Case Study

Impact of Heavy Vehicles on Highway Traffic Flows:

Case Study in the Seoul Metropolitan Area
Chang-Gyun Roh 1; Bum-Jin Park 2; and Jonghoon Kim, A.M.ASCE 3
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Abstract: Highway capacity manuals (HCM) have incorporated the effect of heavy vehicles (HVs) in the form of passenger car equivalents
(PCEs) for estimating highway traffic conditions, which include the road’s slopes, the length of the road, the geographical characteristics, and
the ratio of HVs to other types of vehicles on the road. The PCEs of HVs are critical for designing, operating, and evaluating highways. In
order to analyze the effects of HVs on highway traffic flow, the real-time automatic vehicle classification (AVC) data were collected for three
different major highways (four-lane, six-lane, and eight-lane highways, respectively) in the Seoul metropolitan area for the 2 months from
August to September 2011. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of HVs on traffic flows using real-time AVC data and to
analyze the relationship among the average speed, the HV ratio, the flow rate, and the number of lanes. The findings revealed that the average
speed decreased when the flow rate and HV ratio increased for the six-lane and the eight-lane highways. The average speed also decreased as
the flow rate increased for the four-lane highway. However, the average speed stabilized when the HV ratio was in the range of 25–45% and
recovered when the HV ratio exceeded 45%; this result implied a need to reexamine the existing methods of deriving the HV factors for the
HCM. DOI: 10.1061/JTEPBS.0000077. © 2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
Author keywords: Heavy vehicles (HVs); Influence; Passenger car equivalents (PCEs); Highway.

Introduction and Research Scope
The larger vehicles and their proportion in the traffic flow have sig-
nificantly increased over the past decades (Hobbs 2016). This trend
persists as development continues. The larger vehicles such as
heavy vehicles (HVs), recreational vehicles (RVs), and buses affect
the traffic flow due to their slow speed compared with passenger car
speed (Wegman et al. 2012). The presence of these larger vehicles
in the traffic flow affects the various parameters of traffic flow. The
larger vehicles, which include heavy vehicles (HVs), recreational
vehicles (RVs), buses, etc., affect the traffic flow due to their slow
speed compared to passenger cars (Al-Kaisy and Jung 2004). As a
result of these factors, the drivers of passenger cars are forced to
drive around the large vehicles. Also, the larger vehicles’ power
performance may interfere with the overall traffic flow. HCM
(1965) put forward a way to solve the problem of mixed traffic
by using passenger car equivalents (PCEs) to convert a mixed high-
way traffic flow into an equivalent standard passenger car traffic
flow (Shalini and Kumar 2014). This method may cause speed
variation and affect the traffic flow characteristics on highways
(Al-Kaisy and Hall 2003; Mauch and Cassidy 2002).
1
Senior Researcher, Highway and Transportation Research Division,
Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, Goyang
411-712, Republic of Korea. E-mail: rohcg@kict.re.kr
2 way design, and the demand and operation analyses are used as
Senior Researcher, Highway and Transportation Research Division,
Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, Goyang
411-712, Republic of Korea (corresponding author). E-mail: park_bumjin@
kict.re.kr
3
Assistant Professor, College of Engineering, Architecture and Technol-
ogy, Oklahoma State Univ., Stillwater, OK 74078. E-mail: jongkim@
okstate.edu
Note. This manuscript was submitted on August 11, 2016; approved on
April 17, 2017; published online on July 13, 2017. Discussion period
open until December 13, 2017; separate discussions must be submitted
for individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Transportation
Engineering, Part A: Systems, © ASCE, ISSN 2473-2907.
Recently, a massive amount of traffic data has been collected
during a 2-month period on three major highways in the Seoul met-
ropolitan area in South Korea. The unique opportunity provided by
this data set is that each of the three highways has a different num-
ber of lanes, providing a venue in which the effects of the number
of lanes on the traffic interaction dynamics of HVs and passenger
cars can be analyzed, which in turn can help in streamlining the
performance of the traffic overall. Most importantly, this is the larg-
est set of national data that has been collected with an extensive
number of physical sensors embedded in the highways across
the nation. In this study, the real-time traffic data were used to ana-
lyze the influence of HVs on the traffic when other parameters such
as the HV ratio, traffic flow rate, and number of lanes were varied.
Previous Research Studies on Determinant
Factors of Traffic Flow
The primary traffic flow is composed of three parameters: the traffic
density, the speed, and the volume or rate of flow (Roess et al.
2004). Traffic density is defined as a parameter that describes
the traffic flow in an intuitive manner. However, it is difficult to
measure the traffic density directly by collecting data; therefore,
as sometimes the values of a parameter are used to interpret the
values of similar parameters, the traffic density is measured in that
way (Haberman 1997). Traffic speed is used to analyze the road-
fundamental measurements of the uninterrupted traffic flow
(Dey et al. 2006). The traffic speed is also used to determine
the level of service (LOS) of the traffic flow and is applied in
the passenger car unit (PCU) (HCM 1965). The traffic volume
is another determinant factor for predicting the roadway condition;
it explains the trends of the highways (Roess et al. 2004). It is also
used as a final decision-making tool.
Because the traffic volume explains the trends of the highway, it
is the most useful determinant factor for the prediction and diagnosis
of the traffic flow condition with the speed (Roess et al. 2004).

