Quantifying the impacts of right-turn-on-red, exclusive turn lanes, and pedestrian movements on the efficiency of urban transportation networks

Previous studies demonstrated that restricting left turning movements can enhance transportation network efficiency. However, this strategy can lead to significant increases in the volume of right-turn movements. While these right-turn movements do not conflict with opposing through traffic, they st...

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Main Authors: Hao Liu, Zecheng Xiong, Vikash V. Gayah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2025-03-01
Series:International Journal of Transportation Science and Technology
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2046043024000170
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author Hao Liu
Zecheng Xiong
Vikash V. Gayah
author_facet Hao Liu
Zecheng Xiong
Vikash V. Gayah
author_sort Hao Liu
collection DOAJ
description Previous studies demonstrated that restricting left turning movements can enhance transportation network efficiency. However, this strategy can lead to significant increases in the volume of right-turn movements. While these right-turn movements do not conflict with opposing through traffic, they still must interact with pedestrians in adjacent crosswalks. Further, their movement is influenced by the presence of right-turn-on-red (RTOR), which is commonly applied at signalized intersections to improve intersection capacity, and the presence of exclusive right-turn lanes. This paper examines the influence of these three factors (pedestrian activity, RTOR, and exclusive right-turn lanes) on vehicular operational performance at a network-wide level. Simple grid network structures are considered due to their generalizability and the performances of three network types are tested: two-way streets that accommodate left turns, two-way streets that prohibit left turns, and one-way streets. The results reveal that when there are no pedestrians, right-ROTR can improve the operational performance regardless of the existence of exclusive lanes, especially for the networks restricting left-turn movements, and the presence of exclusive turn lanes increases the benefits obtained by allowing RTPR. The results also suggest that allowing RTPR is more important than providing exclusive lanes when the traffic load is light; however, under heavier traffic, exclusive turn lanes become more important. The presence of pedestrians reduces overall network performance and the benefits provided by RTPR for most scenarios, as expected. This decrease in performance is larger for networks made up of two-way streets compared to those made up of one-way streets. Exclusive lanes are also found to be critical for two-way streets with left turns protected to maintain network efficiency. Overall, prohibiting left turns on two-way streets still provides the largest operational performance of all networks with these features considered.
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spelling doaj-art-5d2f74eb3f9b4eef95d62811bddff2372025-08-20T03:17:51ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.International Journal of Transportation Science and Technology2046-04302025-03-0117526610.1016/j.ijtst.2024.02.007Quantifying the impacts of right-turn-on-red, exclusive turn lanes, and pedestrian movements on the efficiency of urban transportation networksHao Liu0Zecheng Xiong1Vikash V. Gayah2Corresponding author.; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, United StatesDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, United StatesDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, United StatesPrevious studies demonstrated that restricting left turning movements can enhance transportation network efficiency. However, this strategy can lead to significant increases in the volume of right-turn movements. While these right-turn movements do not conflict with opposing through traffic, they still must interact with pedestrians in adjacent crosswalks. Further, their movement is influenced by the presence of right-turn-on-red (RTOR), which is commonly applied at signalized intersections to improve intersection capacity, and the presence of exclusive right-turn lanes. This paper examines the influence of these three factors (pedestrian activity, RTOR, and exclusive right-turn lanes) on vehicular operational performance at a network-wide level. Simple grid network structures are considered due to their generalizability and the performances of three network types are tested: two-way streets that accommodate left turns, two-way streets that prohibit left turns, and one-way streets. The results reveal that when there are no pedestrians, right-ROTR can improve the operational performance regardless of the existence of exclusive lanes, especially for the networks restricting left-turn movements, and the presence of exclusive turn lanes increases the benefits obtained by allowing RTPR. The results also suggest that allowing RTPR is more important than providing exclusive lanes when the traffic load is light; however, under heavier traffic, exclusive turn lanes become more important. The presence of pedestrians reduces overall network performance and the benefits provided by RTPR for most scenarios, as expected. This decrease in performance is larger for networks made up of two-way streets compared to those made up of one-way streets. Exclusive lanes are also found to be critical for two-way streets with left turns protected to maintain network efficiency. Overall, prohibiting left turns on two-way streets still provides the largest operational performance of all networks with these features considered.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2046043024000170Right-turn-on-red (RTPR)Macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD)Network exit function (NEF)PedestrianMicroscopic simulation
spellingShingle Hao Liu
Zecheng Xiong
Vikash V. Gayah
Quantifying the impacts of right-turn-on-red, exclusive turn lanes, and pedestrian movements on the efficiency of urban transportation networks
International Journal of Transportation Science and Technology
Right-turn-on-red (RTPR)
Macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD)
Network exit function (NEF)
Pedestrian
Microscopic simulation
title Quantifying the impacts of right-turn-on-red, exclusive turn lanes, and pedestrian movements on the efficiency of urban transportation networks
title_full Quantifying the impacts of right-turn-on-red, exclusive turn lanes, and pedestrian movements on the efficiency of urban transportation networks
title_fullStr Quantifying the impacts of right-turn-on-red, exclusive turn lanes, and pedestrian movements on the efficiency of urban transportation networks
title_full_unstemmed Quantifying the impacts of right-turn-on-red, exclusive turn lanes, and pedestrian movements on the efficiency of urban transportation networks
title_short Quantifying the impacts of right-turn-on-red, exclusive turn lanes, and pedestrian movements on the efficiency of urban transportation networks
title_sort quantifying the impacts of right turn on red exclusive turn lanes and pedestrian movements on the efficiency of urban transportation networks
topic Right-turn-on-red (RTPR)
Macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD)
Network exit function (NEF)
Pedestrian
Microscopic simulation
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2046043024000170
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