Exclusive motorcycle lanes: A systematic review

Road accidents are the main leading cause of death, and more than half of people killed in road accidents are motorcyclists, pedestrians, and bicyclists. In developing countries, the share of motorcycles is very high in the traffic stream, which results in an increased number of accidents. Nonetheless, a high share of motorcycles and risky riding behavior of motorcyclists raise notable threats to other road users as well as themselves. Segregating motorcycles from the main traffic stream by providing an Exclusive MotorCycle Lane (EMCL) is reported as one of the strategies to improve motorcyclist's safety and overall road safety. Although EMCLs are successfully running in some Asian countries like Malaysia, Taiwan, and Indonesia, and have reported reducing motorcycle accidents, existing literature related to such lanes is limited and lacks combined contemplation of various design factors. Therefore, a systematic review of studies related to EMCL was carried out in the present paper using the PRISMA approach. The review was majorly divided into the following three categories viz., geometric design elements of EMCL, motorcyclist's flow characteristics on EMCL, and traffic control measures for EMCL to highlight the research lacunas in this field. The present study aims to cast light on the need for specific geometric design standards for EMCL and to assess the safety impact of segregating motorcyclists from other mixed traffic. The review highlights that the design standards for EMCL should be based on the motorcycle's characteristics, as it varies from other vehicle categories in terms of riding behavior and the physical properties of the motorcycle. • EMCL is one of the strategies to reduce motorcycle accidents and improve rider's safety. • A systematic review of evidence from 23 studies of EMCL was conducted using the PRISMA approach. • Geometric design standards and capacity considerations of EMCL are reviewed. • Future research directions to improve the effectiveness of EMCL.