An Analysis of Heavy Vehicle Impact on Roundabout Entry Capacity in Japan

Impact of heavy vehicles on roundabout entry capacity is generally considered through a heavy vehicle adjustment factor f(HV) which is calculated by heavy vehicle percentage and passenger car equivalent (PCE hereafter) value. The PCE value of trucks is generally set as 2.0 and estimated based on several considerations such as entry capacity and move-up time. All of these considerations are influenced by local driver behavior and geometry conditions. Thus, this paper aims to estimate entry capacity considering the characteristics of heavy vehicle behavior in Japan by microscopic simulation. Then based on the simulation results, the PCE value is also examined. Through the simulation study it is found that entry capacity is reduced when heavy vehicle percentage increases. Moreover, estimated PCE results show that the PCE value of entry flow increases when circulating flow increases but decreases when circulating flow is in high level. Also it is found that PCE of entry flow is lower than that of circulating flow which has priority at roundabouts.