Modeling and Simulation of Lane-Changing Management Strategies at On-Ramp and Off-Ramp Pair Areas Based on Cellular Automaton

In urban expressways, when an on-ramp and off-ramp pair are closely spaced, the operational condition of the downstream diverge area influences that of the adjacent upstream merge area because of the weaving movement and queuing. Although lane-changing management schemes have often been used in practice, the quantification effect of specific management schemes has not been studied in detail. In this paper, a new cellular automaton model that fits in an on-ramp and off-ramp pair area was established, in which three types of lane change behaviors and eight types of lane-changing management schemes are considered. Sensitivity analysis of the simulation results was conducted to validate the effectiveness of the lane-changing management schemes, from which the optimal schemes under various geometric and traffic conditions are recommended. Results show forcing the off-ramp vehicles to change lanes in advance by using lane markings results in higher operational efficiency in most cases.