Prediction of Design Hourly Volume from Road Users' Perspective

The present investigation considers the prediction of the design hour volume from users' perspective. [The design hour volume concept from users' perspective was introduced in an earlier paper (Sharma 1986), which concluded that the type of road use is a significant variable that should be considered for appropriate design volume. Another finding was that to provide a more uniform service to the users, it is better to use different highest‐volume hours for designing different types of roads.] Linear regression models are developed in the present paper and tested using highway traffic data from the province of Alberta, Canada. The design hour volume from users' perspective is expressed as a function of the type of monthly and daily traffic data that are easily available to highway agencies. It is concluded that the design hour volume from users' perspective is predictable with as much accuracy as the traditional design hour volume where the thirtieth or some other highest hour of the year is chosen for design purpose. The paper also shows some example applications of the proposed models.