FREEWAY LEVEL OF SERVICE AS DESCRIBED BY AN ENERGY- ACCELERATION NOISE MODEL

THE STANDARD DEVIATION OF THE ACCELERATION OF A VEHICLE IS CALLED ACCELERATION NOISE. RESEARCH IS CONDUCTED ON THE THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE ACCELERATION NOISE PARAMETER AND THE ENERGY MODEL, AS RELATED TO THE LEVEL-OF-SERVICE CONCEPT. A COMPLETE ENERGY MODEL OF TRAFFIC FLOW IS FORMULATED WHICH INCLUDES BOTH KINETIC ENERGY AND INTERNAL ENERGY. MEASUREMENT WAS MADE OF THE ACCELERATION NOISE ON THE GULF FREEWAY TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT ACCELERATION NOISE REPRESENTS THE INTERNAL ENERGY OF A TRAFFIC STREAM. THE EFFECTS OF SUCH GEOMETRICS AS GRADES OF THE FACILITY ON ACCELERATION NOISE, AND OF OPERATIONAL CONTROL PROCEDURES SUCH AS RAMP METERING ON ACCELERATION NOISE ARE DETERMINED. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT ACCELERATION NOISE CAN BE A USEFUL TOOL FOR MEASURING THE CHANGES IN SMOOTHNESS OF FLOW RESULTING FROM ON-RAMP CONTROL AND METERING PROCEDURES. SINCE THERE IS A GOOD INDICATION THAT ACCELERATION NOISE IS LINEARLY RELATED TO THE ABSOLUTE DIFFERENCE IN ADJOINING GRADES, IT IS APPARENT THAT THIS PARAMETER MIGHT BE USEFUL IN MEASURING THE EFFECTS OF GEOMETRIC CHANGES. THUS, ACCELERATION NOISE HAS PRACTICAL APPLICATION IN BOTH OPERATIONS AND DESIGN.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1967/162/162-002.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Paper sponsored by Committee on Highway Capacity and presented at the 45th Annual Meeting. 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:
  • DREW, DONALD R
  • Dudek, Conrad L
  • Keese, Charles J
• Publication Date: 1967

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 30-85
• Monograph Title: Geometric aspects of highways
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 162
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Acceleration (Mechanics); Energy; Freeway operations; Freeways; Geometric design; Highway design; Interchange ramps; Kinetic energy; Level of service; Mathematical models; Measurement; Noise; Slopes; Traffic control; Traffic flow
• Uncontrolled Terms: Grades; Models
• Old TRIS Terms: Freeway design; Freeway ramps; Metering
• Subject Areas: Energy; Environment; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00225138
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Apr 20 1994 12:00AM