• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2013

This research proposed integrated expressway traffic management strategy using ramp metering and toll mainline metering. This research suggested a traffic signal optimization model for integrated operation of ramp and mainline metering based on Demand-Capacity Model that is used to optimize allowable input volume for ramp metering in FREQ model. The objective function of this model is sectional throughput volume maximization, and this model can calculate optimal signal timings for mainline metering and ramp metering. This study conducted an effectiveness analysis of integrated metering strategy using PARAMICS and its API. It targeted Seoul's Outer Ring Expressway between Gimpo and Siheung toll gate. As a simulation result, integrated operation of mainline and ramp metering provided more smooth traffic flow, and throughput volume of mainline increased to 14% in congested section. In addition, a queue of 400 meter was formed at metering point of toll gate. This research checked that integrated traffic management strategy facilitates more efficient traffic operation of mainline and ramp from diffused traffic congestion.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.111-118
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• 2014

PURPOSES : This study performs fundamental research on ramp-metering design criteria. METHODS : We carefully review previous studies in terms of ramp-metering design criteria and then consider applicability in Korea. For this, traffic simulation model is employed to analyze actual effect according to specific location of stop-line when implementing ramp-metering. RESULTS : When a stop-line moving forward with a 50m interval, travel speed at mainline relative to current stop-line location tends to decrease. However, traveling speed at approach roads increase about 5~18% under the same condition. When a stop-line location moving backward with a 50m interval, mainline travel speed increase approximately 17~32% whereas traveling speed at approach roads decrease. All cases are compared with the current stop-line location. CONCLUSIONS : We believe that both cases are useful with respect to freeway management. For example, moving forward a stop-line case can be used management for queuing area at ramp section and approach roads. Moving backward a stop-line case can be used for traffic control, focusing on mainline of freeways.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.29-37
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• 2010

Ramp metering control is the most representative strategy of uninterrupted flow control and management system. Ramp metering is to adjust vehicles entering an expressway in such a way that expressway mainline maintains flow stability by regulating ramp vehicles. The effect of two metering strategies, single-entry metering and platoon metering, on mainstream under the same metering rate with pre-timed metering are analyzed by micro-simulation. Platoon metering shows lower performance than single-entry metering under the same metering rate in terms of speed, density, and delay, causes earlier breakdown than single-entry metering. It indicates that the selection of metering type has critical importance as the flow of mainline is high.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2015

This study aims to develop a mainline metering strategy considering queue imbalance among lanes that can reduce congestion at a toll plaza section by managing queue caused by mainline metering. The suggested strategy considers simultaneously optimizing the number of cars in merging area and managing queue by lane. This study analyzes the effectiveness of the strategy with respect to the average travel time and the occurrence rate of spillback using the PARAMICS. The results show that the suggested strategy has an effect on reducing congestion and improving operation efficiency at toll plaza. In particular, the congestion become more intensified when the length of waiting space is shorter; however, this study shows that the suggested strategy can relieve the congestion in that condition.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.9-21
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• 2011

The ramp metering strategy is one of the effective ways to solve the freeway traffic congestion in peak time periods. The study was initiated with assurance that the traffic conditions of ramp and mainline that mitigate the congestion would exist. Under the moderate traffic volume levels, ramp metering is expected to improve the quality of freeway operation. To derive a range of traffic condition, three operation strategies(Do nothing, ramp metering, minimum ramp control) were set up and the ALINEA algorithm was implemented with microscopic traffic simulator "VISSIM". The volumes of mainline and ramp are key parameters for the simulation scenarios. Measures of effectiveness for the study include mainline density and average vehicle speed. Operation boundaries in terms of traffic volume were proposed for operating ramp metering strategy. The results show that under the proposed traffic conditions the ramp metering was more successful to increase average vehicle speeds. Traffic controls under the operation boundaries of traffic levels give significant effects for density and average vehicle speed. The outcomes of this study would be useful to improve the performance of ramp metering strategies.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems Conference
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• 1996.10a
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• pp.180-183
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• 1996

This work discusses simulation results for the fuzzy logic controller tested the project“Fuzzy Ramp Metering Algorithm Implementation.”The performance objectives were, in order of priority, to maximize total vehicle-miles, maximize mainline speeds, and minimize delay per vehicle while maintaining an acceptable ramp queue. In the fuzzy logic controller, the sensors from the on-ramps were helpful in maintaining reasonable ramp queue and mainline congestion because it considered these factors simultaneously. Each metered ramp had a parameter input file, which allowed the controller to be modified without recompiling the software. Consequently, maintenance costs should be minimal.

