Comparative analysis of the performance of One Way and Two-Way urban road networks

Abstract

The fact that the number of vehicles is increasing year after year represents a challenge in road traffic management because it is necessary to adjust the road traffic, in order to prevent any incidents, using mostly the same road infrastructure.

At this moment one-way road network provides efficient traffic flow for vehicles but it is not ideal for pedestrians. Therefore, a proper solution must be found and applied when and where it is necessary. Replacing one-way road network with two-way road network may be a viable solution especially if in the area is high pedestrian traffic.

The paper aims to highlight the influence of both, one-way and two-way urban road networks through an experimental research which was performed by using traffic data collected in the field. Each of the two scenarios analyzed were based on the same traffic data, the same geometrical conditions of the road (lane width, total road segment width, road slopes, total length of the road network) and also the same signaling conditions(signalised intersection or roundabout).

The analysis which involves two-way scenario reveals changes in the performance parameters like delay average, stops average, delay stop average and vehicle speed average.

Based on the values obtained, it was possible to perform a comparative analysis between the real, one-way, scenario and the theoretical, two-way, scenario.