Insight through innovation: a dynamic approach to demand based toll plaza lane staffing

For many years the operations of toll plazas have been studied to determine the optimal number of toll lanes staffed during specific times of the day. The goal in this type of analysis is to increase or decrease staffing to match peak and off-peak demand. The paper presents a comprehensive approach to modeling toll plaza vehicle processing and evaluating alternate toll collector staffing scenarios. Utilizing a General Purpose Simulation System (GPSS) World simulation model, an effective tool was developed to evaluate toll plaza queuing dynamics and provide insight into their relationship to the quality of service provided.