Determining factors affecting road users’ acceptability level of waiting time at signalized intersections

Traffic lights are installed to reduce crucial conflicts at high-traffic volume intersections. However, waiting time, a critical factor related to the delay and level of service, cannot be avoided at these intersections. In addition, the long waiting time may lead to road users’ impatience. Consequentially, it can motivate them to violate red lights. Therefore, designers should provide an appropriate cycle length and waiting time that meets the road users’ acceptability level. This paper tends to determine factors affecting road users’ acceptability level of waiting time in Hanoi by applying an ordered probit model using questionnaire data. The results demonstrate that the most significant factors include gender, occupation, transportation mode, commuting time/frequency, and traffic law understanding. Specifically, males, people whose occupation is business, who have commuting time in peak hours, who have commuting frequency more than three times per week, and motorcycle riders are sensitive and have less patience with the delay. By contrast, people who understand the traffic law may be more patient to wait at long cycle-length signalized intersection

Determining factors affecting road users’ acceptability level of waiting time at signalized intersections

Traffic lights are installed to reduce crucial conflicts at high-traffic volume intersections. However, waiting time, a critical factor related to the delay and level of service, cannot be avoided at these intersections. In addition, the long waiting time may lead to road users’ impatience. Consequentially, it can motivate them to violate red lights. Therefore, designers should provide an appropriate cycle length and waiting time that meets the road users’ acceptability level. This paper tends to determine factors affecting road users’ acceptability level of waiting time in Hanoi by applying an ordered probit model using questionnaire data. The results demonstrate that the most significant factors include gender, occupation, transportation mode, commuting time/frequency, and traffic law understanding. Specifically, males, people whose occupation is business, who have commuting time in peak hours, who have commuting frequency more than three times per week, and motorcycle riders are sensitive and have less patience with the delay. By contrast, people who understand the traffic law may be more patient to wait at long cycle-length signalized intersection

Car Drivers’ Perception and Acceptance of Waiting Time at Signalized Intersections

While waiting at a traffic light, drivers' perceived waiting time can differ from the actual waiting time. Through a comprehensive video survey this paper shows that the perceived waiting time depends not only on the actual waiting time but also on other factors such as the number of stops in the queue and the presence of a red wave between adjacent intersections. Both waiting times with very short and very long durations are likely to be overestimated. Compared to a long standstill waiting, moving and stopping several times at the same intersection (due to short signal cycles) lead to lower perceived waiting times. When passing two adjacent intersections, car drivers dislike stopping at both intersections, especially if the second stop is relatively short. Based on the survey results, models are proposed for estimating drivers' perception and their acceptance of waiting time. These models have been validated by a real-world experiment