A Study on the Changing of Traffic Flow with ETC Gate Installation in Urban Expressway by a Traffic Simulation

The traffic congestion occurrence rate for tollgates on toll roads such as urban expressways is the highest at 30%, and is a large factor in urban environmental problems. At present, an ITS called ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) is being adopted at those tollgates in Japan, and this is helping to alleviate traffic congestions. In this research, the flow of traffic at a tollgate using the ETC adopted for large urban expressways was reproduced using a traffic flow simulation, and this was used to vary factors such as position, quantity and usage rate, and verify what kind of differences there are regarding the traffic situation, and whether traffic congestions are alleviated. As actual data, the study looked at tollgates on the Higashi-Osaka Route of the Hanshin Expressway in the Osaka region, analyzed the actual situation, and considered ideas for improvement.