ImpactsofRoundaboutsonPassengerVehicleUseand.pdfVIP

Impacts of Roundabouts on Passenger Vehicle Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Technical Background Document Susan Handy, University of California, Davis Marlon G. Boarnet, University of Southern California September 30, 2014 Policy Brief: /cc/sb375/policies/rndabt/roundabout_brief.pdf Technical Background Document: /cc/sb375/policies/rndbt/roundabout_bkgd.pdf 9/30/2014 Technical Background Document on the Impacts of Roundabouts on Passenger Vehicle Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Susan Handy, University of California, Davis Marlon G. Boarnet, University of Southern California Study Selection Much of the research on roundabouts focuses on their impacts on safety and traffic flow. Four studies published in peer-reviewed journals that included assessments of the impact of roundabouts on fuel consumption and/or greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were included in this review (Várhelyi, 2002; Mandavilli et al., 2008; Ahn et al., 2009; Hallmark et al., 2011). Excluded from this review were studies not published in peer- review journals (Zuger et al., 2001; Bergh et al., 2005; Isebrand et al., 2006; Hallmark and Mudgal, 2011) and/or that reported the impacts of roundabouts on emissions of criteria pollutants but not GHG emissions or fuel consumption (Hydén and Várhelyi, 2000; Lima et al., 2013). Methodological Considerations The impact of roundabouts on GHG emissions and/or fuel consumption is generally measured in two steps. First, the impact of roundabouts on traffic flow, including the speeds and patterns of acceleration and deceleration of the vehicles traveling through the roundabout, are assessed. Second, traffic flow patterns are translated into emissions a