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 It is also used in the decision-support system for the traffic-strategy
selection parameters to determine the strategy (Milica and Dragana
2014). The density is difficult to measure directly, as described pre-
viously, and traffic flow analyses are carried out using the speed
and volume.
Various Analysis Methods of Traffic Flow
Traffic flow analysis methods include the microscopic parameter
analysis and the modeling analysis using determinant factors.
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Williams and Hoel (2003) used the autoregressive integrated mov-
ing average (ARIMA) model for the seasonal variation analysis to
develop the short-term prediction model. Lan and Abia (2011) uti-
lized the data of peak hours in order to analyze the traffic capacity;
this was proposed as the prediction model to interpret the traffic
flow. Dhamaniya and Chandra (2013) demonstrated the concept
of the stream equivalent factor (SEF), where heterogeneous traffic
volumes in PCUs were converted in a way as to determine the PCU
factors for individual vehicle types. Dey et al. (2006) proposed the
methods of speed distribution curves to analyze mixed traffic
conditions.
Influence of Vehicles on Traffic Flow
Studies (Chitturi and Benekohal 2007; Hangfei et al. 2008) exam-
ined the effect of HVs near work zones, which often create bottle-
necks for the general traffic. HVs are a major contributor to pollution
emissions, and it is crucial to assess their effects on the environment
(Mahmod et al. 2010). HVs heighten the risk of accidents and
some researchers have focused on the safety-related issues with
HVs (Gao et al. 2004; Ramírez et al. 2009). Hong and Oguchi
(2007) considered the effect of rainfall and HVs on traffic.
HVs provide great load capacity and are the backbone of the
freight transportation industry. Even though some recently manu-
factured HVs are equipped with more powerful engines, the major-
ity of HVs negatively affect the general traffic because of their
physical characteristics such as low acceleration and slow speed.
Some researchers (Peeta et al. 2005; Aghabayk and Sarvi 2012;
Sarvi 2013) have focused on car-following models that involve
HVs, in attempts to reflect the unique operating characteristics
of HVs; others (Lahiri and Hadi 2008) have focused on microsi-
mulation tools to simulate how HVs would affect the general traffic
under different software packages used with the software’s default
values. The main limitation of these theories and simulation-based
approaches for assessing the influence of HVs on traffic is that they
do not truly represent the real-time phenomena because the formu-
lations are based on parameters that are generally estimations. Lake
et al. (2002) analyzed the effect of a multicombination vehicle
(MCV), capable of carrying increased loads, and suggest that
MCVs need to be treated with higher PCE values.
Highway capacity manuals (HCMs) (HCM 2010; Korea HCM
2004) incorporate the influences of trucks, buses and RVs through
PCE values, which are based on the vehicle type, topographic prop-
erties such as road slope/length, and the ratio of the vehicle in the
traffic. In general, the HCMs apply a single PCE value to all sit-
uations regardless of the traffic flow rates and the ratios of HVs.
Webster and Elefteriadou (1999) found that the traffic flow rate
and the percentage of HVs in the traffic affect the degree of the
influence of HVs on the traffic conditions. Al-Kaisy et al.
(2002) found that the PCE factor is a random variable that follows
a normal distribution and theorize that the PCE factor should de-
crease as the proportion of HVs increases. Al-Kaisy and Jung
(2004) conducted a simulation-based study for the PCE factors,
which were derived from a queue discharge flow. That study found
