LANE OCCUPATION MODELS IN MOTORWAY SECTIONS BEFORE A TOLL-GATE STATION

The paper analyses lane occupation in some three lane motorway sections preceding a toll-gate station. Using data collected on a Northern Italian motorway over a period of about nine months and by treating them appropriately the distribution of flow over the three lanes for four sections is studied. This distribution depends on the three fundamental variables, speed, flow and density, but also on composition of flow (percentage of heavy vehicles), environmental variables (brightness and visibility) and on which section is considered (near or far a toll-gate).