Search results for "roundabouts"

Gap-accepteance parameters for roundabouts: a systematic review

2015

Purpose The critical and follow-up headways are the two gap-acceptance parameters which explain the traffic interaction of a minor street vehicle when enters the roundabout, merging into or crossing one or more circulating (major) streams.Severalstudiesandresearchesprovidemeasurements of critical and follow-up headways from real data at roundabouts. The objective of our research is to synthesize the data from the series of selected studies to interpret variation across the studies. Methods In order to match the research goal, a systematic literaturereviewonestimationsofcriticalandfollow-upheadways at roundabouts was undertaken. Since several studies andresearchesdevelopedworldwidewereexamin…

Calibration of microscopic traffic simulation models for evaluating operation and safety performance at roundabouts

Estimation of measures of effectiveness (MOE) for the C- Roundabouts

2013

The C-roundabout (cyclist roundabout) is a new multi-lane roundabout designed to improve the safety of cyclists at and make multi-lane roundabouts more cyclist-friendly. The geometric layout of C-Roundabouts allows the decrease of the vehicle speeds through the roundabout to around 30 km/h. The rare C-roundabout installations so far implemented in the world have not allowed analysing the capacity by means empirical data. In the light of this considerations, the main objective of the paper is to give a theoretical closed-form model for evaluation the measures of effectiveness “MOE” (capacity, delay, queues) of the C-Roundabouts.

Impacts of roundabouts in suburban areas on congestion-specific vehicle speed profiles, pollutant and noise emissions: an empirical analysis

2019

Abstract Increasing concern about global warming and air quality has meant an increasing use of energetic and environmental indicators in roundabout design. This research compares different suburban roundabouts in terms of traffic performance, pollutant and noise emissions through an integrated empirical assessment. Field measurements were carried out with a light duty vehicle in single-lane (SL), compact two-lane (CTL) and multi-lane (ML) roundabouts using Portable Emission Measurements Systems, On-Board Diagnostic scan tool and Sound Level Meter, to measure real-world exhaust emissions, engine activity and acoustic data, respectively. Afterwards, predictive discrete choice models that cor…

Performance Analysis of Basic Turbo-Roundabouts in Urban Context

2012

AbstractA turbo roundabout is a new type of canalized multilane intersection in which the physical separation between lanes helps to prevent side collisions when crossing the roundabout. This paper presents an estimation of capacity, delays and level of service of basic turbo roundabouts in undersaturation conditions, considering both vehicle flow and pedestrian traffic. The traffic performance model was developed by evaluating the capacity for each entry lane. Owing to the geometric features of the intersection, the total entry capacity is obtained by considering different values of the pedestrian impedance factor and degree of saturation at both the right-turn and left-turn lanes.

Estimation of air pollutant emissions in flower roundabouts and in conventional roundabouts

2013

Abstract The road pollutant emissions, above all in urban context, are correlated to many infrastructural parameters and to traffic intensity and typology. The research work on road junction geometry, carried out in European research centres, has recently allowed to design new road intersection types which are of undoubted interest, especially in terms of traffic functionality and safety, like the flower roundabouts (in which right-turn manoeuvres do not conflict with the circulating flow). The main objective of this paper is to propose a model for the estimation the capacity, delay, levels of service and the pollutant emissions into flower roundabouts. A comparative analysis between conven…

Improving the sustainability of transportation: environmental and functional benefits of right-turn by pass lanes at roundabouts

2015

The functional performances of conventional roundabouts (single-lane and multi-lane) and innovative roundabouts (spiral, flower, C and turbo) can be improved through right-turn bypass lanes controlled by stop, yield or free-flow signs. The article presents evaluations of the emissions of air pollutants (carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particle pollution (PM10 and PM2.5)), fuel consumption and construction, management, energetic and environmental costs in roundabouts without or with bypass lanes (controlled by stop, yield or free-flow). The suggested methodology has a general character and can be applied as a multi-parametric criterion for choosing road intersections, although, in the prese…

Evaluation of the Safety Performance of Turbo Roundabouts by Means of a Potential Accident Rate Mode

2015

Turbo roundabouts are a particular road intersection layout, designed to increase the safety of double-lane roundabouts, while maintaining their excellent capacity. The main feature of this new concept of roundabout is the impossibility to move from one lane to another, provided by physical barriers marking the lanes. The paper shows an application to turbo roundabouts of a potential accident rate model, aiming to evaluate their safety improvement. Themodel is based on the concept of potential conflict: each vehicle involved in a general intersection performs a series of maneuvers which potentially imply a crash, according to the actual traffic. The number of accidents related to each criti…

How to derive the analytical capacity model for not-conventional urban roundabouts

2008

The inapplicability of current methods for analyzing operations of urban not-conventional roundabouts (i.e. not referable to standard schemes) hampers seriously the assessment of their operational performances. Moreover, local constraints and the road network structure have produced lots of geometric layouts that make hard to propose an only framework to explain performances of not-conventional roundabouts. Also for these intersections it is hoped to have scientifically based methods to analyze operations with a proper reliability. Starting from these considerations, the paper shows the conceptual path followed to analyze operations at not-conventional roundabouts along an arterial of Paler…

Microsimulation-based passenger car equivalents for heavy vehicles driving turbo-roundabouts

2016

Due to its geometric design, turbo-roundabouts impose greatest constraints to the vehicular trajectories; by consequence, one can expect a more unfavourable impact of heavy vehicles on the traffic conditions than on other types of roundabouts. The present paper addresses the question of how to estimate Passenger Car Equivalents (PCEs) for heavy vehicles driving turbo-roundabouts. The microsimulation approach used revealed as a useful tool for evaluating the variation of quality of traffic in presence of mixed fleets (different percentages of heavy vehicles). Based on the output of multiple runs of several scenarios simulation, capacity functions for each entry lane of the turbo-roundabout w…