Abstract
This study aims at investigating the effectiveness of exclusive over/underpasses for small vehicles in alleviating traffic congestion at a saturated intersection in Japan. The design standard of the road for only small vehicles has been established in the road structure ordinance that was revised in 2003. Its effectiveness compared with ordinary over/underpasses is still ambiguous. Therefore, the micro traffic simulation was used to clearly evaluate the impacts of this facility at a single intersection. The evaluation was performed based on changing the reduction of travel time passing through the intersection. It was found that the exclusive over/underpass for small vehicles can alleviate congestion effective ordinary over/underpass, but its construction cost is lower about 30% than the ordinary over/underpass. Furthermore, the heavy vehicles ratio significantly affects its performance. This study suggested that an intersection suitable for an exclusive over/underpass should be selected carefully with respect to heavy vehicle ration in the traffic.
