Development of a micro-simulation model toevaluate shuttle-lane roadwork operations

This thesis focuses on the development of a micro-simulation model for urban shuttle-lane roadworks. The aim of this research is to study the effectiveness of shuttle-lane roadworks traffic management controls (i.e. operated by temporary traffic signals) on capacity, delays and safety.SIMSUR (SIMulation of Shuttle-lane Urban Roadworks) micro-simulation model is based on car-following and shuttle-lane rules, considers the various decisions undertaken whenapproaching temporary traffic signals at urban shuttle-lane roadworks (i.e. tailgating, crossingthrough amber or even violating the red light). Data from six different sources were collected(from 23 different sites with over 54 hours of traffic data video recordings). This includes data from visited roadworks sites, Individual Vehicle Data (IVD) from UK motorways anddata from typical signalised junctions.Temporary traffic signals operation modes, including Fixed Time (FT) and Vehicle Actuated (VA) signals, have been integrated within the developed micro-simulation model. Thedeveloped model has been verified, calibrated and validated using real traffic data.Various scenarios were tested using the developed simulation model such as the effect of various parameters on system capacity, delays and safety (i.e. site length, HGVs%,directional split, and drivers’ non-compliance with temporary traffic signals). The resultsrevealed that the maximum shuttle-lane roadworks capacity values which could be achieved(using existing temporary traffic signals settings) for two-way flow are 1,860 and 2,060veh/hr for FT and VA signals, respectively. Regression analysis was also carried out usingdifferent factors and could be used in analytical models to provide a more accurate estimationof system capacity compared to existing equations. Using improved signals settings, capacitycould be increased by about 3.5%. Making the assumption that Microwave Vehicle Detector(MVD) could be simulated within the model, various ranges were tested and the optimumrange was found to be 80m (rather than the existing 40m) which could result in an increase insystem capacity of 4.2%. Using speed reduction (i.e. speed hump) in advance of the stop linecould reduce the effect of dilemma zone by reducing the number of vehicles crossing at theonset of amber or violating the red light by about 33%