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that the HVs’ influences differ between free-flow and congested
traffic regimes. The study also concluded that during congestion,
lane-use restriction and the location of bottlenecks relative to up-
grades are significant factors contributing to the HVs’ influences on
the traffic.
Van Aerde and Yagar (1984) reported that large vehicles, includ-
ing HVs, RVs, trucks and buses, have a higher individual propen-
sity to become platoon leaders, compared with passenger cars.
These leader propensities were analyzed using the ratio of the per-
centage of leads by vehicle type to the percentage of total main-line
traffic count by vehicle type.
Research Objectives
Previous studies focused on the effect of HVs on traffic from the
perspective of the car-following theories, safety, work zones, and
pollution. The present study endeavors to understand the traffic
flow patterns for HVs and to analyze the effect of HVs on the traffic
flow on the highways in the Seoul metropolitan area in the Repub-
lic of Korea. In order to fill the gap between the past research and
the current research studies, this research study focuses on three
primary objectives: (1) to understand speed reduction due to the
volume of HV variance; (2) to analyze the speed variance based
on vehicle types, which include passenger cars, midsize heavy ve-
hicles, and larger-size vehicles; and (3) to analyze the HV traffic
flow pattern based on the numbers of lanes on the highways.
Identification of Relevant Parameters
Measuring the influence of HVs on the general traffic involves
determining the parameters, which include the vehicle speed,
traffic volume, headway, and density as Table 1. The main criteria
that this study used to identify the relevant parameters were as
follows:
1. The parameters were collected from the field in a technically
feasible manner (i.e., the use of automatic vehicle classification
sensors in the Seoul metropolitan area to measure the para-
meters directly).
2. The parameters represented the operating conditions of the
roads on HVs.
3. The parameters consisted of numbers that could be easily cal-
culated and compared.
4. The parameters could be easily understood, standardized, and
analyzed.
Data Collection and Study Area
The impact of HVs on traffic was examined using the collected
data, which included high traffic volume and the various ratios
of heavy vehicles, on the following three highways in the Seoul
metropolitan area: (1) four-lane highway (the Seoul–Chuncheon
Expressway, two lanes in each direction), (2) six-lane highway
(the Pyeongtaek–Jecheon Expressway, three lanes in each direc-
tion), and (3) eight-lane highway (the Gyeongbu Expressway, four
lanes in each direction).
The characteristics of the study data are highlighted in Table 2.
The AVC system used piezoelectric sensors for collecting traffic
information by differentiating types of vehicles in the given traffic
flow. The piezoelectric sensors that measure through-traffic move-
ments detect electric charges generated by the axle weights of pass-
ing vehicles that are proportional to the mechanical stress applied to
the sensors. The AVC technology can detect the number of axles of
J. Transp. Eng., Part A: Syst.
 Table 1. Selected Parameters for HVs’ Influence on the General Traffic
Parameter evaluationa (Scale: 1–3; higher is better)
Candidate
parameters Ease of acquisition Relevance Ease of analysis Results Considerations
Speed 3 3 3 Selected •Primary measure of LOS.
•Easy to collect.
Traffic volume 3 3 3 Selected •Conveys some relevance to headway.
•Existing researches have also considered traffic flow rate.
Headway 1 2 2 Not selected •High level of deviation; difficult to standardize.
•Not usually collected on a regular basis.
Density 1 3 2 Not selected •Can be useful for assessing the safety of drivers.
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•Very difficult to directly measure.

