Development of Microscopic Traffic Simulation Model for Safety Assessment at Signalized Intersections

Because of traffic accidents at signalized intersections, improvement in the design of geometric layouts and operations of intersections is needed. Traffic simulation provides an innovative approach to assessing the safety performance of various layouts and operational policies of signalized intersections. A microscopic simulation model was developed to assess the safety of signalized intersections. The proposed simulation model integrates many key behavioral models of road users, such as the stop go decision at the onset of a yellow light, turning paths, turning speeds, start-up response time, and pedestrian gap acceptance models. The main feature of these empirical models is their consideration of the stochastic behavior of road users. Furthermore, these models are sensitive to the layout and operation of signalized intersections. This paper discusses how conflicts are presented inside the simulation by demonstrating the mechanism of one of the conflicts. Model validation and a case study were conducted. The validation results show that the simulation model reasonably represents the occurrence of conflicts at signalized intersections, which proves that the proposed model can be a reliable approach to safety assessment. A case study compares the performance of compact intersections with wider layouts. The simulation results show trends in safety improvements, although a general conclusion cannot be made.