GDOT’s Metro Atlanta Ramp Meters Marc Plotkin Traffic Engineer II :Regional Traffic Operations

Topics What, and Why Safety Benefits Design Considerations History in Atlanta Implementation Operations Results and Findings I’m going to give a brief explanation or what ramp meters are and why they were implemented Then talk about the safety analysis done in Minnesota and the benefits behind ramp metering. After that talk about the implementation of ramp meters in metro Atlanta, how we as operations manage them from day to day and share some results.

What Are Ramp Meters Part of NaviGAtor, Georgia DOT’s Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) “Traffic lights” on interstate entrance ramps designed to control traffic flow onto the interstate Proven to relieve traffic congestion in over 20 U.S. cities for over 20 years Ramp meters are a part of Georgia DOT’s large computer operated Intelligent Transportation System, housed and managed at the TMC. Meter detection loops are embedded in the pavement throughout metro Atlanta that feed information about traffic volumes and speed on the interstates and ramps to central software. Ramp Meters are essentially “traffic lights” positioned on interstate entrance ramps. They are designed to control cars entering the freeway, allowing less disruption to mainline traffic.

Ramp Meter Locations Here is a map of some other cities that currently have a ramp metering system Minneapolis St. Paul, Portland, Seattle, Phoenix, San Jose, Dallas, Atlanta, and many others

Why? Reduces crashes at merge points Increases freeway productivity Reduces stop-and-go traffic Reduces fuel consumption Cost-effective traffic management tool Improves trip predictability Without metering, groups of closely-spaced vehicles all enter the Interstate together. At the merge point, they force their way into travel lanes, causing congestion- especially in the right lanes. In already heavy traffic, there is a total breakdown of free-flow near the on-ramps. This has a ripple effect for many miles. Even with no incidents, heavy on-ramp traffic causes congestion that builds and lasts through the rush-hour Ramp meters are a cost effective tool to help manage traffic

Safety Analysis Minnesota Ramp Meter shutdown test With Metering 261 crashes Without metering 476 crashes Annual Savings from metering Property damage only $4.8 million Injuries $6.8 million Fatalities $6.6 million In 2000 Minnesota DOT issued a system wide shutdown of their ramp meters for 6 weeks. As can be seen there was a large increase in interstate crashes during this period. During this 6 weeks there was a 9% reduction in freeway volume however there was a 22% increase in travel time, and 26% increase in crashes There was an estimated Annual Savings of $18.2 Million when using ramp metering.

Reduction in Crashes 43% 20% 38% 26% 15% Portland, OR Los Angeles, CA Minneapolis, MN Los Angeles, CA Seattle, WA Portland, OR Long Island, NY 43% 20% 38% 26% Crash Reduction with ramp meter implementation in Major Cities 15%

Benefits of Ramp Meters PREPARE TO STOP Improved traffic flow from surface street to freeway Faster travel times Reduced merging accidents Reduced fuel consumption Reduced vehicle emissions Ramp meters are designed to alleviate back-ups on interstate entrance ramps. Our central computers can then adjust the rate at which the meters operate based on plan thresholds, allowing traffic to flow more freely when entrance ramps get crowded. During high peak times, drivers tend to compete for position and to merge all at once into mainline traffic. Ramp meters have been proven to reduce the number of accidents associated with rear-ending and merging by 30%. The average wait at a ramp meter usually does not exceed 2 minutes with a maximum of 5 minutes.

Design Considerations Some ramps dropped out of consideration during design phase “slip” ramps – such as I-85 frontage road system Ramps with very short storage C/D ramps No “geometrical” changes allowed No widening Some striping changes allowed if shoulders maintained Acceleration distances AASHTO Green Book compliance maintained With the initial roll out of ramp meters, no geometric changes were allowed and only some striping changes could be made.

History of Ramp Meters in Atlanta Begin Phase II –the Modern Years Preparation for Olympics in 1996 Congestion was back, relief needed and capacity was fixed Pilot project – 5 ramps selected Meters began operation December 1996 Low impact ramps were selected for the pilot: No widening/extending Single lanes Not a big residential area Relatively low volumes Phase 2 of ramp metering started because of the increase in congestion leading up to the olympics. 5 ramp meters were selected on I-75 N inside the perimeter where ramps had lower volumes and all entrance ramps were single lanes.

Downtown Atlanta 1967 – Atlanta History Center One of the first ramp meters in the city of Atlanta in 1967. This is the exit for the Atlanta History Center which at that time was located downtown.

Ramp Meter Pilot I-75 NB Meters programmed to turn ON at 3:45 PM weekdays (TMC Planning) Loop Detection with 3 second gap Max rate set on the fly Minimize delay on ramp (adjust rate) Longer ramps = Adjust rate up Shorter ramps = Adjust rate down Meter ramps as needed on individual basis Base rates on various time of day schedule As said previously, 5 ramps were chosen for the initial pilot test. All meters were turned on at 3:45PM and rates were adjusted based on storage space on each individual ramp. Being the pilot test, thresholds were modified during peak hours.

