Management of highways to improve energy efficiency

Andrés Monzón
Natalia Sobrino
Sara Hernandez
Transportation Research Center Polytechnic University of Madrid

ABSTRACT

The effects of transport on climate change have become a concern worldwide. Transport accounts for 41% of emissions CO2 in Spain, and about 65% of that figure to road traffic. Toll roads are managed at present on the basis of economic criteria: minimize operating costs and maximize revenue from tolls. In this context, this paper develops a new methodology for managing motorways based on a target maximum energy efficiency. Includes technological and demand-driven, applied to two case studies policies. This study shows several findings. The results indicate that to minimize the carbon footprint is necessary to design sustainable strategies to manage each motorway section. This means using the full capacity as total traffic flows of cars and heavy vehicles on motorways and on parallel roads. Another important conclusion is that could achieve significant reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases in the sections apply toll-do programs ETC (electronic toll collection) and ORT (open toll).

KEYWORDS

Energy efficiency, Traffic Management, Operation toll plazas.