A Methodological Framework to Assess Road Infrastructure Safety and Performance Efficiency in the Transition toward Cooperative Driving

Maria Luisa Tumminello, Elżbieta Macioszek, Anna Granà () and Tullio Giuffrè
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Maria Luisa Tumminello: Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze ed 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Elżbieta Macioszek: Department of Transport Systems, Traffic Engineering and Logistics, Faculty of Transport and Aviation Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Krasińskiego 8 Street, 40-019 Katowice, Poland
Anna Granà: Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze ed 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Tullio Giuffrè: Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, University of Enna Kore, Viale della Cooperazione, 94100 Enna, Italy

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 12, 1-20

Abstract: There is increasing interest in connected and automated vehicles (CAVs), since their implementation will transform the nature of transportation and promote social and economic change. Transition toward cooperative driving still requires the understanding of some key questions to assess the performances of CAVs and human-driven vehicles on roundabouts and to properly balance road safety and traffic efficiency requirements. In this view, this paper proposes a simulation-based methodological framework aiming to assess the presence of increasing proportions of CAVs on roundabouts operating at a high-capacity utilization level. A roundabout was identified in Palermo City, Italy, and built in Aimsun (version 20) to describe the stepwise methodology. The CAV-based curves of capacity by entry mechanism were developed and then used as target capacities. To calibrate the model parameters, the capacity curves were compared with the capacity data simulated by Aimsun. The impact on the safety and performance efficiency of a lane dedicated to CAVs was also examined using surrogate measures of safety. The paper ends with highlighting a general improvement with CAVs on roundabouts, and with providing some insights to assess the advantages of the automated and connected driving technologies in transitioning to smarter mobility.

Keywords: roundabout; microsimulation; surrogate safety measures; road safety; connected and automated vehicles; traffic operations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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