Research Will Relieve Freeway Congestion

Posted: Jan 26, 2023

University of Utah research will help the Utah Department of Transportation identify freeway bottleneck locations that are suitable for coordinated ramp metering control and evaluate both the safety and operational performances of the system. The work will also study the additional delay created to the ramps by ramp metering controls when a certain congestion level on the freeway mainline is expected to be achieved. Improved regulation of vehicles entering the freeway will reduce overall congestion and delay while increasing freeway traffic throughput. Additionally, collisions on the freeway can be prevented by breaking up on-ramp platoons that merge onto the freeway. Finally, reducing long periods of stop-and-go traffic on the freeway due to smooth merging traffic can reduce vehicle emissions and fuel consumption.

Xianfeng Yang, Ph.D.
University of Utah

Design and Evaluate Coordinated Ramp Metering Strategies for Utah Freeways
MPC-22-486