Title: Fuel and time implications of merging traffic at freeway entrances
Abstract: A simple heuristic traffic model is used to simulate the fuel and time penalties associated with merging traffic on the light-flow freeway system of Perth, Western Australia. Merging traffic forces a merge with the insidelane freeway traffic through a series of individual vehicle interactions. The model is validated both statistically and at an individual vehicle level by comparison of model results with speed-time traces recorded in a research vehicle undergoing merging in Perth freeway traffic. Statistics of model parameters are calculated to estimate the overall penalties associated with merging on both a lane and system basis. These illustrate the dependence of the merging penalty on traffic volumes in both the merging lane and the freeway. The simulation results are compared with a simple Main Roads Department model based on observed delays at traffic signals, and illustrate similar functional form but differing magnitudes.