Spiral Shaped Driveway

8/8/2019 Spiral Shaped Driveway

1/6IEEE INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 18 SPRING 2010IEEE INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 18 SPRING 2010

Hengsong WangUniversity of Electronic Science and Technology of China

[email protected]

Bing LongAssociate Professor in School of Automation, UESTC

Shulin TianProfessor of School of Automation Engineering, UESTC

STOCKBYTE

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MITS.2010.937291

1939-1390/10/$26.002010IEEE

A Short Student Paper


2/6IEEE INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 19 SPRING 2010IEEE INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 19 SPRING 2010

I. Introduction

Traffic jam and accidents, which reduce traffic flux

greatly, have become the bottleneck for the sustain-

able development of many cities, especially those

happening at large traffic circles with multi-lanes

(such as the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and the Victory Mon-

ument in Bangkok).

A number of techniques have been proposed to improve

the situation: stop line and traffic light are used to control the

flowing-in, flowing-around and flowing-out of traffic circles;

advanced control algorithms of traffic lights are developed

to increase the flux; length of weaving section and width

of the lanes are modified to get optimized results; conflict

points are transferred in geography; interchange bridges or

subways are built to separate different means of transporta-

tion [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. Unfortunately, many disadvantages are

along with these techniques: traffic lights make the vehicles

wait for a long time, thus wasting resources (oil and the time

of the drivers) and increasing the corresponding pollution;

simulations for modifying the traditional intersection are

complex and cannot satisfy the growing need for high effi-

ciency; Building Interchange Bridge or subway requires high

cost and affect the beauty of the city; existing channelizationof intersection has limited application field while the cost for

updating is huge and the effect is not so satisfying, leaving

problem not solved fundamentally. All in all, we still face

many problems, for the traff ic flux and the safety level is still

lower than what we have expected.

It seems that channelization can solve the problem ef-

fectively. But at the moment, it is used only for intersection

with small flux. As for large scale ones with a large number

of branches, situation is much worse and better design is ur-

gently needed.

Therefore, we must reform the design of traffic circles and

provide a novel method of channelization with the consider-ation of flexibility, low-cost, high-flux, safety-critical.

II. Spiral-Shaped DrivewayThe basic problem of current traffic circle is that we cannot

provide each direction with a single lane, thus bringing about

intersections among different directions. If we can provide

each target branches with a unique lane, the problem may be

solves potentially. We will tackle the problem from this point.

Inspired by the Eight Diagram of Taoism which links the

center with the fringe by a spiral-shaped line (see Figure 1),

we can design spiral-shaped driveways to connect each en-

trance with target branches. The only condition is that differ-

ent driveways of certain direction dont intersect.

This system consists of these following elements (see

Figure 2):

1 , the center island; 101, the ring-shaped parking lot; 102,

the center square;

2, the spiral-shaped driveway district; 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 , four

spiral-shaped driveways lead to four target branches sepa-

rately;

1D/2D/3D/4D, four district corresponding to the main

branches; 301/302/303/304, four main branches connected

to the spiral-shaped driveways; 3011/3021/3031/3041, the

entrance lanes of the branches; 3012, 3022/3032/3042, the

AbstractBetter design of large traff ic circles is very impor-

tant for the growing need of high quality travel. This paper

presents a novel method for channeling the large traff ic cir-

cles based on the spiral-shaped driveways, which is inspired

by the Eight Diagram of Taoism. This channelization elimi-

nates many potential confl ict points as well as improves the

traffic flux. Better utilization of the center island becomespossible. After applying the error-correcting mechanism,

this design becomes more considerate and more branches

can be added.

Keywordstraff ic circle, spiral-shaped driveway, error-cor-

recting mechanism.

FIG 1 Eight diagram of Taoism.


3/6IEEE INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 20 SPRING 2010

exit lanes of the branches;1 /2 /3 /4, four separate lanes

leading to the target branches;

4 , the entrances of vehicles from the main branches to the

spiral-shaped driveways;

5 , the sign bands providing instructions for the drivers;

601/602/603/604 , the traffic lights controlling the en-

trance from main branches to the circle; 701/702/703/704,

the stop lines corresponding to the traffic lights;

801/802/803/804 , the traffic lights controlling the circling of

vehicles on the spiral-shaped driveways; 901/902/903/904,

the stop lines corresponding to the traffic lights;

P1/P2/P3/P4, the parking buffers

for the mechanism of error-correcting

and for the expansion to circles with

more branches.

Now take the main branch 301 as

an example to explain the operationmechanism of this novel design of

traffic circle. Before entering the spi-

ral-shaped driveway 2, a vehicle must

drive to certain lane that is connect-

ed with the target branch (And this

will be indicated on the sign band 5

in detail):

Drive to 4 if he wants to turn left and

exit from 3042 in district 4;

Drive to 3if he wants to go straight

forward and exit from 3032 in district 3;

Drive to 2if he wants to turn rightand exit from 3022 in district 2.

