Saturation Flow Model for Signalized Intersection under Mixed Traffic Condition

Abstract

Saturation flow is one of the most important functional parameters at signalized intersections. It is to be noted that saturation flow is a functional measure of the intersection operation, which indicates the probable capacity if working in an ideal situation. However, determination of the saturation flow is a challenging task in developing countries like India where vehicles with diverse static and dynamic characteristics use the same carriageway. At the same time, it is influenced by several other factors. In this context, the present research is carried out to examine the effects of traffic composition, approach width and right-turning movements on saturation flow under heterogeneous traffic conditions. This paper proposes a model for computing saturation flow at the signalized intersection under mixed traffic condition based on Kriging approach. A detailed comparison of the mean saturation flow values obtained by the conventional method, regression method, and Kriging method has also been presented. Low mean absolute percentage error values (<5%) have been obtained for saturation flow by Kriging method with respect to the conventional method. Finally, the proposed models are used to evaluate the impact of right-turning vehicles on saturation flow under shared lane condition.