01043992

Component

Much research has concentrated on traffic dominated by passenger cars and heterogeneous traffic containing a complex mixture of vehicles, such as is common in India. However there are many other countries (such as Vietnam or Taiwan) where urban traffic streams are fairly homogeneous and composed mainly of motorcycles. However, there has been very little research on traffic dominated by motorcycles, despite the reported increase in motorcycle ownership in many other countries. Saturation flow and vehicle equivalence factors are two of the most important parameters characterizing the traffic flow at signals junctions. Therefore, the investigation of these parameters is essential to obtain a better understanding of motorcycle flow and traffic dominated by motorcycles. A motorcycle unit (MCU) value has been introduced instead of the conventional PCU value to measure saturation flow. A methodology to study separately the variation of saturation flow and MCU values has been applied.. Two regression equations describing the variation of saturation flow in homogeneous and heterogeneous traffic have been derived. Saturation flow was found to vary depending on the width of approach and the number of right/left turners. However, unlike some recent studies it was found to remain constant during the saturated time. The MCU value of cars was calculated equivalent to 3.5. It was also found constant not only within green cycle but also between locations of a particular network in Hanoi.

01042056

07-2869

English

15p

2007

Transportation Research Board 86th Annual Meeting

CD-ROM

Figures; Photos; References (15) ; Tables (3)

Green interval (Traffic signal cycle); Highway operations; Left turns; Motorcycles; Motorcycling; Motorcyclists; Passenger cars; Right turns; Saturation flow; Traffic; Traffic flow; Turning traffic

Motorcycle safety

Hanoi (Vietnam); India; Taiwan

Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2007 Paper #07-2869

TRIS, TRB

Feb 8 2007 7:34PM