The goal of this M.Sc. thesis project is to investigate a traffic safety indicator calculated on the basis of micro-simulation. This safety indicator, TTC (time-to-collision), is based on the concept of a conflict situation; i.e. two vehicles approaching each other in such a way that if they do not change their course or make a preventing manoeuvre, they will crash. This project is incorporated into a research study from SWOV called Route choice in road networks. The latter deals with route choice from a safety perspective and aims at developing a method by which road authorities and traffic engineers can make use of micro-simulation for assessing, among others, road safety. The approach of the thesis does not aim at simulating traffic conflicts as they are in reality. Instead, a method is used that defines a conflict situation on the basis of data derived from a micro-simulation model. The research assessed whether there is a significant statistical relationship between the frequency of calculated conflicts and the actual number of crashes registered at unsignalized intersections. The research was limited to the traffic of motor vehicles. (Author/publisher)
Abstract