Effect of Lane Width on Capacity under Mixed Traffic Conditions in India
This article has a reply.
VIEW THE REPLYPublication: Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 129, Issue 2
Abstract
A new concept to estimate the passenger car unit (PCU) of different types of vehicles under mixed traffic conditions is presented. It utilizes the area, as opposed to only the length, and speed of a vehicle. Data were collected at ten sections of two-lane roads in different parts of India. The width of carriageway (this term is commonly used in India for the total width of the paved surface of a road excluding its shoulders) ranged from 5.5 to 8.8 m. All vehicles were divided into nine different categories and their PCU’s were estimated at each road section. It was found that the PCU for a vehicle type increases linearly with the width of carriageway. This is attributed to the greater freedom of movement on wider roads and therefore a greater speed differential between a car and a vehicle type. The capacity of a two-lane road also increases with total width of the carriageway and the relationship between the two follows a second-degree curve. This relationship is used to derive the adjustment factors for substandard lane widths and the results are compared with literature.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Chandra, S., and Kumar, P. (1996). “Effect of shoulder condition on highway capacity.” Proc., Int. Seminar on Civil Engineering Practices in Twenty First Century, Roorkee, India, 512–519.
Chandra, S., and Sikdar, P. K.(2000). “Factors affecting PCU in mixed traffic on urban roads.” Road Transport Res., 9(3), 40–50.
Craus, J., Polus, A., and Grinberg, I.(1980). “A revised method for determination of passenger car equivalents.” Transp. Res., 14A, 241–246.
Elefteriadou, L., Torbic, D., and Webster, N. (1997). “Development of PCE for freeways, two-lane highways and arterials.” Transportation Research Record 1572, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 51–58.
Farouki, O. T., and Nixon, W. J.(1976). “The effect of width of suburban roads on the mean-free speeds of cars.” Traffic Eng. Control, 17(12), 518–519.
Gupta, D. P. (2000). “Road development in India: Strategies for implementation.” Proc., Seminar on financing, implementation, and operation of highways in 21st century, Indian Roads Congress, New Delhi, 27–34.
Highway Capacity Manual (HCM). (1994). Special Rep. No. 209, 3rd Ed., Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C.
Highway Capacity Manual (HCM). (2000). Special Rep. No. 209, 4th Ed., Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C.
Hossain, M., and Iqbal, G. A.(1999). “Vehicular headway distribution and free speed characteristics of two-lane two-way highway of Bangladesh.” Inst. Eng. (India), 80, 77–80.
Krammes, R. A., and Crowley, K. W. (1986). “Passenger car equivalents for trucks on level freeway segments.” Transportation Research Record 1091, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 10–16.
Leong, H. J. W. (1968). “Distribution and trend of free speed on two-lane two way rural highway in New South Wales.” Proc., 4th ARRB Conf., Part 1, Australian Road Research Board, 791–814.
Nakamura, M. (1994). “Research and application of highway capacity in Japan.” Proc., 2nd Int. Symposium on Highway Capacity, Sydney, Australia, 104–111.
Thorne, S. M.(1965). “Relative effect of buses and cars on speed of traffic.” Traffic Eng. Control, 12(1), 140–141.
Turner, D. S., Rogness, R. O., and Fambro, D. B. (1982). “Shoulder upgrading alternatives to improve the operational characteristics of two-lane highway.” Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.
Werner, A., and Morall, J. F. (1976). “Passenger car equivalencies for trucks, buses and recreational vehicles for two lane rural highways.” Transportation Research Record 615, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 10–17.
Yagar, S., and Aerde, M. V.(1983). “Geometric and environmental effects on speeds of two-lane highways.” Transp. Res., 17A(4), 315–325.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 2003 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 29, 2001
Accepted: Feb 22, 2002
Published online: Feb 14, 2003
Published in print: Mar 2003
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.