MOTOR TRANSPORT FUEL CONSUMPTION RATES AND TRAVEL TIME

FUEL CONSUMPTION AND TRAVEL TIME MEASUREMENTS ARE A PRIME CONSIDERATION IN THE ECONOMICAL DESIGN OF HIGHWAYS AND CONTRIBUTE A SUBSTANTIAL MONETARY VALUE IN BENEFIT-COST ANALYSIS. ONLY LIMITED UP-TO-DATE ON-THE-ROAD DATA ARE AVAILABLE, NOT ONLY FOR PASSENGER CARS BUT ALSO MAINLY FOR VARIOUS SIZES OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLES. THE PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT IS TO RECORD THE PROCEDURE AND FINDINGS OF AN EXTENSIVE SURVEY DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS OF 1959 IN WHICH FUEL CONSUMPTION AND TRAVEL TIME WERE MEASURED ON NEARLY EVERY POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION OF TRUCK AND TRAILER COMBINATIONS, AS WELL AS ON URBAN AND INTERCITY BUSES. BOTH GASOLINE- AND DIESEL-POWERED VEHICLES WERE TESTED UNDER VARYING CONDITIONS OF GRADE, SURFACE SPEED, WEIGHT, STOPPING AND SLOWING. ONE OF THE PRIMARY USES OF THE DATA WILL BE TO PROVIDE A COMPREHENSION OF THE DIFFERENTIAL FUEL AND TRAVEL TIME BENEFITS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH CLASSIFICATION OF THE HEAVIER VEHICLES OPERATING IN GREATER NUMBERS EACH YEAR ON THE HIGHWAYS. COMBINING THE RESULTS OF THIS STUDY WITH A SIMILAR INVESTIGATION OF SINGLE-UNIT TRUCKS AND PASSENGER CARS WILL COMPLETE THE RANGE OF VEHICLE TYPES. THE DATA PRESENTED IN THE REPORT SHOULD BE HIGHLY BENEFICIAL TO THE ECONOMICAL PLANNING AND DESIGN OF HIGHWAYS AS WELL AS TO ASSIGNMENT OF COST RESPONSIBILITY. COMPARISONS AND ANALYSES ARE POSSIBLE FOR FUEL AND TIME SAVINGS BY IMPROVEMENT OF ROADWAY SURFACING, REMOVAL OR REDUCTION OF STOPS, ELIMINATION OF CONGESTION AND SLOWDOWNS, REDUCTION OF GRADE, SHORTENING OF GRADES, OR CONTROL OF OPERATING SPEED. PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF THE PRETESTING DATA OBTAINED ON EACH VEHICLE AND CORRELATED WITH THE ACTUAL DATA RECORDED DURING THE ROAD TESTING INDICATES A POTENTIAL METHOD OF PREDICTING THE OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS UNDER ANY CONDITIONS. VERIFICATION OF THIS METHOD WOULD ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR SUCH A DETAILED STUDY AS THIS IN THE FUTURE, ASSUMING NO RADICAL CHANGES IN THE MEANS OF MOTOR TRANSPORTATION. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbbulletin/276/276-003.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • No 276, pp 35-91, 50 FIG, 12 TAB, 4 REF, 1 APP Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Sawhill, Roy B
  • Firey, Joseph C
• Conference:
  • 39th Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 1960-1-11 to 1960-1-15
• Publication Date: 1960

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Pagination: 58p
• Monograph Title: Motor vehicle time and fuel consumption
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Bulletin
  • Issue Number: 276
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobiles; Benefit cost analysis; Buses; Diesel engines; Fuel consumption; Gasoline engines; Highway planning; Highways; Programming (Planning); Traffic congestion; Trailers; Travel time; Trucks
• Old TRIS Terms: Highway programming
• Subject Areas: Economics; Energy; Highways; Motor Carriers; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222837
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Aug 19 1994 12:00AM