NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PRO.GRAM REPORT ASSESSMENT OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES FOR REWEVING.' URBAN TRAFFIC CONGESTION TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 1991 OFFICERS Chairman: C. Michael Walton, Bess Harris Jones Centennial Professor and Chairman, College ofEngineering, The University of Texas at Austin Vice Chairman: William W. Millar, Executive Director, Port Authority ofAllegheny County Executive Director: Thomas B. Deen, Transportation Research Board MEMBERS JAMES B. BUSEY IV, Federal Aviation Administrator, U.S. Department of Transportation (ex officio) GILBERT E. CARMICHAEL, Federal Railroad Administrator, U.S. Department of Transportation (ex officio) BRIAN W. CLYMER, Urban Mass-Transportation Administrator, US Department of Transportation (ex officio) JERRY R. CURRY, National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator, US. Department of Transportation (ex officio) -TRAVIS P. DUNGAN, Research & Special Programs Administrator, US. Department of Transportation (ex officio) FRANCIS B. FRANCOIS, Executive Director, American Association qJ*Stale Highway and Transportation Qfjrcials (ex officio) JOHN GRAY, President, National Asphalt Pavement Association (ex officio) THOMAS H. HANNA, President and ChiefExecutive Officer, Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association of the United States, Inc (ex officio) HENRY J. HATCH, ChiefofEngineers and Commander, US. Army Corps ofEngineers (ex officio) THOMAS D. LARSON, Federal Highway Administrator,' US. Department of Transportation (ex officio) GEORGE H. WAY, JR., Vice Presidentfor Research and Test Departments, Association ofAmerican Railroads(ex officio) ROBERT J. AARONSON, President, Air Transport. Association ofAmerica JAMES M. BEGGS, Chairman, Soacehab, Inc. J. RON BRINSON, President and Chief Executive Officer, Board of Commissioners of The Port of New Orleans L. GARY BYRD, Consulting Engineer, Alexandria, Virginia A. RAY CHAMBER-LAIN, Executive Director, Colorado Department ofHighways L. STANLEY CRARE-, Chairman of the Board & CEO of CONRAIL (retired) JAMES C. DELONG, Director ofAviation, Philadelphia International Airport RANDY-a0l, Director, I IVRS Systems, Motorola Incorporated EARL DOVE; President, Earl Dove dmpatly 'LOUIS J. GAMBAC61NI, General Manager, Soulheastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (Past Chairman 1989) THOMA9.J. HARRELSON, Secretary, North CarolinaDepartment* of Transportation KERMIT H. JUSTICE,-Secretary of Transportation, State qfDelaware LESTER P. LAMM, President, Highway Users F~deralion ADOLF D. MAY, JR., Professor and Vice Chairman, Univerifty of California Institute of Transportation Studies, Berkeley DENMAN K. McNEAR, Vice Chairman, Rio Grande Industries WAYNE MURI, ChiefEngineer, Missouri Highway & Transportation Department(Past Chairman, 1990) ARNOLD W. OLIVER, Engineer-Director, Texas State Department ofHighways and Public Transportation JOHN H. RILEY, Commissioner of Transportation, Minnesota Department of Transportation DELLA M. ROY, Professor ofMaterials Science, Pennsylvania State University JOSEPH M. SUSSMAN, Director, Center for Transportation Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology JOHN R. TABB; Director, ChiefAdministrative Officer, Mississippi State Highway Department FRANKLIN E. WHITE, Commissioner, New York State Department of Transportation JULIAN WOLPERT, Henry G. Bryant Professor of Geography, Public Affairs and Urban Planning Woodrow Wilson School ofPublic and International Affairs, Pririceton University NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM Transportation Research Board Executive Committee Subcommittee for NCHRP C. MICHAEL WALTON, University of Texas at Austin (Chairman) FRANCIS B. FRANCOIS, American Association ofState Highway and WAYNE MURI, Missouri Highway & Transportation Department Transportation Officials WILLIAM W. MILLAR, Port Authority ofAllegheny County THOMAS D. LARSON, US. Department of Transportation L. GARY BYRD, Consulting Engineer THOMAS B. DEEN, Transportation Research Board Field of Triffic Area of Operations and Traffic Contro-1 Project Panel G3-38(l) J. R. DOUGHTY, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (Chairman) SARAH J. LABELLE, Chicago Transit Authority WAYNE BERMAN, Federal Highway Administration RICHARD W. ROTHERY, University of Texas DANIEL BRAND, Charles River Associates, Inc. JOHN VOSTREZ, CALTRANS THOMAS W. BRAHMS, Institute of Tran sportation Engineers LYLE SAXTON, FHWA Liaison Representative DAN S. BRAME, Kimley-Harn and Associates, Inc. RONALD J. FISHER, VMTA Liaison Representative LOUIS F. COHN, University ofLouisville E. RYERSON CASE, Canadian Representative, Ontario Ministry of Transportation JOHN N. HUMMEL, Dewberry and Davis RICHARD A. CUNARD, TRB Liaison Representative Program Staff ROBERT J. REILLY, Director, Cooperative Research