Toll plaza

Toll plaza Design and operation

1. Toll Plaza Design and operation Raghupathi

2. Toll Operation Toll tax is collected to recover the total capital outlay which includes the Cost of construction R epairs , maintenance E xpenses on toll operation and I nterest on the outlay for a reasonable period of time. The new facility should provide reduced travel time and increased level of service.

3. Types of Toll Collection Open Toll System Not all patrons are charged-at the edge of the urban area Closed Toll System Patrons pay the toll based on miles of travel and category of vehicle plazas are located at all the entry and exit points

4. Methods of Toll Collection Manual Toll Collection R equires a toll collector or attendant Processing time is highest. Automatic Toll Collection B ased on the use of Automated Coin Machine Accept both coins and tokens issued by the operating agency. Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) Automatically identifies a vehicle equipped with a valid encoded data tag or transponder vehicles need not stop to pay the toll. Electronic Toll Collection (ETC ) Manual Toll Collection

5. Terminology Throughput : It is the number of vehicles passing through the toll plaza over a short period of time, usually 1 hour. Demand: It is the sum of throughput and the number of vehicles queued up at the toll plaza during 1 hour. Processing Time : It is the difference between the time a vehicle leaves and the time when it enters the toll area. The entry time is taken from the moment a vehicle stops in the queue . Queueing Area : It is the area of the toll plaza where the number of lanes of incoming vehicles increase from the number of lanes on highway to the number of tollbooths.

6. Merging Area: It is the area of the toll plaza where the number of lanes of outgoing vehicles decrease from the number of tollbooths to the number of lanes on highway Optimal Toll Plaza Configuration: It is the one which minimizes the expected time a driver must spend while travelling through the system . Toll Plaza Geometry

7. Merging types A t a single point (left); with rightmost lanes ending (center ); in a balanced pattern (right) Q ueuing area and toll booths

8. Optimum Number of Toll Booths Using Queuing Theory Aim : Keeping the “Total delay time to be minimum ” Total wasted time = Queueing Delay + Merging Delay Queueing delay : Waiting time in the que to pay toll Merging delay : Waiting or slowing down to allow another vehicle in the adjacent lane to pass Queueing delay Merging delay

9. Assumptions The traffic flow is constant in a short period. The time between two cars entering the toll plaza is of exponential distribution. The traffic streams fan out into tollbooths smoothly and evenly. The drivers are delayed by waiting in lines for toll collection. The drivers are delayed by toll collection, and the delay is distributed exponentially. The drivers are delayed by the merging process after leaving the tollbooths. The toll plaza adopts the side merging layout at the exit.

10. Basic characteristics of queueing system: A rrival pattern of Vehicles Service pattern of servers N umber of servers S ystem capacity Q ueue discipline Wasted time at the tollbooth ( Wa ) where , μ a = Service rate at a tollbooth ( veh / hr ) Ø = Total traffic flow ( veh / hr ), T = Numberof tollbooths

11. Wasted time at merging area number of merging points = (T −N) By Little’s theorem, the average waiting time in the system t sys ( λ ) The average wasted time of a driver at a merging point is the difference between t sys and the time he or she would spend on a normal lane 1/μ

12. Therefore the average wasted time of a driver where μ B = Service rate when merging of vehicles takes place ( veh / hr ) μ = Service rate when no merging of vehicles takes place ( veh / hr ), λ = Vehicle arrival rate = (k/T) × Ø ( veh / hr ) K = No. of conflicting lanes at a merging point. k has a range between [2, T − N + 1]

13. The overall wasted time in merging (W B ) The Total Wasted Time ( W total ) for the vehicle (Tollbooth + Merging)

14. Optimum Number of Toll Booths

15. Numerical:1 Calculate the Total delay time in toll plaza if the total no of tolls are 3 on a single-lane highway. The total traffic flow on the highway is 800 veh /hr. Assume the following data: Service rate of Tollbooth = 400 veh / hr ; Service rate when merging of vehicles takes place =1500 veh / hr ; Service rate when no merging of vehicles takes place =2500 veh /hr. Solution: Given N=1 lane; Ø = 800 veh / hr ; μ A = 400 veh / hr ; μ B = 1500 veh / hr ; μ = 2500 veh /hr . Total Delay?

