Quality of traffic flow on urban arterial streets and its relationship with safety

The two-fluid model for vehicular traffic flow explains the traffic on arterials as a mix of stopped and running vehicles. It describes the relationship between the vehicles’ running speed and the fraction of running vehicles. The two parameters of the model essentially represent ‘free flow’ travel time and level of interaction among vehicles, and may be used to evaluate urban roadway networks and urban corridors with partially limited access. These parameters are influenced by not only the roadway characteristics but also by behavioral aspects of driver population, e.g., aggressiveness. Two-fluid models are estimated for eight arterial corridors in Orlando, FL for this study. The parameters of the two-fluid model were used to evaluate corridor level operations and the correlations of these parameters’ with rates of crashes having different types/severity. Significant correlations were found between two-fluid parameters and rear-end and angle crash rates. Rate of severe crashes was also found to be significantly correlated with the model parameter signifying inter-vehicle interactions. While there is need for further analysis, the findings suggest that the two-fluid model parameters may have potential as surrogate measures for traffic safety on urban arterial streets.

► Two-fluid model explaining the traffic on arterials as a mix of stopped and running vehicles has been estimated for individual arterial streets
► The research validates some of the preliminary explorations made in the recent literature on estimation of two-fluid model on individual streets
► Two-fluid model parameters have been shown to be correlated with crash rates on arterial streets, which opens the way to their application as surrogate measures for traffic safety