SAFER FOR CYCLING: EVALUATING SAFETY AND OPERATIONAL EFFECTS OF PROTECTED INTERSECTION GEOMETRIC DESIGN THROUGH MICROSIMULATION

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Preston, A. (2018). SAFER FOR CYCLING: EVALUATING SAFETY AND OPERATIONAL EFFECTS OF PROTECTED INTERSECTION GEOMETRIC DESIGN THROUGH MICROSIMULATION. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
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Abstract

On-street bike lanes have been increasingly visible in the City of Charlotte but rarely utilized. The Charlotte Bikes bicycle program, adopted by City Council May, 2017, proposed that bicycle facilities implemented on arterials should be separated from traffic by a concrete barrier or grass buffer. However, providing on-street bike lanes and separating from traffic alone may not attract residents to use cycle as a mode of transportation. This could be attributed to roughly 30% of all bike-related crashes that generally occur at urban intersections. Therefore, this research seeks to improve safety at intersections. The focus is primarily to evaluate the safety and operational effects of Protected Intersection design on cyclists’ safety at intersections.The Protected Intersection design was modeled and evaluated at the intersection of Tyvola Rd and South Blvd in south Charlotte. Traffic was modeled on the existing and proposed intersections using PTV VISSIM microscopic simulation software under conditions of zero percent bikes to fifteen percent bikes. Safety was then analyzed using Surrogate Safety Assessment Model (SSAM), and conflicts were defined as a 1.5 second intersection of two or more trajectories. The results indicate as much as an 80% reduction in bicycle-related crossing-type conflicts. It was also found that atmospheric emissions can be reduced by as much as 40% by offering separate right of way for bicycles, versus placing bicycles on a shared lane with motorists. The results support the hypothesis that the Protected Intersection significantly reduces conflicts at intersections, and therefore improves safety.

Details
Author

Preston, Abigail

Title

SAFER FOR CYCLING: EVALUATING SAFETY AND OPERATIONAL EFFECTS OF PROTECTED INTERSECTION GEOMETRIC DESIGN THROUGH MICROSIMULATION

Physical Description

1 online resource (80 pages) : PDF

Date

2018

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

On-street bike lanes have been increasingly visible in the City of Charlotte but rarely utilized. The Charlotte Bikes bicycle program, adopted by City Council May, 2017, proposed that bicycle facilities implemented on arterials should be separated from traffic by a concrete barrier or grass buffer. However, providing on-street bike lanes and separating from traffic alone may not attract residents to use cycle as a mode of transportation. This could be attributed to roughly 30% of all bike-related crashes that generally occur at urban intersections. Therefore, this research seeks to improve safety at intersections. The focus is primarily to evaluate the safety and operational effects of Protected Intersection design on cyclists’ safety at intersections.The Protected Intersection design was modeled and evaluated at the intersection of Tyvola Rd and South Blvd in south Charlotte. Traffic was modeled on the existing and proposed intersections using PTV VISSIM microscopic simulation software under conditions of zero percent bikes to fifteen percent bikes. Safety was then analyzed using Surrogate Safety Assessment Model (SSAM), and conflicts were defined as a 1.5 second intersection of two or more trajectories. The results indicate as much as an 80% reduction in bicycle-related crossing-type conflicts. It was also found that atmospheric emissions can be reduced by as much as 40% by offering separate right of way for bicycles, versus placing bicycles on a shared lane with motorists. The results support the hypothesis that the Protected Intersection significantly reduces conflicts at intersections, and therefore improves safety.

Genre

masters theses

Subjects--Topics

Civil engineering
Transportation
Sustainability

Degree

M.S.

Keywords

Bicycle
Dutch Intersection
Geometric Design
Microsimulation
Protected Intersection
Safety

Subject Area

Engineering

Advisor(s)

Pulugurtha, Srinivas

Committee Members

Naylor, David
Lizotte, Michael

Degree Note

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2018.

Rights Statement

This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). For additional information, see http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/.

Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

Preston_uncc_0694N_12095

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:2253