Publication No. FHWA-RD-92-103 Application of Freeway Simulation Models to Urban Corridors Volume I: Final Report U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center 6300 Georgetown Pike, McLean , Va 22101-2296 Notice This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No. FHWA-RD-92-103 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date APPLICATION OF FREEWAY SIMULATION MODELS TO URBAN CORRIDORS. Volume I: Final Report 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Steven Smith, Dr. Richard Worrall, David Roden, Ronald A. Pfefer, Michael Hankey 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) JHK & Associates 11. Contract or Grant No. 1650 Iowa Avenue Suite 100 DTFH61-88-C-00059 Riverside, CA 92507 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered Office of Safety and Traffic Operations R & D Final Report Federal Highway Administration September 1988 - November 1992 6300 Georgetown Pike 14. Sponsoring Agency Code McLean, VA 22101-2296 15. Supplementary Notes Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) - Dr. Stephen L. Cohen, HSR-10. The Traffic Institute, Northwestern University served as subcontractor to JHK & Associates 16. Abstract Freeway simulation is gaining increasing acceptance and popularity as a toll for evaluating freeway improvement alternatives and refining freeway designs. The evaluation of individual sections one at a time is frequently inadequate to fully consider the implications of traffic flow on freeway design and operations. As the need to evaluate the interaction among sections and facilities increases, so too will the need to employ these more sophisticated analytical techniques. Several freeway simulation models now operate on microcomputers, simplifying the use of the models and opening up opportunities to may engineers previously unable to take advantage of the analysis power these models afford. The purpose of this research contract, entitled "Analysis of Complex Congested Corridor Locations," was to apply three freeway simulation models and the procedures in the 1985 Highway Capacity Manual to real-world situations. Each of the models was applied in five case study sites: Seattle; Minneapolis; Milwaukee; Columbus, Ohio; and New York City. The application of the models provided the opportunity to compare their strengths and weakness, to suggest possible enhancements to the models evaluated included: FREFLO, a macroscopic simulation model developed under Federal Highway Administration contract; FREQ, a macroscopic model developed by the University of California at Berkeley; and FRESIM, a microscopic model developed under FHWA contract. This report is directed toward existing and potential users of freeway simulation models, with an emphasis on guidelines for model selection and application. FHWA-RD-92-104 Volume II: Technical Report 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Freeway simulation models, macroscopic models, microscopic No restrictions, this document is available to models, highway capacity, geometrics, freeway operations. the public through National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161. 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20.Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified Form DOT F 1700.7(8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized SI* (MODERN METRIC) CONVERSION FACTORS APPROXIMATE CONVERSIONS TO SI UNITS APPROXIMATE CONVERSIONS FROM UNITS Symbol When You Know Multiply By To Find Symbol Symbol When You Know Multiply By To Find Symbol LENGTH LENGTH in inches 25.4 millimeters mm mm millimeters 0.039 inches in ft feet 0.305 meters m m meters 3.28 feet ft yd yards 0.914 meters m m meters 1.09 yards yd mi miles 1.61 kilometers km km kilometers 0.621 miles mi AREA AREA in2 square inches645.2 square millimeters mm2 mm2 square millimeters 0.0016 square inches in2 ft2 square feet 0.093 square meters m2 m2 square meters 10.764 square feet ft2 yd2 square yards0.836 square meters m2 m2 square meters 1.195 square yards yd2 ac acres 0.405 hectares ha ha hectares 2.47 acres ac mi2 square miles 2.59 square kilometers km2 km2 square kilometers 0.386 square miles mi2 VOLUME VOLUME fl oz fluid ounces 29.57 milliliters ml mL milliliters 0.034 fluid ounces floz gal gallons 3.785 liters l L liters 0.264 gallons gal ft3 cubic feet 0.028 cubic meters m3 m3 cubic meters 35.71 cubic feet ft3 yd3 cubic yards 0.765 cubic meters m3 m3 cubic meters 1.307 cubic yards yd3 MASS MASS oz ounces 28.35 grams g g grams 0.035 ounces oz lb pounds 0.454 kilograms kg kg kilograms 2.202 pounds lb T short tons(200 lb) 0.907 megagrams Mg Mg megagrams 1.103 short tons (2000lb) T TEMPERATURE TEMPERATURE oF Fahrenheit 5(F-32)/9 Celcius oC oC Celcius 1.8C + 32 Fahrenheit oF temperature or (F-32)/1.8 temperature temperature temperature ILLUMINATION ILLUMINATION fc foot-candles 10.76 lux lx lx lux 0.0929 foot-candles fc fl foot-Lanberts 3.426 candela/m2 cd/m2 cd/m2candela/m2 0.2919 foot-Lamberts fl FORCE and PRESSURE or STRESS FORCE and PRESSURE or STRESS lbf poundforce 4.45 newtons N N newtons 0.225 poundforce lbf lbf/in2poundforce per 6.89 kilopascals kPa kPa kilopascals 0.145 poundforce per lb/in2 square inch square inch TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page 1. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................1 PURPOSE.......................................................................................................1 REPORT ORGANIZATION..............................................................................1 2. ROLE OF FREEWAY SIMULATION IN CORRIDOR PLANNING, DESIGN, AND OPERATIONS........................................................................................3 OVERVIEW OF FREEWAY SIMULATION.....................................................3 DEFINITION OF TERMS.................................................................................5 OVERVIEW OF THE CORRIDOR PLANNNING AND DESIGN PROCESS...6 ROLE OF FREEWAY SIMULATION WITHIN THE REGIONAL CONTEXT....6 WHEN TO USE A SIMULATION MODEL.....................................................12 THE SIMULATION PROCESS......................................................................16 BASIC SIMULATION DECISIONS................................................................18 MODEL CALIBRATIONS AND VALIDATION..............................................20 KEYS TO SUCCESS IN USING FREEWAY SIMULATION..........................24 3. DESCRIPTION OF FREEWAY SIMULATION MODELS...................................27 FREFLO........................................................................................................27 FREQ............................................................................................................32 FRESIM.........................................................................................................38 HIGHWAY CAPACITY SOFTWARE.............................................................39 4. SELECTING A SIMULATION MODEL.............................................................43 GENERAL SELECTION CRITERIA..............................................................43 MODELING APPROACH FOR EACH STRATEGY/SITUATION COMBINATION.............................................................................................46 SUMMARY OF GUIDANCE FOR MODEL SELECTION...............................63 5. FREEWAY CORRIDOR IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES.................................67 PURPOSE AND SCOPE..............................................................................67 IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS......................................................67 DEFINITION OF A PROBLEM.....................................................................67 PROBLEMS VS. CAUSES...........................................................................69 CANDIDATE STRATEGIES FOR SOLVING IDENTIFIED PROBLEMS......75 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED) Chapter Page 6. APPLICATION OF SIMULATION MODELS IN FREEWAY DESIGN AND OPERATIONS............................................................................87 CORRIDOR ANALYSIS TASK STRUCTURE...............................................87 TYPICAL CORRIDOR ANALYSIS SCHEDULE............................................88 PHASE I: STUDY PREPARATION AND MODEL CALIBRATION...............90 PHASE II: SHORT-TERM ANALYSIS........................................................114 PHASE III: LONG-TERM ANALYSIS.........................................................124 7. SUMMARY OF CASE STUDIES.....................................................................139 CASE STUDY #1: SEATTLE, WASHINGTON............................................141 CASE STUDY #2: NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY...........................................153 CASE STUDY #3: MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN..........................................164 CASE STUDY #4: COLUMBUS, OHIO.......................................................181 CASE STUDY #5: MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.......................................191 A CONCLUDING COMMENT......................................................................204 APPENDIX A. CONSIDERATIONS IN IDENTIFYING CAUSES OF FREEWAY MOBILITY PROBLEMS..................................................................206