Towards the Estimation of Macroscopic Traffic Parameters in Shared Space Network Links: An Empirical Study

This study focuses on the concept of shared space, which encourage road users to share the same road space with little physical or visual separation. It contributes to defining traffic parameters in shared space network links by testing three hypotheses, i.e., a) high volume of bicycles and pedestrians (vulnerable road users or VRUs) leads to higher traffic complexity particularly in shared space, b) higher traffic complexity results in lower traffic speeds and c) traffic operations do not differ in shared space compared to conventional road links, when motorized traffic dominates. To meet the research objective, a traffic experiment in Amalias Street in Nafplio is designed. This road is chosen as it is divided into 2 main sections, namely: conventional road section and shared space road section. The collected datasets refer to VRU volumes, VRU crossing movements, time headways and traffic speeds. By applying multiple linear regression, empirical models that describe VRU crossings and traffic speeds are developed for each section. In addition, the impacts of the identified relationships in road capacity are mathematically simulated assuming a triangular fundamental diagram. The results show that that a shared space road environment leads to higher number of VRU crossings, especially when the vehicle time headways are considerably high. VRU crossings have a negative impact on speeds in the shared space section, but in the conventional road section, this relationship was proved insignificant. Lastly, VRU volumes higher than 1000 VRU/h in shared space are capable to cause significant capacity drops, which can exceed the 110 veh/h.

• Record URL:
  https://annualmeeting.mytrb.org/OnlineProgram/Details/17554
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ACH10 Standing Committee on Pedestrians.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  ,    
• Authors:
  • Tzouras, Panagiotis G
  • Karolemeas, Christos
  • Kepaptsoglou, Konstantinos
  • Vlahogianni, Eleni
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 101st Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2022-1-9 to 2022-1-13
• Date: 2022

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Maps; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 18p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Highway capacity; Pedestrian movement; Traffic speed; Traffic volume; Urban design; Vulnerable road users
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01857514
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: TRBAM-22-00192
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Sep 13 2022 9:09AM