Passenger car equivalents of trucks on four-lane rural freeways under lane restriction and different traffic conditions

Truck lane restriction and differential speed limits for trucks and passenger cars are becoming more common policies to improve freeway operations and safety. The most recent edition of the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) recognizes that the passenger car equivalent (ET) values may differ with various traffic conditions, but does not explicitly address how ET values may be impacted by truck lane restrictions or differential speed limit policies. This study developed a flow-based methodology to determine ET for trucks under truck lane restriction policies and different levels of demand and traffic composition. A simulation model (VISSIM) was calibrated to reproduce ET in HCM on a level terrain freeway segment and then used to simulate various scenarios to capture the effect of demand flow rate, truck percentage, and compliance ratio to lane restriction, all under the enforcement of differential speed limit policy. The results showed that ET increases as the compliance ratio increases, regardless of the truck...

[1]  Ahmed Al-Kaisy,et al.  Estimating Truck Equivalencies for Freeway Sections , 2007 .

[2]  Thomas Urbanik,et al.  OPERATIONAL EVALUATION OF TRUCK RESTRICTIONS ON I-20 IN TEXAS , 1991 .

[3]  Lily Elefteriadou,et al.  Development of Passenger Car Equivalents for Freeways, Two-Lane Highways, and Arterials , 1997 .

[4]  Sherif Ishak,et al.  Freeway Truck Lane Restriction and Differential Speed Limits , 2010 .

[5]  John S Miller,et al.  Safety Effects of Differential Speed Limits on Rural Interstate Highways , 2003 .

[6]  L A Hoel,et al.  A SIMULATION ANALYSIS OF TRAFFIC FLOW ELEMENTS FOR RESTRICTED TRUCK LANES ON INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS IN VIRGINIA , 1999 .

[7]  Chester G. Wilmot,et al.  EFFECT OF SPEED LIMITS ON SPEED AND SAFETY: A REVIEW , 1999 .

[8]  Kara M. Kockelman,et al.  Safety Effects of Speed Limit Changes: Use of Panel Models, Including Speed, Use, and Design Variables , 2005 .

[9]  Lily Elefteriadou,et al.  A simulation study of truck passenger car equivalents (PCE) on basic freeway sections , 1999 .

[10]  W D Glauz,et al.  HIGHWAY/HEAVY VEHICLE INTERACTION , 2003 .

[11]  R Mussa,et al.  QUANTIFY THE EFFECTS OF RAISING THE MINIMUM SPEED ON RURAL FREEWAYS AND THE EFFECTS OF RESTRICTING THE TRUCK LANES ONLY IN THE DAYTIME. VOLUME 2: SAFETY AND OPERATIONAL EVALUATION OF TRUCK LANE RESTRICTION ON INTERSTATE 75 , 2004 .

[12]  Thomas Urbanik,et al.  Another View of Truck Lane Restrictions , 2004 .

[13]  Peter Vortisch,et al.  VALIDATION OF THE MICROSCOPIC TRAFFIC FLOW MODEL VISSIM IN DIFFERENT REAL-WORLD SITUATIONS , 2001 .

[14]  Ron Zeitz.  LOW-COST SOLUTIONS YIELD BIG SAVINGS , 2003 .

[15]  Fred R Hanscom.  OPERATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS OF TRUCK LANE RESTRICTIONS , 1990 .

[16]  Sherif Ishak,et al.  Stochastic Characteristics of Freeway Traffic Speed during Breakdown and Recovery Periods , 2010 .

[17]  Sherif Ishak,et al.  Trucker Perceptions of Lane Restriction and Differential Speed Limit Policies on Freeways , 2009 .

[18]  D L Harkey,et al.  Safety impacts of different speed limits on cars and trucks : final report , 1994 .