16. Wasted time at tollbooth W A = 1/(400−(800/ 3) )= 0.0075 hr/veh = 27 sec/veh . Wasted time at merging area k= ranges between [ 2, T-N+1 ]. In this case (T=3) k lies between [2,3] When K=2 λ at first merging point = ( 2/3 ) × 800 = 533.3veh/hr . T diff = 1.166 sec . W B for the 1st merging point = ( 2/3 ) × 1.166 = 0.777sec When K=3 λ at second merging point = ( 3/3 ) × 800 = 800 veh / hr T diff = 2.48 sec . W B for the 2st merging point =( 3/3 )×2.48 = 2.48sec . Total W B =0.777+2.48 = 3.257 sec/ veh . W total = W A +W B = 27.0 + 3.257 = 30.257 sec .

17. Numerical:2 Calculate the optimum number of tollbooths to be installed on a toll plaza, proposed to be built on a single-lane highway. The total traffic flow on the highway is 900 veh /hr. Assume the following data: Service rate of Tollbooth = 350 veh / hr ; Service rate when merging of vehicles takes place = 1184.9 veh / hr ; and Service rate when no merging of vehicles takes place = 3017.1 veh /hr . Solution: Given N=1 lane; Ø= 900 veh / hr ; μ A = 350 veh / hr ; μ B = 1184.9 veh / hr ; μ = 3017.1 veh /hr . Determine the total vehicle delays for different values of tollbooths (T ). Find optimal from the set..!

18. Let T=4; W A = 1/(350 900/4) = 0.008 hr / veh = 28.8 sec/ veh . k ranges between [2, T −N + 1] in this case (T=4) i.e. [2,4] at first merging point = (2/4) * 900 = 450 veh /hr. T diff =1.307 sec . Hence, W B = (2/4) * 1.307 + (3/4) * 3.046 + (4/4) * 8.018 = 6.176 sec . W total = 28.8 + 6.176 = 34.976 sec. k λ ( veh / hr ) T diff (sec) Weightage for W B 2 450 1.307 2/4 3 675 3.046 3/4 4 900 8.018 4/4 T W A W B W total 4 28.8 6.176 34.976 6 18 13.839 31.839 8 15.15 16.805 31.955 10 13.846 19.815 33.661

19. Toll Plaza Capacity and Level of Service Capacity represents the service time in seconds for Vehicle Type i and Toll Collection Type j = α t 1j t 1j = service time for an automobile (Type 1) and Toll Collection Type j, α = automobile equivalent at toll areas for Vehicle Type Two categories of vehicles: automobiles and (trucks and buses) = β j t i1 t i1 = service time for Vehicle Type i and manual toll collection (Type 1 ) β j = conversion factor for Type j collection to manual toll collection  

20. Therefore the capacity of a toll booth with Collection Type j is = If there are booths with Collection Type j, the capacity of a toll plaza would be C = = n 1 + ……. + n j C = Capacity and C are both expressed in terms of passenger cars per hour Vehicle length and the ability to accelerate are the two major factors that affect the service time  

21. Level of Service Wide range of speeds exist at tolls Hence ‘density’ and ‘v/c’ are considered to determine LOS Where A = total area in length-lanes, A1 = area in length-lanes for convergence section, A2 area in length-lanes for re convergence section, n1 = number of arrival lanes, n2 = number of booths, n3 = number of departure lanes, L1 = length of convergence section, aud L2 = length of reconvergence section

22. T = average total time to travel through the toll plaza area Q = the number of vehicles appearing within this area, flow rate i = vehicle type, and a and t denote vehicle types of automobiles and trucks, respectively. Therefore the Density of a toll plaza area is