a
Scale 1: Less accuracy but collectable data set; Scale 2: Enable to calculate the data set; Scale 3: Data set collectable through traffic detector.

Table 2. Description of Collected Data

Highway sections Number of data points Data frequency
Seoul–Chuncheon expressway Entire length 437,542 5-min-interval data
Pyeongtaek–Jecheon expressway Songtan–Anseong section 4,801 15-min-interval data
Gyeongbu expressway Cheonan–Anseong section 5,470 15-min-interval data

Data collected during heavy rain were excluded and analyses

were not conducted on data that were not within the data validity
range shown in Table 4 or did not follow the traffic variables’ re-
lationship of volume, speed, and occupancy. Table 5 presents the
data characteristics based on vehicle classification. The PCU analy-
sis revealed that the average vehicle speed was 105.4 km=h and
the standard deviation for vehicle speed was higher. However, the
speed of heavy vehicles was slower than the PCU speed and the
standard deviation was also less as compared with the PCU.

Four-Lane Highway (Seoul–Chuncheon Highway)

Fig. 1. AVC system under the existing pavement (image by Chang-
Gyun Roh)
vehicles and speed when a pair of sensors are embedded below the
road surface. Fig. 1 shows a photograph of the AVC system under
the existing pavement, and Table 3 presents a summary of the raw
data format, which includes traffic volume and traffic speed, for the
Seoul-Chuncheon Expressway.
The data collected went through a screening process for errors
before being used for further analyses. When an error input or an
outlier was discovered, all 5-min data prior to and after that point in
time were excluded from the study data sets. Figs. 2 and 3 show the
data screening process and the data correlation and validation,
respectively.
The Seoul–Chuncheon Expressway (total length ¼ 61.4 km) con-
nects Seoul with the city of Chuncheon, Gangwondo. It is a four-
lane highway with a total of nine major intersections. For this
research, the traffic information data was collected during the
2-month period from August to September 2011 using nine
AVC detectors in each direction (18 in total for both directions).
These AVC detectors installed along the Seoul–Chuncheon Ex-
pressway were used to examine the effect of HVs on the traffic.
Six-Lane Highway (Pyeongtaek–Jecheon Expressway)
The Pyeongtaek–Jecheon Expressway in the Seoul metropolitan
area, which went into operation in 2008 (total length ¼
57.1 km), connects the cities of Pyeongtaek and Anseong. This ex-
pressway is being extended to the West Coast Expressway, carrying
most of the freight traffic into and out of a major industrial

Table 3. Raw Data Table (Seoul-Chuncheon Expressway)

Volume (veh=30 s) Speed (km=h)
Cls_ Cls_ Cls_ Cls_ Cls_ Cls_ Cls_ Cls_
Date/time AVC_ID Direct VOL SPD OCC one two three ::: twelve one two three ::: twelve
20111001080000 0010AV01300 S 588.00 102.42 5.00 380.00 35.00 86.00 ::: 0.00 106.12 99.20 110.14 ::: —
20111001080030 0010AV01300 E 516.00 103.71 4.25 353.00 27.00 33.00 2.00 33.00 97.07 109.88 96.50
20111001080100 0010AV01300 E 406.00 104.99 3.25 294.00 20.00 18.00 1.00 111.45 98.75 103.28 67.00
20111001080130 0010AV01300 S 549.00 104.20 5.25 333.00 39.00 93.00 0.00 31.00 95.82 109.65 —
20111001080200 0010AV01300 E 407.00 103.76 3.25 291.00 17.00 22.00 0.00 110.17 96.24 102.00 —
20111001080230 0010AV01300 S 435.00 104.73 3.25 250.00 40.00 80.00 1.00 26.00 92.98 111.88 100.00
20111001080100 0010AV01300 E 406.00 104.99 3.25 294.00 20.00 18.00 1.00 110.37 98.24 109.00 86.25

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 Fig. 2. Data screen process
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Fig. 3. Data correlation and validation

Table 4. Effective Range of Data Screen Table 6. Number of Observations per Vehicle Ratio
Data Effective range % of heavy vehicles Observations
Volume Under 20 veh=30 s= ln (2,400 veh=h= ln) 0 6,003
Speed 0–200 km=h 5 17,497
Occupancy 0–100% 10 11,361
15 6,423
20 3,806
25 1,694
Table 5. Data Characteristics (in Free Flow Condition) Based on Vehicle 30 699
Classification 35 551
Classification PCU (small) Middle Large 40 379
45 181
Average speed (km=h) 105.4 97.2 95.1 50 504
Standard deviation (km=h) 14.5 9.9 12.5 55 27
Variance 211.7 98.9 157.3 60 135
Maximum (km=h) 200 199.0 200.0 65 23
70 199
75 122
complex. The highway section is exposed to a relatively stable HV 80 38
85 23
ratio compared to other sections. The data set was collected during
90 10
the month of October 2011 with the help of the AVC detectors in- 95 —
stalled along the six-lane section of the Pyeongtaek–Jecheon Ex- 100 349
pressway. Analyses of the data were done using 15-min-interval Total 50,024
traffic data.

Eight-Lane Highway (Gyeongbu Expressway)

The traffic flow data for the Gyeongbu Expressway (total
length ¼ 416 km) were collected in the section between the
Cheonan and Anseong intersections. The data for this case was
set up at 15-min intervals and was collected during the month
of October 2011. The AVC was similar to the one used in the data
collection for the Pyeongtaek–Jecheon six-lane expressway.
Findings: Results and Analysis
The collected data were analyzed from various perspectives related
to the influence of HVs on the traffic.
Effect of Percentage of HVs and Flow
Rates on Speed
The effect of the ratio of HVs and the traffic flow rate on the per-
formance measure, namely, the traffic speed, were analyzed. The
data were divided into 20 different groups with a 5% incremental
heavy vehicle ratio (0–5%, 5–10%, 10–15%, etc.), and the average
speed of the traffic in each group was calculated. As the vehicle
ratio increased, the difference between the average speed values
decreased. Vehicle data of all groups were configured to include
at least 30 samples; however, a few groups that had close to a
100% heavy vehicle ratio could not collect vehicle data properly.
Table 6 presents the number of observations per vehicle ratio.

