Effects of Lane Imbalance on Capacity Drop and Emission in Expressway Merging Areas: A Simulation Analysis

Lane imbalance does not provide sufficient space for merging vehicles to adjust their speed and change lanes smoothly. This leads to improper driving behavior that disrupts mainline traffic flow stability, resulting in capacity drops and increased vehicle emissions. However, quantitative analyses, specifically the effects of lane imbalance on capacity and emissions, remain limited. Existing traffic simulation platforms struggle to capture the effects of geometric design changes on capacity. To address these gaps, we developed a simulation method incorporating interactions between geometric design and traffic flow demand into an XGBoost model, enhancing the predictive accuracy for driving behavior parameters. Implemented within the TESS NG platform, this model enables real-time adjustments in driving behavior parameters as traffic demand varies under different lane balance conditions. The simulation results indicated a 42.4% capacity drop and a 34.9% increase in CO2 emissions when the balanced merging area was shifted to lane imbalance. Conversely, shifting to lane balance increases capacity by 8.2% and reduces CO2 emissions by 39.8% under severe congestion conditions. Under lane imbalance, vehicle speeds are lower across all traffic demand levels. When the demand exceeds 1300 pcu/h/ln, lane changes occur closer to the end of the acceleration lane, with higher speed differentials. These insights underscore the potential of lane balance optimization to mitigate capacity drops and emissions, providing a valuable simulation approach for the design and evaluation of merging areas.