Diamond interchanges and their associated ramps are where the surface street arterial system and the freeway system interface. Historically, these two elements of the system have been operated with little or no coordination between the two. Therefore, there is a lack of both analysis tools and operational strategies for considering them as an integrated system. One drawback of operating the ramp-metering system and the diamond interchange system in isolation is that traffic from the ramp, particularly if it is metered, can spill back into the diamond interchange, causing both congestion and safety concerns at the diamond interchange. While flushing the ramp queues by temporarily suspending ramp metering has been the primary strategy for preventing queue spillback, it can result in freeway system breakdown, which would affect the entire system's efficiency. The aim of this research was to develop operational strategies for managing an integrated diamond interchange ramp-metering system (IDIRMS). Enhanced modeling methodologies were developed for an IDIRMS. A computer model named DRIVE (Diamond Interchange and Ramp Metering Integration Via Evaluation) was developed, which was characterized as a mesoscopic simulation and analysis model. DRIVE incorporated the enhanced modeling methodologies developed in this study and could be used to perform system analysis for an IDIRMS given a set of system input parameters and variables. DRIVE was validated against a VISSIM microscopic simulation model, and general agreement was found between the two models. System operational characteristics were investigated using DRIVE to gain a better understanding of the system features. Integrated control strategies (ICS) were developed based on the two commonly used diamond interchange phasing schemes, basic three-phase and TTI four-phase. The ICS were evaluated using VISSIM microscopic simulation under three general traffic demand scenarios: low, medium, and high, as characterized by the volume-to-capacity ratios at the metered ramps. The results of the evaluation indicate that the integrated operations through an adaptive signal control system were most effective under the medium traffic demand scenario by preventing or delaying the onset of ramp-metering queue flush, thereby minimizing freeway breakdown and system delays.

Diamond interchanges and their associated ramps are where the surface street arterial system and the freeway system interface. Historically, these two elements of the system have been operated with little or no coordination between the two. Therefore, there is a lack of both analysis tools and operational strategies for considering them as an integrated system. One drawback of operating the ramp-metering system and the diamond interchange system in isolation is that traffic from the ramp, particularly if it is metered, can spill back into the diamond interchange, causing both congestion and safety concerns at the diamond interchange. While flushing the ramp queues by temporarily suspending ramp metering has been the primary strategy for preventing queue spillback, it can result in freeway system breakdown, which would affect the entire system's efficiency. The aim of this research was to develop operational strategies for managing an integrated diamond interchange ramp-metering system (IDIRMS). Enhanced modeling methodologies were developed for an IDIRMS. A computer model named DRIVE (Diamond Interchange and Ramp Metering Integration Via Evaluation) was developed, which was characterized as a mesoscopic simulation and analysis model. DRIVE incorporated the enhanced modeling methodologies developed in this study and could be used to perform system analysis for an IDIRMS given a set of system input parameters and variables. DRIVE was validated against a VISSIM microscopic simulation model, and general agreement was found between the two models. System operational characteristics were investigated using DRIVE to gain a better understanding of the system features. Integrated control strategies (ICS) were developed based on the two commonly used diamond interchange phasing schemes, basic three-phase and TTI four-phase. The ICS were evaluated using VISSIM microscopic simulation under three general traffic demand scenarios: low, medium, and high, as characterized by the volume-to-capacity ratios at the metered ramps. The results of the evaluation indicate that the integrated operations through an adaptive signal control system were most effective under the medium traffic demand scenario by preventing or delaying the onset of ramp-metering queue flush, thereby minimizing freeway breakdown and system delays.

