Analysis of Traffic Flow Characteristics of Weaving Area between Expressway and Ground Road

Urban expressway in Beijing, Shanghai and other metropolises in China are facing serious traffic congestion during peak hours, especially in the exit ramp which connects the saturated main line section of expressway with the major intersection of ground road network. This research paper is obtaining a better understanding of traffic flow characteristics in the exit ramp weaving area between expressway and ground road. Based on the large-scale of measured data, the vehicle arriving frequency, speed distribution in exit ramp and the variability of turn ration in downstream intersection were achieved, so as to establish the optimal management model for the weaving area. From statistical result, it can be found that the traffic flow characteristics of exit ramp are closely related to the space-time factors. By using microscopic traffic simulation tool, the running characteristics and capacity of exit ramp weaving area under different traffic controlling methods were analyzed in this paper.