Monica Menendez

An Analysis of Hov Lanes: Their Impact on Traffic Monica Menendez

High occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes are freeway lanesreserved for vehicles with more than a predeterminednumber of occupants. HOV lanes can affect thecapacity of a freeway through both anunderutilization effect and a disruption effectcaused by lane-changes. This book examines thephysics of HOV lanes and their overall impact ontraffic. It uses a simple car-following model withlane-changing that matches field data withconsiderable accuracy. Current models of this typehave usually a large number of parameters, many ofthem unobservable and/or with no physical meaning. This one, in contrast, requires few parameters and isbased only on physical principles. It uses simplemicroscopic rules to reproduce the aggregatecharacteristics of traffic. The movement of a vehicleis only constrained by its mechanical properties, driver comfort, and safety. The model is used inmicro-simulations to test simple strategies forincreasing the efficiency of HOV lanes and reducingthe disruptions they cause. The results and theirimplications are useful to transportationprofessionals and academicians, especially thosedeveloping new methods to improve traffic flow.