Time-Dependent Delays at Traffic Merges

Abstract

The expected wait of a side-road driver at an unsignalized intersection or merge point is investigated. The method is that of numerical inversion of the Laplace transform of the time-dependent expected wait in a simple queuing model. The effect of various operational factors, such as mix of “fast” and “slow” side-road drivers, upon approach to conventional steady-state values is exhibited. The development of waits when the intersection is saturated is also illustrated. An approximation procedure is suggested; numerical evaluation suggests that it will often be adequate.