Operating Times and Users’ Behavior at Urban Road Intersections

Laura Moretti, Fabio Palazzi and Giuseppe Cantisani
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Laura Moretti: Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, 00184 Rome, Italy
Fabio Palazzi: Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, 00184 Rome, Italy
Giuseppe Cantisani: Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, 00184 Rome, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 10, 1-15

Abstract: The safety of at grade road intersections is a relevant issue with social, economic, and environmental implications. It is related to the behavior of a driver approaching an intersection that, in its turn, is affected by kinematic and physiological variables. This study proposes a model to calculate the intersection operation time (IOT) for typical non-signalized 4-leg and 3-leg (or T-leg) urban intersections. Data available in the literature have been considered in order to identify the points of interest and assess the number and the time of a driver’s eye fixation on them. When approaching an intersection, the probability of glancing in a particular area changes with the distance to the yield or stop line; for this reason, a probabilistic approach was used to model the phenomenon. All possible maneuvers have been considered: left turning, right turning, and through-movement. The proposed model allowed an objective comparison between time spent by drivers for various maneuvers and layout conditions, and identification of the critical conditions. Indeed, significant differences in terms of IOT were found: they could lead to modification of the traffic management considering different needs of road users, traffic demand, and geometrical and functional constraints.

Keywords: intersection operation time; 4-leg intersection; 3-leg intersection; driver’s behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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