The UK’s Transport Research Laboratory has partnered with Savoy Computing Services to develop a system to improve the design efficiency of roundabouts.

The system links ARCADY, a roundabout flow/capacity analysis program, with AutoTrack, a roundabout design program, to allow seamless data synchronisation communication.

Savoy director Simon Ayers said by linking the programs it has been able to create a single interactive environment.

“All the relevant design parameters are constantly updated, allowing the engineer to see immediately the effect of changes made to the geometry,” Ayers said.

ARCADY assesses roundabout performance by studying the geometry and placement of features such as pedestrian crossings and predicts flow rates, queue times and various performance criteria.

AutoTrack allows engineers to design roundabout geometry interactively to model roundabouts with up to eight arms and cater for splitter islands, pedestrian crossings, rumble strips and traffic controls.

The combination of the programs into a new system is expected to allow engineers to see the effect of changes made to the geometry immediately which will help reduce design time, improve design efficiency and reduce cost.