Ramp meters nationwide
What other areas use ramp metering?
The largest ramp metering system in North America is located in Los Angeles County with more than 1000 meters. Since 1989, the number of meters nationwide has increased from about 1,600 to over 2,300. By the end of 1999, at least 33 metro areas had meters operating (source: Federal Highway Administration), including:
| Metropolitan Areas with more than 50 meters | Metropolitan Areas with less than 50 meters |
|---|---|
| Chicago, IL Los Angeles, CA Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN New York, NY Orange County, CA Phoenix, AZ Portland, OR San Diego, CA San Jose/San Francisco, CA Seattle, WA |
Atlanta, GA Columbus, OH Denver, CO Detroit, MI Fresno, CA Houston, TX Milwaukee, WI Northern Virginia, VA Riverside, CA Sacramento, CA San Antonio, TX San Bernardino, CA Toronto, ON |
How do these metering systems differ from one another?
There are two basic metering control strategies. One is "local control," in which a ramp meter operates based on conditions only on the ramp and the mainline point adjacent to the meter. Variations of this strategy are located in Chicago and Toronto.
The second strategy is "central control." Ramp meters and traffic detectors communicate with a central computer, typically located at a Traffic Management Center. The central computer processes the information and tries to coordinate timing among several ramp meters within a corridor. Several cities have centrally controlled systems including Seattle, Denver, San Diego and the Twin Cities. Each city, though, has its own strategies and goals for operation. Denver, Seattle, and the Twin Cities are examples of cities that incorporate information from queue detectors into the ramp meter timing.
MnDOT regulates meters based on a set of complex mathematical formulas. The formulas take into account various congestion level thresholds - including volume data (information on the numbers of vehicles actually traveling through the system). The more than 5,000 loop detectors (sensors) located in the pavement throughout the Metro area, collect the data. A computer at the Regional Transportation Management Center polls these sensors every 30 seconds. If there is sufficient traffic on the ramp and mainline, then the computer activates the meter. If there is very little traffic, the meter remains in a flashing yellow mode.
How effective is ramp metering?
| Performance Measure | Location and Result |
|---|---|
| Travel time | Atlanta – 10% decrease in peak period Houston – 22% decrease in peak period Arlington – 10% decrease in peak period |
| Travel speed | Milwaukee – 35% increase in peak period Portland –155% increase in peak period Detroit - 8% increase Los Angeles – 15 miles per hour faster |
| Crash rate | Phoenix – 16% decrease during metered hours Milwaukee- 15% decrease in peak period |
| Crash frequency | Portland –43% decrease Sacramento – 50% decrease Los Angeles – 20% decrease |
| Driver hours saved | Sacramento – 50% decrease Los Angeles – 8,470 hours per day |
| Vehicle volume | Milwaukee – 22% increase in peak period Sacramento – 5% increase in peak period Detroit -14% increase in volume Los Angeles – increase of 900 vehicles per day |
| Gallons of fuel saved | Portland – 700 gallons per weekday |
| Emissions reduction | Minneapolis - reduction of 1,160 tons annually |
| Benefit/Cost ratio | Atlanta – about 4:1 in year 1, about 20:1 after five years |