case study

Identifying Pinch Points on the road network

A case study that analyses Heathcote Road, over the Woronora Bridge, to find pinch points that pose a safety risk and impact traffic flow.

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The client wanted to understand if the width of the Heathcote Road Bridge over the Woronora River was causing drivers to brake suddenly and violently due to the narrowness of the lanes. A study was done to analyse how motorists interacted with that specific section of road.

Using connected vehicle data, the client analysed G-forces, braking and accelerating to identify driver behaviour to confirm the hypothesis that the lanes were too narrow and justify widening the bridge.

This graph shows high g-forces along the bridge across a whole range of speeds.

This graph shows intense acceleration around 60km/h and intense braking across the range of speed.

From the other direction. Intense g-force is found travelling through the bridge.

From the other direction you can see intense braking across even at lower speeds. Evidence of both directions indicate a pinch point.

The results found that vehicles approaching the bridge would slow down and then speed up as they exited. Along with those actions, empirical data showed that the vehicles were braking at a sudden enough level that indicated abnormal actions and justify widening the bridge to prevent further congestion.

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Identifying Pinch Points on the road network

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