Freeway work zone effects on vehicular fuel consumption explored by a four-lane model

A four-lane model is put forward to explore the effects on vehicular fuel consumption of a freeway work zone which has a length of 100 m and occupies lanes III and IV. The model equations are solved numerically in the simulation of vehicular flows by a method called WENO5-RK3. A vehicular fuel consumption model is presented, with an additional fuel consumption defined in comparison with the case in the absence of a work zone. Simulation results show that the freeway work zone affects vehicular fuel consumption significantly, triggers a traffic jam as soon as initial density normalized by jam density is beyond 0.18.

Automated summary

This article investigates the effects of a freeway work zone on vehicular fuel consumption using a four-lane model. Numerical simulations were conducted using the WENO5-RK3 method to solve the model equations. The results show that the work zone significantly affects vehicular fuel consumption and can trigger traffic congestion under certain conditions.