Traffic Characteristics for Long-Term Use of Emergency Lane: An Exploratory Field Test on G42 Freeway in China

Yunqi Dai, Fan Ding*, Jiankun Peng, Huachun Tan, Bin Ran

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Emergency lanes on motorways are designed and implemented for vehicles to cope with emergency affairs (e.g., security assistance, roadside repair), in case of a second accident. Although prohibited in normal scenarios, emergency lanes can act as normal lanes with identical standard as conventional carriage ways. During the May Day holiday of 2019, an exploratory test allowing temporary utilization of emergency lanes was performed on G42 freeway in China to maintain the traffic efficiency in the case of extremely large traffic volumes. In this paper, the characteristics of traffic flow parameters on both specific-lanes and the section are analyzed. The results show that only 12.4% of drivers decided to travel on the emergency lane. Further, the lane distribution took on different characteristics while the free flow speed (FFS) and the capacity of emergency lane were comparatively low. The road capacity after utilization of the emergency lane increased only by 5%.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationCICTP 2020
Subtitle of host publicationAdvanced Transportation Technologies and Development-Enhancing Connections - Proceedings of the 20th COTA International Conference of Transportation Professionals
EditorsHaizhong Wang, Heng Wei, Lei Zhang, Yisheng An
PublisherAmerican Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Pages607-617
Number of pages11
ISBN (Electronic)9780784482933
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020
Externally publishedYes
Event20th COTA International Conference of Transportation Professionals: Advanced Transportation Technologies and Development-Enhancing Connections, CICTP 2020 - Xi'an, China
Duration: 14 Aug 202016 Aug 2020

Publication series

NameCICTP 2020: Advanced Transportation Technologies and Development-Enhancing Connections - Proceedings of the 20th COTA International Conference of Transportation Professionals

Conference

Conference20th COTA International Conference of Transportation Professionals: Advanced Transportation Technologies and Development-Enhancing Connections, CICTP 2020
Country/TerritoryChina
CityXi'an
Period14/08/2016/08/20

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