Estimating Parking Building Spiral Ramp Capacity Using Traffic Microsimulation Technique

Abstract

This study aims to determine the traffic flow capacity on spiral ramps within a multi-story car parking building. A spiral ramp flow capacity is a crucial element in parking building design when considering traffic flow efficiency and safety. This study applies a microsimulation modeling analysis technique to estimate the traffic flow capacity on the spiral ramp. In the methodology, modified driving behavior variables are used in the traffic model to reflect the driving behavior within the chosen parking building in Bangkok, Thailand. For planning purposes, having the knowledges of obtaining a robust spiral ramp’s capacity simplifies the process of calculating the number of spiral ramps required for multi-story large-scale parking buildings with improved economic utility, safety, and efficiency in traffic flow. According to this study driving speed and width of the ramp directly affects the traffic flow capacity of the ramp. The spiral ramp’s traffic flow capacity of the small, medium, large, and extra-large width spiral ramp is 836 vehicles per hour, 976 vehicles per hour, 1,055 vehicles per hour, and 1,165 vehicles per hour respectively.