Diamond interchange design has been commonly utilized in United States to facilitate traffic exchange between freeway and frontage roads. Another less common interchange design is X-ramp interchange, which is the reversed version of diamond. The major benefit of X-ramp interchange is that it can keep travelers on the freeway until the downstream exit ramp to avoid going through the intersection. It also has drawbacks such as travelers with cross street destinations will experience more delay. This study focuses on when the ramp reversal is desirable. To compare the diamond and X-ramp design, an experimental design is conducted using Latin Hypercube Design method. Four varying factors include interchange design type, traffic volume on the frontage road, through movement percentage and saturation rate of the intersection. 40 scenarios are generated for simulation study using Synchro and VISSIM. Based on the simulation study, optimal signal timing strategies are recommended for each type of interchange design under various traffic conditions. Also, ramp reversal is found closely related to the following factors such as interchange frequency, upstream interchange design, traffic volume on frontage road, through movement percentage and intersection saturation rate. Conclusions are made on when X-ramp is better than diamond interchange design. At last, future research directions are recommended.

Diverging diamond interchanges (DDI) have been proved to outperform other types of diamond interchanges in terms of safety, cost-effectiveness and efficiency, but few research efforts have been done to conduct the analytic calculation of delay, with which optimization of timing plans can be acquired more efficiently. This paper develops the control strategies based on the introduction of overlap and offset analysis, which provide a uniform representation of sequences for DDI signal control. Based on the developed timing plan then the delay calculation equations are put forward and results show the calculation fit simulation very well with R-Square to be 0.9949 for total delay of those two directions. Ecodriving aims to achieve the best fuel efficiency by guiding vehicles travel at planned and optimized speed trajectories. This study opens the door for safety concerns for following normal driving vehicles (FNVs) when following ecodriving vehicles (EVs). To examine the safety issues under different circumstance. Three road elements: initial signal status, ambient vehicles and speed limit along with three EV elements: SpeedTolimit, DistanceToStoplight and acceleration were chosen as potential influential elements, and time to collision (TTC) was selected as the dependent variable. Therefore, six testing scenarios and six baseline were designed and implemented using a drive safety DNS-250 simulator. 29 drivers participated in the driving simulator study. The results show the aforementioned road elements and EV elements have significant influence on TTC of FNV in different testing parts. Therefore, these finding can be used as guidance for future ecodriving algorithm design and implementation. / Master of Science / The research conducted in the thesis are composed of two sub-topics: delay calculation for diverging diamond interchange and safety assessment of ecodriving, on following traffic. Both of them are new coming technologies and are attracting increasing research interests. The first research topic, diverging diamond interchange is a new design of interchange which aims to decrease the conflict points of intersection hence increase the safety and efficiency. The second topic is about ecodriving, which is a vehicles communication-related topic, aims to improve fuel efficiency by taking better use of signal phasing and timing (SPaT) information. Both of them will contribute to the construction of environment-friendly and safe transportation systems. The research on these topic are innovative and should play role in guiding follow-up research in the future.

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As the population grows and the travel demands increase, alternative interchange designs are becoming increasingly popular. The diverging diamond interchange is one alternative design that has been implemented in the United States. This design can accommodate higher flow and unbalanced flow as well as improve safety at the interchange. As the diverging diamond interchange is increasingly considered as a possible solution to problematic interchange locations, it is imperative to investigate the safety effects of this interchange configuration. This report describes the selection of a comparison group of urban diamond interchanges, crash data collection, calibration of functions used to estimate the predicted crash rate in the before and after periods and the Empirical Bayes before and after analysis technique used to determine the safety effectiveness of the diverging diamond interchanges in Utah. A discussion of pedestrian and cyclist safety is also included. The analysis results demonstrated statistically significant decreases in crashes at most of the locations studied. This analysis can be used by UDOT and other transportation agencies as they consider the implementation of the diverging diamond interchanges in the future.

This diploma thesis deals with designing a grade-separated interchange of highways no. I/35 and no. I/46 in Olomouc. This is a grade-separated crossing of two four-banded roads. Some concepts were designed from which a shape modified turbo-roundabout, known as a „dog-bone“, was selected. Futhermore a proposal for a signal plan and capacity assessments of the light controlled intersection were submitted.