Investigators:
Chris Toth, Graduate Student, Georgia Tech
Felipe Castrillon, Graduate Student, Georgia Tech
Dr. Jorge Laval, Assistant Professor, Georgia Tech
Project Overview:
The effects of weaving are some of the least understood aspects of traffic flow. Along the I-85 corridor, weaving regularly occurs between the HOV (or HOT) lane and general purpose lanes, and between interchanges. Because vehicles typically accelerate/decelerate when weaving, the capacity of a freeway network is reduced. Not only does weaving impact effecive capacity, it affects the safety of motorists. Due to safety concerns, attention will be given to weaving zones where there is a high speed differential between weaving lanes. It is important to note that illegal weaving along managed lanes also has the potential to affect safety and capacity.
GIS maps have been created to aid in determining which sections of the freeway should be studied. These maps are used to display where weaving is occurring, where cameras are currently positioned, and where future cameras can be installed. After analysis of these maps, a segment of freeway for a legal weaving study has been identified between the Center Way and Beaver Ruin Road HOV weaving zones (illegal weaving study locations have yet to be determined). Twenty-seven additional high-definition video cameras are planned to be installed to obtain high-resolution data in this section. Vehicle time-space trajectories will be generated using electronic video analysis software which will allow freeway operations to be empirically evaluated for weaving areas along the corridor.
Sponsored by Georgia Department of Transportation
