To develop the Brooklyn‐Queens Expressway Mobility Evaluation Tool (BQE‐MET) which will serve as a traffic modelling and analysis platform to assess a range of planning proposals and potential maintenance and protection of traffic (MPT) plans for the rehabilitation and/or replacement of the BQE cantilever sections and related changes to the highway system in Brooklyn and Queens. The BQE‐MET will also serve as a robust traffic data repository for relevant information that was collected to support model development.
In order to encapsulate all potential regional traffic diversions as a result of the BQE triple cantilever rehabilitation the BQE‐MET will be composed of 2 simulation models, a larger macroscopic area defined by the orange boundary in the image below and a smaller mesoscopic area as defined by the green boundary. Both models will be based on the New York Best Practice Model (NYBPM). The purpose of the macroscopic level of detail is to capture diversions that may occur outside of the scope of the mesoscopic area. The mesoscopic model will include 4 time periods, AM Peak, Midday, PM Peak and Overnight.
To develop a model of this size, a massive data collection effort will be completed. This will include counts, travel times, origin‐destination patterns, bus transit routes, geometric designs, and signal timings. This data will be reduced and summarized to aid in the calibration and validation of the simulation model. As a result, the model will also serve as a data repository of all relevant traffic data throughout the study area.
Due to the sophisticated nature of the roadway network within the study area, a number of automation processes will be developed to help expedite model development. These include, but are not limited to signal timing import, real data set importation, roadway geometry and node configurations. To ensure the importation processes and network coding was done accurately, KLD along with a team of modelers will oversee each step of the importation process.
The project team includes Weidlinger/Thornton Tomasetti, HDR, KLD, and InfoTran Engineering.
Road network within the study area