Impact Evaluation of a Traffic Circle through Macroscopic Traffic Flow Simulation

Between 2016 and 2017, a traffic circle was constructed at the intersection of Balltown and Aqueduct roads in the hopes of relieving congestion and reducing air pollution in Niskayuna. In order to evaluate the impact the construction of the roundabout had on Balltown road, traffic flow was simulated before and after its construction using a macroscopic traffic flow model based on an established model known as FREFLO. Where microscopic traffic models rely on driver behavior to predict the paths of individual vehicles, macroscopic models are analogous to computational fluid dynamics, and analyze traffic as a continuous flow. Short-count speed and volume data from NYSDOT was used to establish parameters for the simulation and to validate the solution.