History of Ramp Meters in Atlanta Phase III – the ‘Fast Forward’ years (2006-2012) GDOT elected to go “all in” Funding mechanism, Governors’ “Fast Forward” program 18 year worth of congestion-relief projects in 6 years Included 165 more ramp meters Staged installation, one freeway at a time During Phase 3, GDOT received funding from the Governors Fast Forward program to add 165 more ramp meter locations. Installation would be done one corridor stretch at a time.

Meters on as of January 2009 GA 400 I-85 I-75 I-20 I-20 I-75 I-85 87 Ramp Meters I-75 I-85

Meters on as of January 2010 GA 400 GA 400 I-85 I-85 I-75 I-75 I-20 Another 62 ramp meters were constructed totling 149 Ramp Meters I-75 I-75 I-85 I-85

Georgia Ramp Meter System Today GA 400 I-75 I-85 185 Ramp Meters with Construction projects pushing West on I-20 to add over 200 Ramp Meters in the next 2 years I-20 I-85 I-75

Current Ramp Meter Locations 185 Ramp Meters: Original 5 on I-75 NB, Midtown to Cumberland Mall (1996) 27 Locations on I-20 51 Locations on I-285 8 Locations on I-575 40 Locations on I-75 North and South of Atlanta 15 Locations on the 75/85 Connector 19 Locations on I-85 2 Locations on the Buford Connector 15 Locations on GA 400 8 Locations on US 78 Since the original 5 ramp meter locations on I-75 NB inside the perimeter, 180 additional ramp meters have been installed with more under construction.

Operations- GDOT Mindset GDOT’s goal: partner with locals to provide the best possible travel time for the public. best = more consistent and reliable Ramp meter’s objective: Aid the mainline while limiting the impact from arterial networks supplying demand. How do we do that? Providing consistent flow for merging vehicles Resulting in improved Mobility Safety Our operational goal is to provide the best possible travel time to the public while staying consistent. To do this we constantly adjust metering thresholds to improve gaps for merging vehicles. This results in more mobility and improved safety.

Operations – Day to Day Queue Management Making sure that arterials aren’t negatively impacted How do we do that? Remote monitoring – during peaks Navigator 2 Centrally connected system Threshold adjustments Speed up metering Shut down Ramp Mainline (Testing) On a day to day basis there is a handful of employees on the operations floor and dedicated employees in the Regional Traffic Operations division that make sure all adjustments to thresholds are made properly, detectors and functioning and mainline readings are calibrated. This is done using Central software and Navigator 2

Queue Management WITHOUT … WITH … Quick simulation of how proper ramp metering can supply a needed gap to eliminate congestion in the right lanes.

Travel Time reduced 6 Minutes Results 285 Westbound – PM peak – from Chamblee Dunwoody to I-75 (9 Miles) Travel Time (Min) # of Stops Avg Speed(mph) Total Delay(min) Totals Before 17.19 6.3 33.9 5.62 After 11.22 1.4 51.9 1.02 Change -5.97 -4.9 18.0 -4.61 Data from TMC floor study regarding travel times before and after turn on. On average travel time was reduced 6 minutes Travel Time reduced 6 Minutes

Travel Time reduced 5 Minutes Results 285 Eastbound – PM peak from Roswell Rd to I-85 (8 Miles) Travel Time (Min) # of Stops Avg Speed(mph) Total Delay(min) Totals Before 16.12 6.3 33.9 6.92 After 11.45 1.4 51.9 2.56 Change -4.67 -4.9 18.0 -4.36 On average Travel time was reduces 5 minutes Travel Time reduced 5 Minutes

Result Summary Travel time reductions ranged from: 50 seconds to 6 minutes 8 – 35% # of stop reductions ranged from: 0.7 to 5.3 Total delay reductions ranged from: 30 seconds to 5 minutes 11 to 82% Overall travel time and total delay saw significant reductions throughout the whole system

Result Summary Carbon Monoxide (g) reductions ranged from: Emissions data was also collected Hydrocarbon (g) reductions ranged from: 5 to 31% Oxides of Nitrogen (g) reductions ranged from: 5 to 38% One corridor increased 6% Carbon Monoxide (g) reductions ranged from: 1 to 15% Two corridors had increases (1% and 13%) Emissions data was collected as well. Not all Corridors showed improvement but overall the results were very promising

I-285 Westbound PM Peak Detection Data studied 3 weeks before and 3 weeks after ramp meter implementation on I-285 Westbound during the PM peak

Comparing september of 2007 to september of 2008 on I-285 near Riverside Dr, 62% of days were moderately to severely congested before metering and only 28% moderately or severly congested after metering implemented.

I-75 NB in the AM hours Comparing October 2007 to October 2008, 86% of days were moderately to severely congested before metering and only 39% moderately congested with no severely congested days after metering implemented.

Lastly I-85 NB near Beaver Ruin comparing October 2007 to October 2008, 100% of days were moderately to severely congested before metering and only 9% moderately or severely congested after metering implemented.

Thank you Marc Plotkin Traffic Engineer II mplotkin@dot.ga.gov