TRAFFIC OPERATION ON BUSY TWO-LANE RURAL ROADS IN THE NETHERLANDS

In the framework of updating standards for describing the quality of traffic flow on two-lane rural roads, research into the behavior of the traffic flow on relatively high-volume roads was carried out. Presented in this paper are findings about the relation between the volume and traffic composition as explanatory factors for speeds, headways, and platooning. It was found that mean speed was only marginally influenced by volume and truck percentage, whereas the standard deviation of speeds decreased substantially with increasing volume. An exponential tail model for headways, large enough to be relevant for passing opportunities, was used and its parameters were successfully related to volume. This model fits reality much better than the assumption that headways have a negative exponential distribution, which leads to severe underestimation of passing opportunities. Simple models were developed that relate the proportion of vehicles following in a platoon and the maximum platoon length in 5 min to volume and truck percentage. A comparison is made with results in the proposed Chapter 8 on Two-Lane Highways of the 1985 Highway Capacity Manual.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1986/1091/1091-017.pdf
• Record URL:
  • https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=TRAFFIC+OPERATION+ON+BUSY+TWO-LANE+RURAL+ROADS+IN+THE+NETHERLANDS&author=H.+Botma&publication_year=1986
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309041112
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Highway Capacity and Quality of Service. 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:
  • Botma, Hein
• Conference:
  • 65th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1986-1-13 to 1986-1-16
• Publication Date: 1986

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 126-131
• Monograph Title: Traffic flow and theory, characteristics and highway capacity
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1091
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Headways; Passing; Rural highways; Traffic flow; Traffic platooning; Traffic simulation; Traffic volume; Two lane highways; Vehicle mix
• Geographic Terms: Netherlands
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; I71: Traffic Theory;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00471962
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309041112
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jul 31 1988 12:00AM