Evaluation and Analysis Model of the Length of Added Displaced Left-Turn Lane Based on Entropy Evaluation Method

Abstract

As the number of vehicles continues to grow in China, the problem of urban traffic congestion gets more serious, particularly at intersections. As a new type of unconventional intersection, the displaced left-turn (DLT) intersection has been widely recognized to improve the efficiency of intersections with heavy left-turn traffic flows. Converting an existing intersection into an intersection with additional DLT lanes is a valuable solution. However, the studies on DLT intersections mainly focus on performance, applicability, and safety. The guidelines on the specific engineering design process mostly come from experience, and the study on the considering multifactor design method is still insufficient. Therefore, this paper proposed an evaluation and analysis model of the lengths of added DLT lanes based on the entropy evaluation method, in which VISSIM and Surrogate Safety Assessment Model (SSAM) software were adopted for simulation. A design process for the length of the added DLT lanes was proposed with this model. An urban intersection in Xi’an was taken as a case study, and the application of the model and the design process was studied in detail. After selecting four evaluation indicators, the model was applied to calculate and analyze the optimal length of the added DLT lanes under 45 different traffic volume combinations. The recommended lengths of different situations were within the range recommended in the guidebook published by Federal Highway Administration. The results of the case study proved that the model proposed in this paper was advanced, reasonable, and practical.

Understanding the Performance of Multilane Expressway Exit Design and a Traffic Organization Strategy Based on VISSIM Micro-Simulation and a Comprehensive Evaluation Method

“…The emerging technology of numerical simulation has found extensive application in various disciplines. In the field of transportation, numerous studies have shown the reliable, effective, and economic advantages of using VISSIM numerical simulation [25,26]. To ensure reliability and realism, it is essential to incorporate real traffic data in the development of the simulation model and the calibration of parameters to recreate specific traffic scenarios [27].…”

Understanding sustainability effectiveness on design strategy of ten-lane expressway merging areas based on entropy method

“…Commonly used methods include the entropy weight method, analytic hierarchy process, TOPSIS-Entropy method, and others (Vaidya and Kumar, 2006;Ding et al, 2016;Zhao et al, 2017;Shi et al, 2023). The comprehensive evaluation method has been widely applied in fields such as meteorology, architecture, ecology, and transportation (Zhao et al, 2009;Liu et al, 2017;Li et al, 2018;Wu and Hu, 2020;Pan et al, 2021). Compared with various subjective comprehensive evaluation models, the biggest advantage of the entropy weight method is that it avoids the interference of human factors on the weights of indicators, thus improving the objectivity of the comprehensive evaluation results.…”