Operational Improvements at Traffic Circles

This study deals with the development of a credible and valid simulation model of the Collingwood, Brooklawn, and Asbury traffic circles in New Jersey. These simulation models are used to evaluate various geometric and operational improvement alternatives. An extensive review of the available simulation packages is presented. PARAMICS microscopic simulation software was selected due to its capability of modeling and simulating complex roadway structures and driver behavior. The simulation models of these circles were developed using PARAMICS. These models were validated and calibrated using the extensive field data collected as part of this project. The specifics of the collected data, and the extraction procedure are also explained in the report. The development of the simulation models and the validation and calibration steps are presented in detail. The study observed that the efficiency of these traffic circles is directly related to the gap acceptance/rejection of vehicles at yield-controlled or stop-controlled intersections, and the interarrival time of vehicles at the approaches. Therefore, at each selected location, gap acceptance/rejection models are developed based on the extracted data. The Application Programming Interface (API) of PARAMICS is used to incorporate site specific gap acceptance/rejection models. Also, to model realistic interarrival times at the approaches, the traffic signals at the vicinity of the circles are modeled using actual signal timing parameters.

• Record URL:
  http://www.nj.gov/transportation/business/research/reports/FHWA-NJ-2008-012.pdf
• 
• Summary URL:
  http://www.nj.gov/transportation/business/research/reports/FHWA-NJ-2008-012-TB.pdf
• Corporate Authors:

  Rutgers University, Piscataway

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 623 Bowser Road
  Piscataway, NJ  United States  08854

  Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

  Center for Infrastructure and Transportation Studies
  Troy, NY  United States  12180

  New Jersey Department of Transportation

  Division of Research and Technology, P.O. Box 600
  Trenton, NJ  United States  08625-0600

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Ozbay, Kaan
  • Bartin, Bekir
  • Rathi, Neha
  • List, George
  • Demers, Alixandra
  • Wojtowicz, Jeffrey M
• Publication Date: 2008-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 101p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Calibration; Gap acceptance; Improvements; Microsimulation; Traffic circles; Traffic simulation; Validation
• Identifier Terms: Paramics (Computer program)
• Uncontrolled Terms: Application software; Field data; Vehicle interarrival time
• Geographic Terms: New Jersey
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01129898
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-NJ-2008-012
• Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jun 2 2009 2:47PM