Abstract

The paper investigated the extent to which rainfall influences the quality of service delivery at multilane roundabouts using a novel quality of service approach. Quality of service is defined as how well roundabouts operate based on road users and road providers’ perception of service quality. Delay and reserve capacity were used respectively as proxies for road users and road providers’ perception of service quality. The entry and circulating traffic data were recorded continuously for eight weeks under dry, light, moderate, and heavy rainfall weather conditions at each surveyed roundabout, then collated, analysed and compared. Linear regression with dummy variable was used to model the roundabout entry capacity and a corrector factor was added to modify the regression function. The corrector factor considered different entry radii and entry angles of surveyed roundabouts. Multi-criteria quality of service table with travel time as proxy for road users and speed as proxy for road providers’ perception of service delivery was developed from peak traffic data and used to determine the extent of deterioration. The multi-criteria table introduced in the paper is a clear departure from the speed-based criteria used in many studies. The results show a significant increase in time delay and a decrease in reserve capacity relative to rainfall. The paper has concluded that rainfall has an anomalous negative effect on the quality of service at multilane roundabouts. The findings could be used in a variety of ways in traffic management to predict the travel time at roundabouts under rainy conditions and to prescribe speed limits accordingly.

Highlights

  • According to the Florida State Department of Transportation (FDoT) Quality and Level of Service Handbook [7], the quality of service is a traveller-based perception of how well a service or facility is operating

  • The aim of the study has been to investigate the extent of anomalous quality of service deterioration caused by rainfall

  • The analyses and comparisons made in this investigation confirmed a postulation that rainfall may cause the anomalous quality of service deterioration

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Summary

Introduction

According to the Florida State Department of Transportation (FDoT) Quality and Level of Service Handbook [7], the quality of service is a traveller-based perception of how well a service or facility is operating. The US Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) uses the term Level of Service (LOS) interchangeably with Quality of Service (QOS) to describe the service quality of a roadway, based on factors such as speed, travel time, manoeuvrability, delay, and safety. The FDoT quality of service is based on multi perceptions whereas in HCM a single perception measure is preferred. The method characterizes a driver’s perception of the quality of traffic service as based on the microscopic traffic conditions encountered by the driver. The objectives are to determine and compare multi-perception measures (delay and reserve capacity) with and without rainfall. The delay and reserve capacity are used as proxies for road users and providers’ perception of service delivery at roundabouts

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