Integrated Stochastic Approach for Risk and Service Estimation: Passing Sight Distance Application

The geometric design of highway elements is based on a set of standards that do not consider the risk levels associated with these designs. Safety elements including risk measures need to be identified and incorporated into the design process. The focus of this paper is a procedure that can be used by practitioners as a framework to conduct trade-off analyses between risk and service measures of specific design elements. The procedure builds on the randomness of parameters affecting the design attributes of any highway element. By accounting for the inherent variability of the determining parameters, random distributions of the design element can be derived. Then, using stochastic simulation, each of the design values can be tested to assess its risk measures. As a result, a risk index can then be attached to every design value in the random distribution. Finally, level of service (LOS) measures can be estimated and a trade-off analysis between LOS and safety could be conducted. The application focused on the design of the passing sight distance (PSD), which is an example of a highway element traditionally analyzed with no risk measures. Within the analysis, the risks and LOS measures associated with the use of the current PSD standards were assessed. The American Association of State Highways and Transportation Officials Green Book values were shown to be conservative. The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices values fall within the acceptable risk and LOS levels.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)TE.1943-5436.0000366
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/8674831
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Copyright © 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers
• Authors:
  • El Khoury, John
  • Hobeika, Antoine G
• Publication Date: 2012-5-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 571-579
• Serial:
  • Journal of Transportation Engineering
  • Volume: 138
  • Issue Number: 5
  • Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers
  • ISSN: 0733-947X
  • Serial URL: https://ascelibrary.org/journal/jtepbs

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Highway design; Highway safety; Level of service; Passing sight distance; Risk management; Stochastic processes; Traffic simulation
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; I20: Design and Planning of Transport Infrastructure; I85: Safety Devices used in Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01379046
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, ASCE
• Created Date: Jul 30 2012 12:48PM