Engineering Commons^™

Evaluating Roadway Cross-Sectional Design Elements And Its Impact On Driver Behavior Using A Driving Simulator, Bhavana Gongalla

Transportation Engineering Masters Projects

This research explores the relationship between the cross-sectional design elements and the impact on selected driver attributes such as speed profiles and lateral positioning. In this experiment a traditional collector type base roadway of 1.5 miles with 14 ft travel lane and 8 ft shoulder was modeled using a fixed base driving simulator. The base scenario was subsequently reconfigured with four different cross-sectional design with various elements within the same physical right-of-way. Specific design elements included, narrower lanes, bicycle lanes, raised center median and a curvilinear roadway profile. A within subject’s design of twenty participants who drove each of the …