Afterward, every vehicle can enter

the spiral-shaped driveway through

the line of dashes 4, which is the in-

tersection of spiral driveway and the

main branches. A driver, however,

must drive along spiral-shaped drive-

way that has the same code number

with the lane of entrance branch, that

is: drive to from 2 ; drive to from3;drive to from4 .

As a single spiral-shaped driveways lead to a single

branch, a vehicle can get to the target branch along the

driveway without conflict. And thats pretty safe!

In case of jams and accidents, traffic lights, which are

to eliminate conflicts and increase the traffic flux, are

provided in rush hours. Traffic lights 601/602/603/604

and stop lines 701/702/703/704 are to control the entering

of vehicles from the entrance lanes to the circle. These

lights must be in the same phase. 801/802/803/804 and

901/902/903/904 are used to control the circling of vehi-

cles on the spiral-shaped driveways. These lights must be

in opposite phase with 601/602/603/604. The control al-

gorithms, however, need to be studied further to gain theoptimized effect.

During off-peak hours, traffic lights should be off entirely

and the vehicles can enter the circle without the control of

the lights according to the Gap Acceptance Theory [7, 8].

III. Center IslandAs all of the spiral-shaped driveways start from the center of

the traffic circle, we can make a round-shaped parking lot 101

around the center 102 (see Fig. 3). All the vehicles can enter

or exit the parking lot through 1011/1012/1013/1014and head

to the Arc de Triomphe. For example, C1 can enter the park-

ing lot through 1012 and C2 can exit the parking lot through1013 while not affecting the circling car C3 or the parking

C31,012

C1

1,011

101

1,014

1,013

C2

102

C4

FIG 3 Center island.

3,021 3,022302

702

602702

P22

4

601 701

301

3,011

3,012

901

801

604704

3,0413,042

304

4DP4

703

603

3D

3,031

3,032

303

P3

102

101

P1

1D234

5

2D.

2

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

2

2

2

22

2

4

44

4

4

4

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

14

FIG 2 Novel design of traffic circle.



C4. If there is no Arc de Triomphe, we

can also build some other commercial

facilities or develop tourism. And this is

convenient for the traveler or the driv-

ers while the business and the tourism

get a chance to become prosperous.

IV. Error-CorrectingAfter channelization, a driver must

drive along on the right lane through-

out the whole process. But anyone may

make a mistake so error-correcting

mechanism is necessary. In Figures

2 and 4, parking buffers P1/P2/P3/P4

are designed which make it possible

to correct the error. This measure is

also the base of adding more branches

and will be explained further in thenext section.

For example, a vehicle from branch

3011 wants to turn left andget to 3042.

Therefore, the driver should drive to

, then along spiral-shaped driveway

. But by mistake he drives to which

are indicated by red line and arrow in

Figure 4. How to correct? He can drive

to P2 first and waits for the green light

of602 if it is in rush hours. In the next

turn, the driver reenter spiral-shaped

driveway from P2 (indicated by the

red line in picture). Now he can get to

the original target branch in spite of

the mistake.

V. Adding More BranchesThis design is fit for large number branch-

es owing to the spiral-shaped driveway

and the error-correcting mechanism.

Take the Arc de Triomphe in Paris which

calls for better control of the traffic ur-

gently as an example.First, 4 main branches are chosen ac-

cording to thestatistical flux and 4 districts

are divided in the principle of proximity.

Every district contains a bidirectional

main branch (1D/2D/3D/4D), an enter-

only branch (1D1R/2D2R/3D1R/4D1R)

and an exit-only branch (1D2R/2D1R/

3D2R/4D2R).

The main branches are operated in

the same mechanism with those de-

scribed in section II. For the exit-only

branches, operation is same with theexit-only lane of the main branches. For

CorrectLane

WaitingAgain

WrongLane

1D

4D

3D

2DP2

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

1

1

1

1

1 1

1

1

2

2

2

2

22

2

2

FIG 4 Error-correcting mechanism.

602 302

P2

1 D

1 D

2D 1RR

D2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

R1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1 D301

4 D 2 R

4

4

D

304

3 2

1

R

R3

3

303

2 D 2 R

DD

D

D

1R

304

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

1

FIG 5 Expansion of the traffic circle.



example, if a car from 301 wants to get to 4D2R, it can first

drive to, then exit at 4D2R.

For the enter-only branches, vehicles can make use of the

parking buffers. Take a vehicle from 1D1R as an example

and suppose that this vehicle want to drive to 3012. First it

can drive to spiral-shaped driveway and stop at the park-

ing buffer P2. When allowed, this vehicle must drive to spi-

ral-shaped driveway and get out of the circle at lane 3012.

