MEASURABLE SUBSTITUTES FOR SOME INTANGIBLES IN THE QUALITY OF SERVICE

Quality of service is traditionally related to four main attributes of travel: speed, comfort, safety and economy. Of these four, only speed can be measured directly. Comfort and, to a great extent, safety and economy, are intangibles. The authors propose two new traffic characteristics: the platooning index and the density of catch points, as measurable substitutes for comfort and safety, respectively. The platooning index portrays the loss of freedom to manoeuvre and to choose speed, and the density of catch points expresses the dangerous proximity of vehicles travelling behind each other at different speeds. (Author/TRRL)

• Corporate Authors:

  National Institute for Transport & Rd Res S Af

  P.O. Box 395
  Pretoria 0001, Transvaal,   South Africa 
• Authors:
  • Slavik, M N
  • Bester, C J
• Publication Date: 1983-8

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 20 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Coefficients; Comfort; Cost effectiveness; Costs; Headways; Level of service; Measurement; Quantitative analysis; Ratios; Safety; Speed; Traffic platooning; Vehicle spacing
• Uncontrolled Terms: Index (Coefficient); Quantifying
• Old TRIS Terms: Indexes (Ratios)
• ITRD Terms: 652: Bunching; 6410: Coefficient; 9138: Comfort; 224: Cost; 685: Headway; 653: Level of service; 6136: Measurement; 1665: Safety; 5408: Speed; 694: Vehicle spacing
• Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00395606
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Report/Paper Numbers: RT/17/83 Monograph
• Files: ITRD, TRIS, ATRI
• Created Date: Nov 30 1985 12:00AM