Exploring Factors Contributing to Traffic Conflicts Between Motor Vehicles and Non-Motorized Vehicles at Signalized At-Grade Intersections

Signalized at-grade intersections are important components of urban road network and their performance is greatly influenced by conflicts between motor vehicles and non-motorized vehicles. The primary objective of this paper is to explore factors contributing to traffic conflicts between motor vehicles and non-motorized vehicles at signalized at-grade intersections. Analysis of average speed of non-motorized vehicles shows that non-motorized vehicles with higher speed are more likely involved in serious conflicts when confronted with motor vehicles. Analysis of two causes for traffic conflicts shows that motor vehicles are responsible for most of the traffic conflicts between motor vehicles and non-motorized vehicles. Impact of volume of non-motorized vehicles was also explored and a prediction model for relative frequency of traffic conflict was set up. Based upon the model, when volume of non-motorized vehicles increases by 10 vehicles/5 min, relative frequency of traffic conflict between motor vehicles and non-motorized vehicles will increase by 4.3%.