Modeling snow and cold effects for classified highway traffic volumes

This paper discusses about the effect of snowfall, temperature, and their interaction on two vehicle classes: passenger cars, and trucks on a primary highway in Alberta, Canada. The investigation is based on large data collected from the Weigh-In-Motion (WIM) site located at Leduc, on Highway 2A. The variations on traffic volume for vehicle classes are analyzed by means of a dummyvariable regression model with seven cold categories. The models are calibrated to estimate the temperature impact on daily traffic variations and, more specifically, to quantify the interaction effect of snowfall and temperature on classified traffic volume. The study results suggested distinctive patterns in traffic variations for passenger cars and trucks. The daily passenger car volume reduction is 12% when the temperature goes below −25°C and, by interaction between snow and cold, it was reduced by 36% at the temperature range −25°C ~ −20°C with 16cm snowfall. Conversely, the daily truck traffic is generally increased for all cold categories. In particular, truck traffic is not really affected by snow and cold interaction even at extreme winter weather conditions. The paper contributes to the literature by analyzing the winter weather effects on truck traffic, in particular. This study may be useful for developing efficient highway monitoring programs, and winter road maintenance programs, etc.

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