00740617

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/1572-07

http://scholar.google.com...ster&publication_year=1997

Passenger car equivalents (PCEs) have been used extensively in the "Highway Capacity Manual" to establish the impact of trucks, buses, and recreational vehicles on traffic operations. PCEs are currently being used for studying freeways, multilane highways, and two-lane highways. A heavy-vehicle factor is directly given for the impact of heavy vehicles at signalized intersections (and indirectly along arterials). These PCE values are typically based on a limited number of simulations and on older simulation models. In addition, the impact of variables such as traffic flow, truck percentage, truck type (i.e., length and weight/horsepower ratio), grade, and length of grade on PCEs has not been evaluated in depth for all facility types. The methodology for developing PCEs for different truck types for the full range of traffic conditions on freeways, two-lane highways, and arterials is described. Given the scope of this research and the variability of traffic conditions to be examined, simulation was selected as the most appropriate tool. The resulting PCE values for freeways, two-lane highways, and arterials indicated that some variables, such as percentage of trucks, do not always have the expected effect on PCEs, whereas other variables, such as vehicle type, are crucial in the calculations. Generally, major differences in PCEs occurred for the longer and steeper grades. There was great variability in PCE values as a function of the weight/horsepower ratio as well as of vehicle length.

This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1572, Highway Capacity Issues and Analysis.

English

p. 51-58

1997

Transportation Research Record

0309061504

Figures (1) ; References (25) ; Tables (5)

Buses; Freeways; Heavy vehicles; Highway operations; Horsepower; Impact studies; Length; Motor vehicles; Multilane highways; Passenger car equivalence; Recreational vehicles; Slopes; Traffic; Traffic flow; Traffic simulation; Trucks; Two lane highways; Vehicle length; Vehicle weight

Highway Capacity Manual

Grade (Slope)

Highways; Motor Carriers; Operations and Traffic Management; Public Transportation; I73: Traffic Control

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Sep 4 1997 12:00AM

• ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF THE CAPACITY OF ROUNDABOUTS
• ASSESSMENT OF ROADWAY CAPACITY ESTIMATION METHODS
• CAPACITY OF ROUNDABOUTS IN JORDAN
• COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF FRESIM AND 1994 HIGHWAY CAPACITY MANUAL MODELS FOR RAMP JUNCTIONS WITH AN INDEPENDENT DATA BASE
• DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDELINES BASED ON LIFE-CYCLE COST TO REPLACE LEVEL-OF-SERVICE CONCEPT IN CAPACITY ANALYSIS
• EFFECT OF UPSTREAM SIGNAL ON NONPRIORITY MOVEMENT CAPACITY AND DELAY
• GENERALIZED DELAY MODEL FOR SIGNALIZED INTERSECTIONS AND ARTERIAL STREETS
• IMPROVED SPEED-FLOW RELATIONSHIPS FOR PLANNING APPLICATIONS
• INTERSECTION DELAY IN REGIONWIDE TRAFFIC ASSIGNMENT: IMPLICATIONS OF 1994 UPDATE OF THE "HIGHWAY CAPACITY MANUAL"
• MODELS FOR RIGHT-TURN-ON-RED AND THEIR EFFECTS ON INTERSECTION DELAY
• OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE MEASURES OF AMERICAN ROUNDABOUTS
• PERFORMANCE MEASURES IN "CANADIAN CAPACITY GUIDE FOR SIGNALIZED INTERSECTIONS"
• REVIEW AND EVALUATION OF METHODS FOR ANALYZING CAPACITY AT SIGNALIZED INTERSECTIONS
• SATURATION FLOWS AT SIGNAL-GROUP-CONTROLLED TRAFFIC SIGNALS
• TRAFFIC FLOW CHARACTERISTICS ON A THREE-LANE RURAL HIGHWAY IN FINLAND: RESULTS FROM EMPIRICAL STUDIES AND SIMULATIONS
• UNSIGNALIZED INTERSECTION ANALYSIS: EFFECT OF OVERLAPPING CONFLICTING TRAFFIC FLOW ON MINOR MOVEMENT POTENTIAL CAPACITY
• USING INPUT-OUTPUT DIAGRAM TO DETERMINE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL EXTENTS OF A QUEUE UPSTREAM OF A BOTTLENECK
• UTILIZATION OF AUXILIARY THROUGH LANES AT SIGNALIZED INTERSECTIONS WITH DOWNSTREAM LANE REDUCTIONS
• VALIDATION OF GENERALIZED DELAY MODEL FOR OVERSATURATED CONDITIONS
• VALIDATION OF GENERALIZED DELAY MODEL FOR VEHICLE-ACTUATED TRAFFIC SIGNALS