Improving road traffic by rerouting flows based on various regulation scenarios analysis

Abstract

One of the major road traffic problems in Pitesti is manifested in the roundabout at Podul Viilor, which, although occupying a fairly generous space, has a very low level of service during peak hours, due to difficult access from one of the arms. The research, based on traffic measurements performed with DataFromSky software and micro-simulation traffic analyses performed with Vissim PTV software, indicated as the only solution the redirection of road flows from the intersection, which required traffic analysis for a larger area. The results obtained for the proposed scenarios - by estimating the degree of road congestion not only in the respective intersection, but also in the adjacent intersections, through which some road flows are reoriented - indicate that in this way a substantial improvement of the road traffic can be obtained for the intersection of Podul Viilor, without significantly affecting the traffic in the adjacent area. Thus, it is found that the service level of an intersection can be increased not necessarily through new road arrangements, but only through better regulation of road traffic in the area, based on the analysis of various scenarios using measurement software and traffic modelling.