Equilibrium of Lane Flow Distribution on Motorways

Abstract

The distribution of traffic flow in the individual lanes of multilane motorways is an important investigation task in traffic engineering, because the lane flow distribution directly affects the capacity of the motorway section under investigation. Following the basic idea of the work of Heidemann, the flow distribution in the individual lanes was rederived and extended to carriageways with more than three lanes. The model was then calibrated with field data obtained from Germany. In addition, the proposed model was extended to congested traffic conditions. The proposed model can therefore be applied for entire flow conditions in reality.