Evaluation of Low Cost Traffic Management Technique Used to Reduce Conflict Points and Congestion at Signalized Intersections in Islamabad

Abstract

Traffic on the roads is on constant upsurge and highway system carries more vehicle miles of travel than ever before. The load on the transportation system is mounting more rapidly than the improvements can be made. To offset this, transportation system planners, engineers, and analysts are paying more attention on the improvement of operational efficiency of roadway networks. This requires identification of trouble spots and bottlenecks in a system where capacity improvements are needed, and to develop plans that meet the needs of the system, which are often restrained by social, environmental, and economic concerns. Pakistan being a developing country does not have enough resources to carryout the changes occurring in the traffic system and its volume. From the several options available to resolve the problem of traffic the best suited for this kind of environment is the low cost traffic management. Traffic planners at national level have a big challenge not only to streamline the problem but also to economize it. Several techniques and options are adopted over the world to address this kind of issues. Modeling traffic operations using computers have unmatched benefits and allows the traffic engineers in providing acceptable alternatives to address a given problem with reasonably low cost and efforts. For this reason traffic simulation models are becoming popular in the planning and operational analysis of transportation facilities. The development of computers with high speed processors has made it possible to simulate the traffic conditions on the roads down to the level of individual vehicle. This has enabled microscopic simulation modeling a viable and the most powerful tool to find out solution to the problems arising from a wide variety of complex and conflicting situations