Preferred time headway of drivers on two-lane highways with heterogeneous traffic
2017; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 11; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/19427867.2017.1312859
ISSN1942-7875
AutoresPritam Saha, Rupali Roy, Ashoke Kumar Sarkar, Manish Pal,
Tópico(s)Traffic and Road Safety
ResumoThis paper presents an investigation on the adequacy of one of the major performance indicators for two-lane highways, the percent-time-spent-following (PTSF) under changing driver's behavior in choosing headways. Field study was conducted on a two-lane highway in India that exhibits heterogeneity in its traffic composition and a wide range of flow levels was covered while collecting data. The appropriate headway distributions were selected based on goodness-of-fit test. Exponential or Erlang distributions exhibit their aptness in describing headways up to a volume to capacity ratio of 0.3 and gamma and exponential distributions were compatible for headway data corresponding to a volume to capacity ratio of 0.4 and above. Around 40% drivers were observed to adopt headways 2 s or less at heavy flow when a car-following situation prevails; these headways are considered unsafe in several instances. Further, speed–headway relationships were established to assess a headway threshold beyond which vehicles could be considered free. Empirical investigation indicates a value of about 6 s under such traffic unlike 3 s as considered in PTSF estimation. Another major implication on PTSF is a few drivers move in a platoon by choice even if they have a gap of more than 6 s and passing opportunities.
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