Drivers’ Preferences for Road Roundabouts: A Study based on Stated Preference Survey in Italy

It is now known that roundabouts offer high levels of safety, but different researches on this type of intersection show that several factors influence the driver’s behavior, causing occasionally wrong driving behaviors that can degenerate into accidents. Understanding driver’s preferences is an important goal in order to encourage an efficient and safe road design. This study aims to understand user’s preferences on the geometrical-functional characteristics of roundabouts, and to associate these preferences with specific driver features. For this purpose, a stated preference survey was carried out. The declared preferences were collected through face-to-face interviews. Collected data were then processed by applying the correspondence analysis (CA). This research revealed that drivers’ preferences are different depending on the type of driving behavior exhibited by drivers and, only in a less obvious manner, according to gender. Drivers with exemplary driving behavior prefer design elements that ensure a greater safety. Men with wrong driving behavior prefer roundabout configurations that are less safe but that ensure fast trajectories. Drivers with acceptable driving behavior expressed preferences that are specifically geared towards specific geometric/functional configurations of the roundabouts. The results of this work represent practical implications for a correct and safe design of road roundabouts.