Report

The traffic information provision in The Netherlands will experience quit drastic changes in the coming years. This stems from the fact that the ‘Nationale Databank Wegverkeersgegevens’ (NDW, national data warehouse for traffic data) will become operational. The NDW will become the databank that will collect, process, store and distribute all relevant traffic data. Road authorities and external providers (commercial parties) provide traffic data to the NDW. Traffic data will not only be collected on important highways (which is the case nowadays), but also on regional roads and urban roads. The NDW does not indicate the method of gathering traffic data,… Read More »Verkeersinformatie vanuit de NDW

This report describes a first attempt to use the macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD) in the Netherlands. An MFD can be a useful concept in applying network traffic management. In The Netherland a project is done to study the effects of network traffic management and the work described in this report was part of that project. Because a lack of empirical data, data from two traffic models (Regional Traffic Management Explorer and VISSIM) was used to derive MFDs. It appeared that the results from the Regional Traffic Management Explorer were not very useful to derive MFDs. This was analysed and it appeared that this has to… Read More »Application of MFDs to dynamic traffic management

EVAQ is a traffic model for ex-ante evaluations of  evacuations plans. The model is still in development and it is uncertain whether EVAQ will accurately model network performance degeneration. At the same time it can be said that accurate network performance degeneration is very important for evacuations. The research of this thesis identifies that there are phenomena that contribute to network performance degeneration that are not modelled. Two important phenomena that are not included are the flow degeneration as soon as links become congested and the constraints that nodes (intersections) themselves have. Several general ideas were considered to implement these… Read More »Network performance degeneration in dynamic traffic assignment

The Dutch motorways are becoming more and more congested due to the increasing mobility. It is however not possible to keep expanding the road capacity. The ambition of the national road network authority is to achieve more flexibility and increased performance of the existing road network. A possible way to do this is by applying dynamic speed limits. In this way, speed limits can be adjusted to unexpected situations such as weather conditions, congestion or incidents. The use of dynamic speed limits can improve traffic flow, traffic safety and the environmental impact. To allow one to make a statement about… Read More »Dynamische maximumsnelheden: uitbreiding en toepassing

Congestion is a problem that nowadays is facing people all over the world. It affects (in different degrees) developed countries as well as undeveloped. Congestion and queues on freeways cost money due to loss of time and therefore productivity. As a result it is considered important to assess it, in order to determine the severity of the problem faced. In the case of the Netherlands, a clear and accurate review of the causes of congestion and their contribution to vehicle loss hours is missing. For that reason, Rijkswaterstaat (RWS) proposed to investigate this topic. The main subject of this report is to differentiate between diverse types… Read More »Assessment of Non-Recurrent Congestion on Dutch Motorways

Different kinds of traffic management measures have been practiced and researched, showing their potential in dealing with congestion. While the traffic background in Beijing is very different from other cities, the traffic problems thus are not likely to be the same. Accordingly, the effect of measures experienced in foreign cities is doubted to be applicable in Beijing. The objective of the research was to investigate traffic characteristics in Beijing, conceptually design traffic management measures and schemes specific to the Beijing situation, predict and evaluate the potential of traffic management in improving the traffic in Beijing. The first part of the study aims… Read More »Concept design and evaluation of traffic management in Beijing

In the past decades, traffic congestion on the Dutch motorway network has developed into a serious problem, causing large costs to society. In this thesis (alleviating) traffic congestion is considered from a probabilistic perspective, meaning that the variability in traffic is explicitly taken into account. Traditionally, in evaluations of the effectiveness of proposed congestion relief measures this variability is taken into account only in a limited or simplified way, or even not at all. Often simply a kind of ‘representative’ situation is calculated, possibly supplemented with some qualitative considerations or scenario-based analyses regarding the effects on the robustness of the traffic system. The main… Read More »Gaining new insights regarding traffic congestion

The thesis deals with the separation of freeway traffic using dynamic lane assignment. Different user groups or vehicle types can be separated, but separation of freeway traffic in this study is dependent on one’s destination. Through-going traffic and local traffic can be distinguished for example based on whether or not the driver is heading for the next downstream situated exit. The goal of separating these two traffic groups is to improve outflows for through-going traffic because the primary function of a freeway is to facilitate long distance travelling in short time. The difference with existing measures aimed at separating flows… Read More »Separation of freeway traffic flows by dynamic lane assignment

The explosively increased traffic flow on the motorways is causing severe impact on ambient air quality and the health of those people exposed to it. Numerous diseases, such as respiratory diseases, lung diseases, and cancer, are associated with air pollutants. This is defined as the near-motorway livability problem, which seems quite serious in The Netherlands. Thus, the road authority is looking to improve air quality alongside the motorways, without compromising the current traffic efficiency. The research described in this report is therefore to find a balanced solution to improve near-motorway livability conditions. Two research methodologies are used: a literature review… Read More »Multi-objective traffic management for livability

Currently, the Dutch government aims to raise the speed limit to 130 km/h on as many motorways as possible. The reason for this is that current speed limits do not correspond with the wishes and expectations of the road user any more. For this new speed limit the local conditions and targets need to be taken into account. To deal with the location and time dependent circumstances (for instance air quality or traffic safety due to the traffic flow), a dynamic speed limit is an appropriate solution. At this moment, an integral approach which considers the significant factors (factors dependent… Read More »An assessment framework for the speed policy on Dutch motorways