Weaving Section Flow Model at the Weaving Area of Malaysian Conventional Roundabout

Abstract

Like in many other countries, Malaysian road users are facing problems with traffic congestion. In urban areas roundabouts are becoming more popular like in Shah Alam but had limitations, among others, such as a geometric design and traffic flow characteristics. The lane changing behavior due to the drivers’ driving “habit” which creates problems, such as delays, because of intolerable and impatient driving while selecting and changing lanes. Due to such factors, congestion will occur and at the same time it will reduce the safety of the drivers either at entry, exit, or in weaving the section of the roundabouts. There is a lack of knowledge of Malaysian driver behavior and of corresponding methods for calculating impacts of geometric design and other factors on traffic performance at the weaving section of conventional roundabouts. A study of vehicle interactions at the weaving section of Malaysian conventional roundabouts needs to be done in order to close this knowledge gap and to enable development of model to support the design and traffic operation processes. One approach of evaluating roundabout performance based on traffic parameters is by video taping techniques. Generally, traffic parameters that are normally considered and measured are gap, entry flow, and conflicting flow at the entry of the conventional roundabout, whereas, this paper focuses on the weaving section of the conventional roundabout. Samples of data reduction and analysis taken at the weaving section of the Malaysian conventional roundabout were presented, discussed, and became an input for weaving the section flow model under stable flow condition. The model developed was then validated with other weaving section of the Malaysian conventional roundabout.