On the Capacity of Highway Checkpoints: Models for Unconventional Configurations

Widening a highway toll plaza, border crossing or other checkpoint by adding travel lanes and vehicleprocessing stations in parallel fashion can be expensive, and sometimes even infeasible. Rather than expanding laterally, checkpoint capacities can be increased by branching or staggering the vehicleprocessing stations, or by placing them in tandem. Analytical models are formulated to estimate the vehicle-processing capacities achievable via these layouts. The models indicate that tandem designs tend to produce the highest capacities among the three alternatives. Other insights are unveiled as well.