The toll plaza optimization problem: Design, operations, and strategies

This paper presents comprehensive decision-making procedures for designing a new toll plaza with the right initial capacity, then finding the optimal dynamic lane configuration for operations, evaluating the effects of increasing future traffic volume on waiting time by sensitivity analysis, and establishing a long-term quantitative strategy by transferring low-throughput lane users to high-throughput lanes. We develop a non-linear integer programming model integrated with the M/G/1 queueing process. A case study based on actual data demonstrates how effective the model and the strategy are in reducing operating and user-waiting costs and, thus, improving overall system performance at toll plazas.