A CANADIAN EVALUATION STUDY OF ROAD METERS

DURING THE SUMMER OF 1970 THE PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE OF THE ROADS & TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION OF CANADA CONDUCTED AN EVALUATION OF ROAD METERS WITH THREE OBJECTIVES IN MIND. FIRST, TO COMPARE MEASUREMENTS BY METERS DIFFERING IN DESIGN FROM THE BASIC CONFIGURATION AND TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT TO WHICH DESIGN VARIATIONS AFFECTED ACCURACY AND RELIABILITY. SECOND, TO CORRELATE ROAD METER COUNTS WITH SUBJECTIVE RATINGS. (THE STANDARD MEASURE OF RIDE QUALITY RECOMMENDED BY RTAC IS THE RIDING COMFORT INDEX, WHICH IS LIKE THE PSR EXCEPT THAT IT EMPLOYS A SCALE OF 0--10.) THIRD, TO ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF SPEED ON ACCURACY. THE FOLLOWING CONCLUSIONS ARE REPORTED: (1) IT CANNOT BE ASSUMED THAT TWO ROAD METERS WILL PRODUCE MEASUREMENTS OF THE SAME NUMERICAL VALUE, BUT A GOOD LINEAR CORRELATION SHOULD EXIST. (2) A LARGE, REPRESENTATIVE PANEL WILL PRODUCE A REASONABLE CORRELATION WITH ROAD METER RATINGS. (3) VARIATIONS IN ROAD METER DESIGN AND VEHICLE TYPE DO NOT SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT THE RELIABILITY AND CONSISTENCY OF MEASUREMENTS. (4) ROAD METER MEASUREMENTS VARY WITH TESTING SPEED, AND 50 MPH IS APPROPRIATE FOR NORMAL HIGHWAY APPLICATIONS. (5) IF MORE THAN ONE METER IS USED IN AN INVENTORY PROGRAM, INDIVIDUAL METERS MUST BE CALIBRATED TO A STANDARD METER OR OTHER MEASURE, SUCH AS RCI (PSR). IT IS DIFFICULT TO ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN AN ACCURATE CALIBRATION. A SET OF CALIBRATING TEST SECTIONS IS NECESSARY FOR A PERIODIC CHECK OF THE REPRODUCIBILITY OF MEASUREMENTS.

• Record URL:
  https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/sr/sr133/133-008.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • 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.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Argue, G H
• Conference:
  • Workshop on Pavement Evaluation Using Road Meters
  • Location: West Lafayette Indiana, United States
  • Date: 1972-4-18 to 1972-4-20
• Publication Date: 1973

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 41-48
• Monograph Title: PAVEMENT EVALUATION USING ROAD METERS
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Special Report
  • Issue Number: 133
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Calibration; Design; Drivers; Equipment; Evaluation; Pavements; Ratings; Road meters; Speed
• Uncontrolled Terms: Sufficiency rating
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00207532
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: May 21 1973 12:00AM