TRAFFIC AND HIGHWAY RESEARCH ON HOW IT MAY BE IMPROVED
A WELL-KNOWN CONSULTANT IN TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING PRESENTS HIS VIEW THAT THE ATTITUDES, CONCEPTS AND IMAGINATION WHICH CHARACTERIZE SUCCESSFUL RESEARCH HAVE NOT KEPT PACE WITH THE EVER-INCREASING COMPLEXITIES OF HIGHWAY TRANSPORTATION. TO SHOW THAT FOLLOWING THE "RULES" OF RESEARCH IS AN EFFECTIVE WAY OF FINDING WHAT IS WRONG (OR RIGHT) WITH THE OPERATION OF THE HIGHWAY SYSTEM, SOME EXPERIENCES IN RESEARCH ARE PRESENTED: THE USE OF A TRAFFIC NUMBER (QUALITY OF TRAFFIC FLOW INDEX) CAN BE A CRITERION FOR EVALUATING THE EFFICIENCY OF TRAFFIC OPERATIONS; STUDIES OF DRIVING BEHAVIOR IN ON-THE-ROAD DRIVING TESTS SHOW THAT DRIVERS WITH DIFFERENT DRIVING HISTORIES EXHIBIT MEASURABLY DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTICS WHEN TESTED ON THE SAME ROUTE; AND A "HIGHWAY CHARACTERISTICS RECORDER" WOULD MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO BRING THE HIGHWAY "INTO THE OFFICE" FOR QUICK AND COMPLETE ANALYSIS. THE ABILITY TO MEASURE LEADS TO NEW IDEAS FOR HIGHWAY RESEARCH METHODS. WHEN RESEARCHERS START TESTING DRIVING ABILITY, DETERMINING THE "QUALITY" OF TRAFFIC FLOW, AND REALLY KNOWING THE HIGHWAYS, THERE WILL BE SAFER, MORE EFFICIENT HIGHWAY TRANSPORTATION.
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Availability:
- Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00368075
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Supplemental Notes:
- Vol 168, No 3932, PP 674-678
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Authors:
- Greenshields, B D
- Publication Date: 1970-5-8
Media Info
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Serial:
- Science
- Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
- ISSN: 0036-8075
- Serial URL: http://science.sciencemag.org/
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Behavior; Drivers; Evaluation; Highway operations; Highways; Human characteristics; Improvements; Research; Traffic; Traffic flow
- Uncontrolled Terms: Driver characteristics
- Old TRIS Terms: Traffic research
- Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Research; Safety and Human Factors; Society;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00225762
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS
- Created Date: Jun 29 1970 12:00AM