Modeling Behavior of U-Turning Vehicles at the Median Opening Using a Merging Behavior Approach: A Case Study in Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia

Median openings are one of the most commonly used road features, which are mainly used to allow U-turning movement in urban areas, and this study focuses mainly on modeling the behavior of U-turning vehicles at the median opening using a merging behavior approach. The purpose of the study is to estimate and model the critical gap of u-turning vehicles at the median opening under mixed traffic conditions. Under this study, the accepted gap, rejected gap, driver waiting time, merging time, and critical gap are estimated, and the modified Raff's method and modified INAFOGA method are used for the estimation of a critical gap. However, modified INAFOGA is used for the modeling of critical gaps under mixed traffic conditions. In this study, sixteen median openings were selected in Bahir Dar city, and data were collected using a video recording technique at each selected median opening during the peak hour of the day. The necessary data were extracted using Forevid analysis software tools. Different types of traffic are involved in the mixed traffic, and each vehicle type is categorized according to the Ethiopian Road Authority's 2013 design guide into seven different classes, such as 2-wheeler, 3-wheeler, passenger car, minibus, small bus and truck, medium bus, and medium truck. Among those traffic types, three vehicle classes (three-wheeler, passenger car, and minibus) were only considered due to the prohibition of U-turning movement for medium and large vehicles. For the modeling of critical gaps, waiting time and conflicting traffic flow are used as independent variables using the regression technique. Driver waiting time and the critical gap were found to be power related to passenger cars and minibuses and exponentially to three-wheelers. Conflicting traffic flow and critical gaps were power related to passenger cars and minibuses and linearly related to three-wheelers.