23. Based on v/c ratio and density the level of service for toll plaza areas can be determined Limitations Geometric Condition- no ramps, curves should be near by Vehicle Category – Considered only two categories of vehicles Toll Collection Method – no advanced toll collecting equipment is used LOS Density (pc/mi/ln) v/c A <12 0.24 B <20 0.40 C <30 0.57 D <42 0.74 E <67 1.00 F >67 -

24. Service time of a toll both: An imaginary reference line located 55 ft from attendant, that the point over which the rear of a vehicle passes when the following vehicle just stops to pay the toll. 12.87 to 14.88 sec for trucks 5.11 to 5.47 sec for automobiles . Capacity For general booth :650 to 705 pc per hour without a lifting barrier is between 665 and 745 pc per hour With a lifting barrier has a capacity of 600 pc per hour

25. Numerical 3

26. Configuration of Toll plaza The fee collection system shall be S peedy E fficient and User friendly. Typical layout of a toll plaza (IRC:SP:84-2014)

27. General design specifications Lane width = 3.2 m in general and 4.1 m for oversize vehicles . Traffic islands at toll plaza: 25 m length and 1 .9 m width Minimum length of islands shall be 35 m where 22.5 m on approach side . Transition of 1 in 20 to 1 in 10 may be provided from four-lane section to the widened width at Toll Plaza on either side. (IRC:SP:84-2014)

28. Number of Toll lanes guidelines generally followed Peak Hour Factor: Percentage of vehicles travelling during the peak hour to the average daily traffic . forecast traffic for at least 5 years only tollable categories . If the queue becomes so long that the waiting time exceeds three minutes then the number of tollbooths need to be increased. Number of Semi Automatic Toll gates in each direction

29. Traffic Signs The driver should be reminded of a toll plaza at least 1km ahead of its existence. Another reminder should be given at 500m from the plaza. STOP sign should be marked on the pavement at the toll lanes. Signs should be installed to inform the users about the toll price for different categories of vehicles. Electronic signs should be installed over the toll booths to display their operation status.

30. Road Markings Comprise of the diagonals, lanes and chevron markings Typical Layout building and Associated Facilities and Pavement markings (IRC:SP:84-2014)

31. Toll Pricing T o recover the total capital outlay T oll should not exceed the benefits which the user receive Benefits Savings in travel time, travel cost Increase in comfort and convenience Factors Affecting Toll Rates Traffic Volume Willingness to pay Optimum Toll Charges Toll rate should be fixed in such a way that a vehicle owner should not shy away from using the facility . The operator should get maximum toll revenue so that it can recover the total outlay cost in a reasonable period .

32. Case Study : Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway Toll Plaza (wikipedia.org/wiki/ Delhi_Gurgaon_Expressway )

33. Specifications Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway is a 6 to 8-lane expressway built on NH-8 Serving between Delhi and Gurgaon, and to the domestic and international airports P rovides access to over 1 million commuters every day The 36-lane toll plaza at KM 24 is the largest toll plaza in South Asia and the second largest in the Asia Location of toll plaza Traffic composition

34. Configuration 36 LANES Space for CAR : 3.20 m and heavy vehicles: 4 m P edestrian was 1.8 meters wide S ign boards for toll plaza are available for the maximum distance of 800 meters. Toll Charges for Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway (http://nhai.org.in/spw/TollInformationdg.aspx)

35. Advantages Time saving with high level of service Electronic toll collections- 800 to 1000 cars can be processed by smart tag lane in 1 hour Lower travelling cost Highest maintenance standards and Good utilization of resources . Safety for all the road users - SOS pillars can be used for emergency Disadvantages Inadequate in handling the increasing traffic Far away from the natural landscape and aesthetic quality Effecting neighboring road network resulting narrow entries and exits Overflowing drain water in the vicinity of toll Peak hour traffic jams