Ramp metering in The Netherlands

Abstract

Dynamic traffic management is an important part of the Dutch transport policy. All kinds of measures have been implemented and assessed on the motorway network, such as the motorway traffic management system with speed limits and queue tail warning, ramp metering, variable message signs, dedicated lanes, peak lanes, incident management, etc. In this paper the focus is on ramp metering, which is the management of traffic on an on-ramp, depending on the traffic conditions on the motorway and the on-ramp. The main purpose is the improvement of traffic conditions on the motorway, taking into account the conditions on the on-ramp and surface roads. History, principles, assessment studies and future plans are discussed.