01099197

Component

Estimation of Passenger Car Unit (PCU) or Passenger Car Equivalent (PCE) values of vehicles are the pre-requisites for highway capacity and level of service analysis and to formulate effective traffic regulation and control measures. This is better done by modeling the system, which will enable the study of the influencing factors over a wide range. Computer simulation has emerged as an effective technique for modeling traffic flow due to its capability to account for the randomness related to road traffic. This paper is focused on the estimation and study of the possible variation of Passenger Car Unit (PCU) values of different categories of vehicles at various traffic volume levels, under heterogeneous traffic conditions, using a simulation model of heterogeneous traffic flow, named HETEROSIM. The results of the study, provides an insight into the complexity of the vehicular interaction in heterogeneous traffic. It has been found that the PCU value of a vehicle type varies considerably with variation in traffic volume. Hence, it is appropriate to consider the PCU value of a vehicle type as a dynamic value instead of considering it as constant. The derived PCU may be useful for capacity and level of service analysis under heterogeneous traffic conditions.

01084478

08-2116

English

14p

2008

Transportation Research Board 87th Annual Meeting

DVD

Figures (6) ; References (18) ; Tables (2)

Highway capacity; Highway operations; Microscopic traffic flow; Operations; Passenger car equivalence; Simulation; Traffic congestion; Traffic simulation; Traffic volume

Heterogeneous traffic

Administration and Management; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; I73: Traffic Control

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2008 Paper #08-2116

TRIS, TRB

Jan 29 2008 4:27PM