Optimum assignment of a reversible lane in an oversaturated two-way traffic link.

For this research, it is assumed that a 2-way traffic link such as the Lincoln Tunnel of New York City is oversaturated both ways during a rush period. A reversible lane exists involving a fixed penalty of idle time during the process of reversal of the direction of traffic. A method is given for finding the assignment of this lane, during peak traffic hours, that minimizes the total delay to the users of the tunnel who queue up in both directions. The influence of constraints on the permisslble size of one of the queues is also discussed, as well as possible adaptive features which may account for fluctuations of the demands over the expected design input.