RELATING NO-PASSING ZONE CONFIGURATIONS ON RURAL TWO-LANE HIGHWAYS TO THROUGHPUT TRAFFIC

BECAUSE THE ROADWAY DESIGNER HAS NO SATISFACTORY TECHNIQUE TO EVALUATE THE TRAFFIC FLOW CONSEQUENCES OF MAKING SELECTIVE PASSING SIGHT DISTANCE IMPROVEMENTS AT SPOT LOCATIONS ON TWO-LANE, TWO-WAY RURAL HIGHWAYS, A STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN TO INVESTIGATE THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE TWO INDEPENDENT VARIABLES (PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL LENGTH OF A SECTION OF HIGHWAY MARKED WITH NO-PASSING BARRIERS AND THE TRAFFIC VOLUME INPUT TO THE SECTION OF HIGHWAY) AND THE DEPENDENT THROUGHPUT VARIABLES (MEAN SPEED, SPEED VARIANCE, VOLUME, TRAVEL TIME, AND COMPLETED PASSES). ADDITIONAL DEPENDENT VARIABLES INVESTIGATED, BUT NOT VERIFIED WITH FIELD OBSERVATIONS, WERE ATTEMPTED PASSES, DELAY, AND SPEED CHANGE CYCLES. A DIGITAL COMPUTER TRAFFIC MODEL IS USED TO SIMULATE TRAFFIC FLOW OVER 5- TO 6-MILE SECTIONS OF HIGHWAY AT NINE FIELD LOCATIONS IN NORTH CAROLINA. VOLUMES RANGES FROM 175 TO 650 VPH. THE MODEL IS CALIBRATED TO GENERATE SIMULATION THROUGHPUT DATA THAT STATISTICALLY MATCH THE THROUGHPUT DATA OBSERVED AT THE FIELD SITES. THE CALIBRATED MODEL IS THEN USED TO ANALYZE SIMULATED SYSTEMATIC CHANGES IN NO-PASSING BARRIERS, OVER VOLUME RANGES OF 175 TO 1,200 VPH. THE CONCLUSIONS ARE THAT THE MODEL IS SENSITIVE TO THESE CHANGES, AS REFLECTED BY THE THROUGHPUT STATISTICS, AND THAT THE DEPENDENT VARIABLES CAN BE CORRELATED WITH THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLES IN A STATISTICALLY RELIABLE MANNER, USING MULTIPLE LINEAR REGRESSION.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1973/437/437-002.pdf
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309021685
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Sponsored by Committee on Geometric Highway Design. 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:
  • Heimbach, Clinton L
  • Khasnabis, Snehamay
  • Chao, George C
• Conference:
  • 52nd Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1973-1-22 to 1973-1-26
• Publication Date: 1973

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 9-19
• Monograph Title: Geometrics
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 437
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Mathematical models; No passing zones; Passing; Rural highways; Speed; Traffic flow; Traffic volume; Travel time; Two lane highways
• Uncontrolled Terms: Models
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00203831
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309021685
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Dec 22 1973 12:00AM