Traffic characteristics on the road network in NTU campus

Abstract

Road space is a scarce resource and it is necessary to ensure that roads are able to accommodate as much traffic as possible, subject to safety and environmental constraints. This report discusses the traffic characteristics of vehicle distribution along the main roads in Nanyang Technological University (NTU) campus, namely Nanyang Drive, Nanyang Avenue and Lien Ying Chow Drive during the design period. A single time morning period between 8.00a.m to 9.00a.m is chosen for the analysis. The report begins with some key statistical findings about NTU. In recent years, there has been an exponential growth of human population and vehicular traffic within the campus. This has stimulated the interest for traffic volume findings, distribution, capacity and vehicular speeds and has led to the study of these traffic characteristics in this transportation field. This study presents the collection and analysis of the traffic data of the most common type of intersection within the campus i.e. unsignalised intersection. Special attention focuses on T-junctions and roundabout in analyzing the traffic conditions during the morning peak. This is the first time an effort has been made within a school campus in the study of traffic volume and capacity of a T-junction, because capacity estimates have a central role in the estimation of other performance measures, such as delays. The theoretical and empirical analysis in this report will eventually produce results for the estimation of peak flows, speeds and capacity on these major roads. The methodologies applied in the analysis are calculations based on probability of making right-turning and straight through movements in a waiting queue. Based on the methods, an overview of the traffic distribution network within NTU campus will be computed and evaluated. The investigations have concluded that the road capacity is adequately sufficient to accommodate the mixed traffic volume. Finally, some possible measures to enhance traffic flow and operations of the existing network in the future are sketched.