Programs CRAWFORD F. JENCKS, Senior Program Officer LOUIS M. MAcGREGOR, Program Officer KENNETH S. OPIELA, Senior Program Officer DANIEL W. DEARASAUGH, JR., Senior Program Officer DAN A. ROSEN, Senior Program Officer IAN M. FRIEDLAND, Senior Program Officer HELEN MACK, Editor NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRA REPORM 340 ASSESSMENT OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES FOR RELIEVING URBAN TRAFFIC CONGESTION P. DAVIES, N. AYLAND, C. HILL Castle Rock Consultants Leesburg, Virginia S. RUTHERFORD, M. HALLENBECK, C. ULBERG Washington State Transportation Center Seattle, Washington RESEARCH 'SPONSORED BY THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF STATE HIGHWAY AND TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS IN COOPERATION WITH THE FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION AREAS OF INTEREST Human Factors Vehicle Characteristics Operations and Traffic Control (Highway Transportation, Public Transit) TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL WASHINGTON, D. C. DECEMBER 1991 NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH NCHRP REPORT 340 PROGRAM Systematic, well-designed research provides the most effective Project 3-38(l) FY '87 approach to the solution of many problems facing highway ISSN 0077-5614 administrators and engineers. Often, highway problems are of local interest and can best be studied by highway depart- ISBN 0-309-04863-X ments individually or in cooperation with their state universi- L. C. Catalog Card No. 91-65297 ties and others. However, the accelerating growth of highway transportation develops increasingly complex problems of Price $11.00 wide interest to highway authorities. These problems are best studied through a coordinated program of cooperative re- search.- In recognition of these needs, the highway administrators of the American Association of State Highway and Transporta- NOTICE tion Officials initiated in 1962 an objective national highway The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the National Cooperative research program employing modem scientific techniques. Highway Research Program conducted by the Transportation Research Board This program is supported on a continuing basis by funds with the approval of the Governing Board of the National Research Council. Such approval reflects the Governing Board's judgment that the program concerned is from participating member states of the Association and it of national importance and appropriate with respect to both the purposes and receives the full cooperation and support of the Federal resources of the National Research Council. Highway Administration, United States Department of The members of the technical committee selected to monitor this project and to Transportation. review this report were chosen for recognized ~cholarly competence and with due consideration for the balance of disciplines appropriate to the project. The opinions The Transportation Research Board of the National Re- and conclusions expressed or implied are those of the research agency that per- search Council was requested by the Association to adminis- formed the research, and, while they have been accepted as appropriate by the technical committee, they are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research ter the research program because of the Board's recognized Board, the National Research Council, the American Association ofState Highway objectivity and understanding of modem research practices. and Transportation officials, or the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Depart- The Board is uniquely suited for this purpose as: it maintains ment of Transportation. an extensive committee structure from which authorities on Each report is reviewed and accepted for publication by the technical committee any highway transportation subject may be drawn; it pos- according to procedures established and monitored by the Transportation Research Board Executive Committee-and the Governing Board of the National Research sesses avenues of communications and cooperation with fed- Council. eral, state and local governmental agencies, universities, and industry; its relationship to the National Research Council is an insurance of objectivity; it maintains a full-time research Special Notice correlation staff of specialists in highway transportation mat- te,rs to bring the findings of research directly to those who The Transportation Research Board, the National Research Council, the Federal Highway Administration, the American Association of State Highway and Trans- are in a position to use them. portation Officials, and the individual states participating in the National Coopera- tive Highway Research Program do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade The program is developed on the basis of research needs or manufacturers names appear herein solely because