Evaluation of Tidewater district's operations improvements program

Abstract

The increasing congestion on the roads in the United States of America has become a topic of much interest among the transportation planners. There is a limit to which there can be building of new highways. Thus, the thrust for better utilization of the existing facilities is gaining ground. This research project is aimed at a solution to problems of increasing travel times due to congestion. A case study of the toll road (Route 44) in the tidewater region of Virginia has been made as an example of the common method of relieving congestion, ridesharing, which is being encouraged. The failure of the proper maintenance of the HOV lanes on the Route 44 leading to the subsequent rescinding of the same has been looked into. The use of DYNAMO programming was made in order to simulate the conditions on the toll road and to get an idea of the various alternatives which could be used to take care of the problem. On the basis of the simulations carried out, and taking into account the views held by the commuters who did not form a part of the ridesharing community, a method in which authorities could give an advantage as far as travel time is concerned, has been proposed.