Developing Passenger Car Equivalency Factors for Heavy Vehicles during Congestion
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 131, Issue 7
Abstract
The Highway capacity manual (HCM) utilizes passenger car equivalency (PCE) factors to estimate the effect of heavy vehicles on traffic stream behavior under free-flow conditions. However, these factors have been (mistakenly) used by professionals to conduct analyses for all traffic conditions, i.e., free-flow as well as forced-flow conditions. Recent empirical evidence suggests that the PCE factors for free-flow conditions largely underestimate the effect of heavy vehicles after the onset of congestion. The current study aims at developing PCE factors for heavy vehicles on freeways and multilane highways during congestion. The study utilizes empirical data and microscopic traffic simulation to develop a set of PCE factors on level terrain and specific upgrades during congestion. The format of the proposed PCE factors is very similar to that of the HCM PCE factors for free-flow conditions. It is believed that the use of the proposed PCE factors for oversaturated conditions will help to largely improve the estimate of heavy vehicles’ effect when congestion is present.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 131 • Issue 7 • July 2005
Pages: 514 - 523
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Nov 4, 2003
Accepted: Nov 2, 2004
Published online: Jul 1, 2005
Published in print: Jul 2005
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