECASTING TRAIN TRAVEL TIMES AT AT-GRADE CROSSINGS
• IMPROVING DILEMMA-ZONE PROTECTION OF ADVANCE DETECTION WITH ADVANCE-WARNING FLASHERS
• LEGIBILITY OF OVERHEAD GUIDE SIGNS WITH ENCAPSULATED VERSUS MICROPRISMATIC RETROREFLECTIVE SHEETING
• NIGHTTIME EXPERT PANEL AND PHOTOMETRIC EVALUATIONS OF UNLIGHTED OVERHEAD GUIDE SIGNS (WITH DISCUSSION AND CLOSURE)
• REDUCTIONS IN TRAFFIC SIGN RETROREFLECTIVITY CAUSED BY FROST AND DEW
• RELATIVE LUMINANCE OF RETROREFLECTIVE RAISED PAVEMENT MARKERS AND PAVEMENT MARKING STRIPES ON SIMULATED RURAL TWO-LANE ROADS
• SUPPLEMENTAL PAVEMENT MARKINGS FOR IMPROVING SAFETY AT RAILROAD-HIGHWAY GRADE CROSSINGS