Traffic operations at mainline toll plazas

Bari, Chintaman Santosh; Chandra, Satish; Dhamaniya, Ashish; Navandar, Yogeshwar · 2022 · Crossref

DOI: 10.18520/cs/v123/i6/754-766

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Summary

This systematic literature review addresses the lack of standardized design criteria and operational guidelines for mainline toll plazas, particularly in developing countries with mixed traffic conditions. Toll plazas act as bottlenecks in highway networks, causing significant delays due to factors such as long service times, inadequate lane numbers, and heterogeneous vehicle compositions. While design guidelines exist for other traffic facilities, toll plaza design often relies on designer experience, leading to inconsistent capacity and Level of Service (LOS) evaluations. The study aims to summarize existing research on toll plaza operations, identify critical gaps, and propose a framework for future research, focusing on three key parameters: capacity, equivalency factors, and LOS. The authors employed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) methodology to conduct a comprehensive review. They searched four major databases—Scopus, Web of Science, TRID, and ScienceDirect—for articles published between 1954 and November 2021 using keywords related to toll plazas, capacity, and LOS. After removing duplicates and screening for relevance, 74 articles were selected for analysis. The review categorizes studies by geographic origin, traffic conditions (homogeneous vs. mixed), and the specific parameters analyzed, such as service time, service headway, clearance time, and delay. The analysis reveals that research on toll plaza operations began in 1954, with a surge in publications from 2018 to 2021, particularly regarding mixed traffic. The United States and India contributed the most studies (36% and 28%, respectively). Regarding capacity, no single universal method exists; however, most studies utilize service time or service headway as primary estimators. For instance, manual lanes typically handle 360–416 vehicles per hour per lane (vphpl) for mixed traffic, while Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) lanes achieve significantly higher capacities, ranging from 1050 to 1500 vphpl. LOS evaluation lacks standardized thresholds in major guidelines like the Highway Capacity Manual. Researchers have used various Measures of Effectiveness (MOEs), including volume-to-capacity ratios, queue lengths, and delay. The review suggests that delay-based LOS is superior as it directly reflects user discomfort. Furthermore, the concept of equivalency factors, such as Tollbooth Equivalency Factors (TEFs), is identified as crucial for converting mixed traffic flows into homogeneous equivalents but remains under-researched compared to homogeneous traffic studies. The study concludes that significant gaps exist in the literature, particularly concerning mixed traffic conditions prevalent in developing nations. There is an urgent need for standardized capacity estimation methods and LOS thresholds that account for heterogeneous vehicle compositions. The authors emphasize the importance of developing robust equivalency factors to accurately assess toll plaza efficiency. By providing a structured overview of existing methodologies and highlighting these deficiencies, the paper offers a roadmap for researchers to develop more effective design and operational standards for toll plazas, ultimately aiming to reduce congestion and improve user experience in diverse traffic environments.

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• traffic density