The Greater San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California has experienced significant growth over the last two decades. This growth is anticipated to continue through year 2010, especially in Contra Costa and Solano Counties. Initial studies have identified the I-780, I-680, and I-80 freeway corridors as critical links for the emerging growth areas in Contra Costa and Solano Counties, and identified the need for an integrated transportation system. These studies have identified the need for additional capacity on I-680, I-780, I-80, and the Benicia-Martinez Bridge, additional toll plaza capacity, and ramp metering as potential actions for detailed study. This paper describes the application of the WATSim software as a tool in the evaluation and selection of a set of improvements for the freeway corridor, as well as in the evaluation of alternative toll plaza operations such as full-service versus exact-change booths and electronic toll collection technology. The paper describes the methodology and issues related to WATSim's use in analyzing conditions in saturated networks, and evaluation of the improvements as a system, rather than simply isolated freeway segments and arterial networks. (A)
Abstract