EVALUATING THE OPERATIONAL IMPACTS OF ACCESS CONTROL STRATEGIES USING TRAF-NETSIM

Although it is generally agreed that access management treatments should improve the operational efficiency of streets and highways by reducing the frequency and range of speed change cycles for through trafic and by eliminating conflict points, it is difficult to quantify their operational benefits. This is due, in part, to the difficulty required to capture speed change cycles between intersections. The results of this study show that TRAF-NETSIM is sensitive to mid-block driveway activity and has the potential to effectively evaluate and compare certain access management treatments. Further study of other access control treatments with TRAF-NETSIM particularly in conjunction with case studies would provide valuable information about the performance of the simulation model relative to actual system performance.