Implementation of Variable Speed Limits: Preliminary Test on Whitemud Drive, Edmonton, Canada.

Congestion has become highly recognized as a worldwide traffic problem, as traffic demand has grown steadily over the past few decades. Variable speed limits (VSLs) are an intelligent transportation system (ITS) measure that limits mainline flow to mitigate bottleneck congestion. Currently, VSLs have become proactive based on short-term prediction. Proactive VSLs succeed in simulation evaluations, but few have been deployed in the field and their real-world effectiveness has not been proven. Various factors may lead to this limitation, such as the absence of reliable field application software, accuracy of prediction models, and high computation time for proactive control. To address this research gap, this study reports a preliminary VSL test and details its implementation results on Whitemud Drive, Edmonton, Canada. First, based on field traffic measurements before VSL control, recurrent bottleneck locations are identified. Second, the proactive control algorithm is briefly introduced. Then, a software application is designed to realize all necessary functions for VSL field implementation.With all these in hand, the preliminary field test was conducted and the VSL control performance and reliability are evaluated. Finally, the results for before and after VSL control implementation are analyzed in depth. The analysis compares average traffic speed, standard deviation of speed, total travel time, and total travel distance. The results from this study confirm that proactive VSL can relieve recurrent traffic congestion effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]