A case study on multi-lane roundabouts under congestion:Comparing software capacity and delay estimates with field data  

作　　者：Xuanwu Chen Ming S.Lee 

机构地区：[1]Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,Florida International University,Miami,FL 33174,USA [2]Issaquah,WA 98029,USA

出　　处：《Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering(English Edition)》2016年第2期154-165,共12页交通运输工程学报（英文版）

基　　金：sponsored by Alaska University Transportation Center(AUTC,No.RR08.08);Alaska Department of Transportation(AK DOT)

摘　　要：Existing studies on modern roundabouts performance are mostly based on data fron： singe lane roundabouts that are not heavily congested. For planners and designers interested in building multilane roundabouts for intersections with potential growth i~ future traffic, there has been a lack of existing studies with field data that provide reference values in terms of capacity and delay measurements. With the intent of providing such reference values, a case study was conducted by using the East DowlinC Road Roundabouts in Anchorage, Alaska, which are currently operating with extensive queues during the evening peak hours. This research used multiple video camcorders t（ capture vehicle turning movements at the roundabouts as well as the progressior~ of vehicle queues at the roundabout entrance approaches. With these video records, the number of vehicles in the queues can be accurately counted in any single minute during the peak hours. This study shows that unbalanced entrance flow patterns （i.e., ~ne entrance has significant higher flow than others） can intensify the queue and delay fo., the overall roundabouts. Then various software packages including RODEL, SIDRA and VISSIM were used to estimate several performance measurements, such as capacity. queue length, and delay, compared with the collected field data. With the comparison, it is found that all the three software packages overestimate multi-lane roundabout ca pacity before calibration. With default parameters, SIDRA and VISSIM tend to underes timate delays and queue lengths for the multi-lane roundabouts under congestion, while RODEL results in higher delay and queue length estimations at most of the entrance approaches.Existing studies on modern roundabouts performance are mostly based on data fron： singe lane roundabouts that are not heavily congested. For planners and designers interested in building multilane roundabouts for intersections with potential growth i~ future traffic, there has been a lack of existing studies with field data that provide reference values in terms of capacity and delay measurements. With the intent of providing such reference values, a case study was conducted by using the East DowlinC Road Roundabouts in Anchorage, Alaska, which are currently operating with extensive queues during the evening peak hours. This research used multiple video camcorders t（ capture vehicle turning movements at the roundabouts as well as the progressior~ of vehicle queues at the roundabout entrance approaches. With these video records, the number of vehicles in the queues can be accurately counted in any single minute during the peak hours. This study shows that unbalanced entrance flow patterns （i.e., ~ne entrance has significant higher flow than others） can intensify the queue and delay fo., the overall roundabouts. Then various software packages including RODEL, SIDRA and VISSIM were used to estimate several performance measurements, such as capacity. queue length, and delay, compared with the collected field data. With the comparison, it is found that all the three software packages overestimate multi-lane roundabout ca pacity before calibration. With default parameters, SIDRA and VISSIM tend to underes timate delays and queue lengths for the multi-lane roundabouts under congestion, while RODEL results in higher delay and queue length estimations at most of the entrance approaches.

关 键 词：Multi-lane roundabout Roundabout performance Capacity Delay Queue length Traffic simulation 

分 类 号：U491[交通运输工程—交通运输规划与管理]