• Journal of Korean Port Research
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.333-350
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• 1999

Today freeway is thought to be a very important transportation facility carrying tremendous traffic flow as the main corridor within the area of between the areas. However freeway is experiencing severe congestion and accidents by increased entrance ramp flow especially at peak time period. Ramp meters on the freeway entrance ramps that supply traffic to the freeway in a measured or appropriately regulated amount are needed for alleviating freeway congestion. Because ramp meters can be operated to discharge traffic at a measured or regulated rate thus maintaining more uniform speed on the mainline section maximizing the throughput to the freeway within the capacity of a downstream bottleneck and reducing the congestion related accidents. Thus the objectives in this study were to analyze the traffic characteristics on the freeway I-94 with ramp metering system before/after ITS technology in Detroit (Michigan) area compare shifts of the traffic characteristics on the freeway I-94 before/after ITS technology and finally suggest a better ramp metering strategy for the freeway system The following results were obtained: i)Flow occupancies and speeds on the mainline merge section of freeway were shown to be a big difference depending on the peak periods areas and directions based on the distribution of traffic flow characteristics on the freeway. ii)Reduced speed was shown to be more than 5 mph and ramp flow was also shown to be more than 240 vph at peak periods if there was the ramp metering system constructed on the freeway. iii)Ramp metering system was shown to be optimally operated on the freeway if ramp flow could be maximized within the range of over 900 vph and reduced occupancy could be also maximized by no more than 2 percent at peak periods. iv)The average flows on the freeway after the ITS technology were shown to be a decrease of over 20% depending on the peak periods areas and directions when compared with those flow on the freeway before the ITS technology. over 20% depending on the peak periods areas and directions when compared with those speeds on the freeway before the ITS technology. vi)The average metering rates on the freeway after the ITS technology were shown to be an increase of over 10% depending on the peak periods areas and directions when compared with those metering rates on the freeway before the ITS technology.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.65 no.12
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• pp.2046-2052
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• 2016

Ramp metering is one of the most efficient and widely used control methods for an intelligent transportation management system on a freeway. Its objective is to control and upgrade freeway traffic by regulating the number of vehicles entering the freeway entrance ramp, in such a way that not only the alleviation of the congestion but also the smoothing of the traffic flow around the desired density level can be achieved for the maintenance of the maximum mainline throughput. When the cycle of the signal detection is larger than that of the system process, the density tracking problem needs to be considered in the form of the discrete-time system. Therefore, a discrete-time sliding mode control method is proposed for the ramp metering problem in the presence of both input constraint in the on-ramp and exogenous disturbance in the off-ramp considering the random behavior of the driver. Simulations were performed using a validated second-order macroscopic traffic flow model in Matlab environment and the simulation results indicate that proposed control method can achieve better performance than previously well-known ALINEA strategy in the sense that mainstream flow throughput is maximized and congestion is alleviated even in the presence of input constraint and exogenous disturbance.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.2031-2042
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• 2017

In this paper, a novel traffic flow control method based-on ramp metering and speed regulation using an adaptive sliding mode control (ASMC) method along with a deadzoned parameter adaptation law is proposed at a stochastic macroscopic level traffic environment, where the influence of the density and speed disturbances is accounted for in the traffic dynamic equations. The goal of this paper is to design a local traffic flow controller using both ramp metering and speed regulation based on ASMC, in order to achieve the desired density and speed for the maintenance of the maximum mainline throughput against disturbances in practice. The proposed method is advantageous in that it can improve the traffic flow performance compared to the traditional methods using only ramp metering, even in the presence of ramp storage limitation and disturbances. Moreover, a prior knowledge of disturbance magnitude is not required in the process of designing the controller unlike the conventional sliding mode controller. A stability analysis is presented to show that the traffic system under the proposed traffic flow control method is guaranteed to be uniformly bounded and its ultimate bound can be adjusted to be sufficiently small in terms of deadzone. The validity of the proposed method is demonstrated under different traffic situations (i.e., different initial traffic status), in the sense that the proposed control method is capable of stabilizing traffic flow better than the previously well-known Asservissement Lineaire d'Entree Autoroutiere (ALINEA) strategy and also feedback linearization control (FLC) method.