Effectiveness of Two-stage Turn Queue Boxes in Massachusetts: A Comparison with Bike Boxes
Existing research has investigated motorist and bicyclist behavior at bike boxes and has assessed their effectiveness in improving safety. However, studies on the effectiveness of two-stage turn queue boxes are limited. Most importantly, a comprehensive comparison of the effectiveness of the two treatments in the Commonwealth that can guide future implementations is missing. (1) Create an inventory of two-stage turn queue boxes and update the existing bike box inventory for Massachusetts. These two inventories will summarize locations, design characteristics, intersection geometric characteristics, and bicycle infrastructure treatments in the vicinity of two-stage turn queue boxes and bike boxes. (2) Characterize bicyclist and motorist behaviors at intersections with two-stage queue turn boxes and compare them with those at bike boxes. This will allow for an improved understanding of the effectiveness of two-stage turn queue boxes based on the proportion of bicyclists turning left that utilize them vs. the proportion of bicyclists turning left that utilize bike boxes. Conflict analysis will also be performed to assess their effectiveness in improving bicycle safety. (3) Provide guidelines on the design and implementation of two-stage turn queue boxes and bike boxes to promote safety. Task 1: Literature review on two-stage turn queue box design, driver and bicyclist behavior, as well as safety implications of two-stage turn queue boxes. Task 2: Bike box inventory Subtask 2.1: collection of two-stage turn queue box design and location information from existing sources Subtask 2.2: inventory of two-stage turn queue box locations and their characteristics using LiDAR. Task 3: Field data collection on selected sites to analyze motorist and bicyclist behavior at bike boxes and two-stage turn queue boxes. Task 4: Final report summarizing findings and outlining guidelines on the design, location, and implementation of bike boxes and two-stage turn queue boxes.
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Completed
- Funding: $149778
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Contract Numbers:
118671
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Sponsor Organizations:
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Managing Organizations:
Massachusetts Department of Transportation
10 Park Plaza
Boston, MA United States 02116 -
Performing Organizations:
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Amherst, MA United States 01003 -
Principal Investigators:
Christofa, Eleni
Ai, Chengbo
Tainter, Francis
- Start Date: 20220602
- Expected Completion Date: 20240819
- Actual Completion Date: 20240831
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Bicycle facilities; Cyclists; Left turns; Signalized intersections; Traffic safety; Turning lanes
- Geographic Terms: Massachusetts
- Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01919546
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Massachusetts Department of Transportation
- Contract Numbers: 118671
- Files: RIP, STATEDOT
- Created Date: May 24 2024 11:17AM