Driver Safety and Emissions at Different PPLT Indications

According to NCHRP Report 493, there are five major left turn signal indications for permitted operations in the United States. They are: Circular Green (CG), Flashing Circular Red (FCR), Flashing Red Arrow (FRA), Flashing Circular Yellow (FCY) and Flashing Yellow Arrow (FYA). The main goal of this thesis is to study the driver behavior and analyze safety of drivers for different left turn indications using a real-time driving simulator. Different signal indications alter driver behavior which influences velocity and acceleration profiles. These profiles influence vehicular emissions and hence need to be studied as well. For this purpose, different scenarios are implemented in the driving simulator. Data is analyzed using Microsoft Excel, JMP Statistical tool and MATLAB. Safety of drivers is analyzed with respect to the parameter "Time to Collision (TTC)" which is directly obtained from simulator data. Vehicular emissions and fuel consumption are calculated using VT-Micro microscopic emissions model. Graphs are plotted for TTC and total emissions. Results indicate that for a day-time scenario, FCY and FYA are the most suitable left-turning indications whereas FCR and FRA are most suitable for a night-time scenario.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Civil Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2017

Author dc:creator

• Duvvuri, Sri Rama Bhaskara Kumari

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Abbas, Montasir M.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Trani, Antonio A.
• Flintsch, Gerardo W.

• PPLT
• Time to Collision
• Emission
• VT-Micro
• Left -turning traffic
• TTC
• Driving Simulator
• Circular Green
• Flashing Circular Red
• Flashing Red Arrow
• Flashing Circular Yellow and Flashing Yellow Arrow.

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:9777

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/75236