Roundabout Safety Benefit-Cost Analysis in Nevada
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Authors
WANG, LU
Issue Date
2020
Type
Thesis
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Roundabouts are currently very popular nowadays. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and state agencies did many studies about roundabout safety benefit-cost analysis. But they did not consider the individual roundabout cost. This thesis is based on the project "Safety Benefit-Cost Analysis of Roundabout" for the Nevada Department of Transportation. This thesis recommends a benefit-cost analysis procedure that can consider the individual roundabout cost by using the Roundabout Cost Estimation Tool (the RCET tool). The RCET tool is developed by the Center of Advanced Transportation Education and Research (CATER) at the University of Nevada, Reno, which is based on the default design and features recommended by Roundabouts: An informational Guide (FHWA-RD-00-067). The RCET tool is updated in this thesis, according to the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 672: An Informational Guide. Five roundabouts in Nevada State are selected in the case study. And it found that 1. Roundabouts with higher AADT and more historical crash data (before roundabout built) shows higher benefit-cost ratios than sites with fewer historical crashes and lower AADTs. 2. The benefit-cost ratios generated from the Project Safety Process (PSP) tool is the consideration for safety purpose; the roundabouts built to solve safety issues showed high benefit-cost ratios. 3. Lack of actual AADT data may cause underestimation.