| This research addresses some of the problems associated with transportation technology transfer to developing countries, and specifically to the Caribbean. Procedures that are used for analyzing transportation facilities in the United States and other developed nations are based on driver behavior, vehicle performance, and road characteristics in those countries, and may not be appropriate for developing countries. The objectives of this research are to assess existing models for analyzing stop-controlled intersections to determine whether they are suitable for use in the Caribbean, and to develop a new model that is more appropriate for Kingston, Jamaica, and other developing countries with similar driver and roadway characteristics.; Unsignalized intersections in developing countries often operate at much higher flow rates than in industrialized nations because of limited resources and competing priorities. When improvements to transportation facilities are being proposed, locations with high volumes are the first to be considered, but existing analysis tools are unable to adequately analyze the intersection operation. Little research has been done at high volume locations because there are few in industrialized nations where most research efforts are focused. In order to address this problem, moderate to high volume stop-controlled intersections in Kingston were used in developing the new model.; For two-way stop-controlled intersections, a probability-based gap-acceptance model was developed for estimating the departure headway. Modifications were made to the 1997 Highway Capacity Manual methodology for estimating departure headway at four-way stop-controlled intersections. Queueing theory was used to estimate the queue time as a function of the departure headway for both types of stop-controlled intersections. Because the new model is based on a microscopic analysis of vehicle interactions, differences in driver behavior that affect the operation of stop-controlled intersections could be accounted for in estimating the average delay per vehicle. Adjustment factors were developed to simulate the effect of driver behavior (aggressiveness and interaction, which lead to priority reversal) and geometric characteristics (such as lane widths, turning radii, and sight distance) on intersection operation. Use of this new model as an appropriate analysis tool in Kingston, Jamaica, will lead to better decisions about traffic management measures. |
