Construction of passing maneuver model on rural highway with consideration of road surface conditions

摘要

Most national highways in rural parts of Japan are two-way two-lane highways. In these highways, passing maneuvers using oncoming lanes are frequently observed. Accidents that occur on passing are highly likely to be fatal. In this study, a traffic simulation model for passing maneuvers was created using passing maneuver field study data gathered in summer and winter. The field values for the number of passing maneuvers, traffic volume and speed distribution were compared with the simulation results. The outcomes confirmed that the difference among them was small. The sensitivity analysis results revealed that the number of passing maneuvers using oncoming lane in winter road surface were limited. The passing success rate tended to decrease with higher volumes of traffic in the oncoming lane regardless of surface conditions. Follower density was decreased in the auxiliary lane section regardless of surface conditions. It was clarified through the model construction that although the frequency of passing was limited on two-lane highways under winter conditions, it improved by introducing an auxiliary lane.