(The whole process is indicated in Figure 5.)

VI. Conflicts AnalysisIn Figure 6-a, the driveways have not been channelized. Ve-

hicles entering the circle will conflict with the circling ones

at F1; circling vehicles will bring about conflict points F2 if

vehicles change to another lane; vehicles coming out of the

circle will conflict with the circling ones at F3. Thus, con-

flict points which are the source of potential safety hazardalmost scatter about the whole traffic circle and reduce the

traffic flux greatly, especially for ones with a large number

of branches.

However, conflict points F2 and F3 are eliminated after

channelization with the application of spiral-shaped drive-

ways and the mechanism for error- correcting (shown in

Figure 6-b). Therefore traffic flux and the safety level are

improved. During rush hours, traffic lights of the branch

entrances and the Spiral-shaped driveways, which are op-

posite in phase, can be used to eliminate the conflict points

F1. This measure can prevent the traffic jam effectively. Al-

gorithms to control the traffic lights, however, need to bestudied further.

VII. ConclusionsThis paper presents a novel design of traffic circles based

on the spiral-shaped driveways and the error-correcting

mechanism. After just simple statement and analysis, it

is apparent that it can reduce the conflict rate and im-

prove the traffic flux greately. Some of the advantages

are listed:

The design of the Spiral-shaped driveway is simple and

convenience to be applied and just need segregate in-

stallation between different driveway and correspond-

ing traffic signs. Therefore it produces less effect of the

current road and the neighborhood and is low-cost and

low-waste.

Especially for traffic circles with a large number of branch-

es, this design can be carried out easily and effectively.

Spiral-shaped driveways start from the center, and it is

convenient for the development of tourism and businesswhile maintaining sustainable.

Despite the advantages, further studies should be car-

ried out:

The proposed spiral-shaped circle with error-correct-

ing mechanism should be modeled and the correspond-

ing parameters should be determined reasonably or

statistically.

The conflict rate and the traffic flux need to be determined

accurately and more comparisons with the traditional traf-

fic circles should be made.

Whatever, this design inspires us to rethink the art of design

which is somewhat intuitive to solve this complex problem. Mayit start a new way or style for our ITSM!

2D

F3

3D

4D

F2

1D

F1

2D

F1

1D

4D

3D

3

3

3

4

4

4

1

1

1

3

33

3

3

2

22

2

2

1

1

1 1

1

44

4

4

4

2

2

2

Potential Conflict Point Potential Conflict Point

D

F3

3D

4D

F2

1D

F1

Potential Conflict P

(a) (b)

FIG 6 (a) and (b) show conflicts analysis.



About the Authors Hengsong Wangwas born in

Kaifeng, China, in August 1990.

He is currently an undergradu-

ate at University of Electronic

Science and Technology of Chi-na (UESTC), Chengdu, China.

He is interested in math and art,

concerning about the affairs of

our planet. Imagination is his favorite.

Bing Longwas born in Chengdu,

China, in July 1974. He is current-

ly an Associate Professor with Uni-

versity of Electronic Science and

Technology of China (UESTC),

Chengdu, China. His research in-

terests include Application Math-ematic and testability analysis.

Shulin Tian received his B.S.

and M.S degrees in automation

engineering science from the

University of Electronic Science

and Technology of China in 1989

and 1991 respectively. Currently,

he is a professor of School of Au-

tomation Engineering, UESTC.

Majored in Measuring and Testing Technology &

Instruments, he has conducted a number of proj-

ects in high speed, high precision data acquisition

and processing, high speed waveform generation,

network/communication testing, testing bus tech-

nology and testing system integration.

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[2] B. Piccoli and M. Garavello, Traffic Flow on Networks (AIMSSeries on Applied Mathematics, vol. 1) .American Institute of

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[3] Ourston Roundabout Engineeri ng [Onli ne]. Available: http: //

www.ourston.com/04a Interchanges.htm[4] Z. Z. Tian and F. Xu. (2008). Driver behavior and gap-char-

acteristics at roundabouts in California [Online]. Available:http://trb.metapress.com/content/02135v08071106066/full-text.pdf

[5] R. Akcelik, Estimating negotiation radius, dista nce and speedfor vehicles using round-abouts, 2004.

[6] S. Almeida, L. M. Correia, and J. Queijo, Spatial and temporaltraffic distribution models for GSM.

[7] K. I. Ahmed, Model of freeway lane changing and gap accep-tance behavior, in Proc. 13th Int. Symp. Transportation andTraffic Theory, 1996.

[8] H. Lieu. (1999 Jan./Feb.). Traffic-flow theory [Online]. 62(4).Available: http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/janfeb99/traffic.htm

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