Capacity Estimation of Multilane Highways under Heterogeneous Traffic Conditions using Micro-Simulation Technique

Abstract

The behavior of a driver of any vehicle is important in estimating heterogeneous traffic conditions with no strict lane discipline. In the present study, a micro-simulation model is used to analyze the mixed traffic condition with different drivers’ behavior parameters. The field data collected on traffic flow characteristics of multilane highways are used in the calibration and validation of the simulation model. Out of the ten coefficient of correlation (CC) parameters in the simulation model, five are used in the present study to make a model of simulation for heterogeneous traffic; the other five parameters are not considered for testing their influence on simulated capacity values as they represent very typical behavior of a driver, either in car-following, or in free-flow conditions. Two separate simulation models are made by changing the CC (CC0, CC1, CC2, CC7, and CC8) parameters, each for a four-lane divided and a six-lane divided highway as the geometric conditions of the roads and the traffic flow is different for both the cases. These models are then applied on two other sections of a four-lane divided and a six-lane divided highway to validate the parameters of the model developed earlier for other sections.