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 Four-Lane Highway
This section analyzes the average speed reductions (across all traf-
fic flows) that occur when the ratio of HVs varies, compared with
the case in which all vehicles are passenger cars. As the percentage
of HVs increases from 0 to 35%, the average speed reduction in-
creases. When the HV ratio in the traffic is more than 35%, the
reduction stabilizes or even improves. The curve-fitting results
of Eq. (1) (Fig. 4) show the speed reductions versus the percentage
of HVs; the results are intuitive, in the sense that a larger number of
HVs in the traffic affects the traffic negatively. However, this graph
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of influence of the HVs on the general traffic. Some data plots are
grayed out in Figs. 6–11, indicating that the plots are based on
fewer than 30 data counts, but the data plots still represent the gen-
eral trend regardless of the data count.
In the case of 0–100 veh=h= ln, Figs. 6–11 shows that the aver-
age speed of the traffic flow tends to decrease as the percentage of
HVs increases, because when a platoon of vehicles is led by an HV,
it becomes the determinant factor of the speed of the passenger cars
upstream. From 50 to 80%, the trend still exists, but the magnitude
of speed reduction falls as the percentage of HVs increases. As

of the average speed reduction across all traffic flows opens the
door to research opportunities for analyzing such relationships
under varying traffic flows. Even when the percentage of HVs ex-
ceeds 35%, the curve fluctuates and even falls at times. The error in
the speed reduction amount per heavy vehicle ratio was confirmed
by the root mean square error (RMSE), as shown in Fig. 5. The
average RMSE was 0.84, with a maximum of 3.78 and a minimum
of 0.01. Eq. (1) contains a level of error that can explain the effect of
the increase in the vehicle rate on the speed reduction
Speed reduction ½km=h

HVs, which leads to slight improvements in the traffic speeds. As
2.682lnðxÞþ3.7751ðR2 ¼ 0.767Þ; whenthe%of HVsis < 35%
¼
14.03; whenthe%of HVsis > 35%
ð1Þ
Figs. 6–11 show the relationship between the traffic speeds and
the percentage of HVs as the traffic flow varies. The purpose of this
approach is to analyze how different traffic flows affect the degree
more HVs are mixed into the traffic, the interference between
HVs and passenger cars does not seem to become much worse
compared with the case of a single HV leading a platoon of pas-
senger cars. In other words, as the percentage of HVs increases, the
chance increases that the leading vehicle of a platoon is an HV,
whereas adding additional HVs to the following vehicles in that
platoon does not reduce the performance of the platoon as much.
When the percentage of HVs increases beyond 80%, the dom-
inant mode of transportation in the traffic is clearly the HV, which
results in a reduction of interference between HVs and passenger
cars, forcing the drivers of passenger cars to obey and follow the
shown in Fig. 7, for traffic flow rates of 200–300 veh=h= ln, a
speed stabilization zone exists in about 20 to 45% HVs. In the case
of larger traffic flow rates of 400–1,100 veh=h= ln, as seen in
Figs. 8–11, the improving trends above a certain threshold percent-
age of HVs clearly prevail while the threshold value decreases. This
result is contrary to the common belief that a higher percentage of
HVs will always lead to a reduction in the speed of the traffic. This

Fig. 4. Average speed reduction versus percentage of HVs

Fig. 5. Error bar chart

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Fig. 6. Traffic speed versus percentage of HVs as traffic flow is 0 veh=h= ln ∼100 veh=h= ln

Fig. 7. Traffic speed versus percentage of HVs as traffic flow is 200 veh=h= ln ∼300 veh=h= ln

Fig. 8. Traffic speed versus percentage of HVs as traffic flow is 400 veh=h= ln ∼500 veh=h= ln

suggests that the PCE-related and HV-related factors must be
carefully reexamined to capture this trend, which exists most no-
tably on the four-lane highway (two lanes in each direction) in the
Seoul metropolitan area. In summary, the two-lane highway limits
the opportunities for passenger cars and HVs to gain speed by
switching lanes compared with highways with more lanes and,
surprisingly, improves the speed beyond certain ratios of HVs
by forcing all vehicles to move at the pace of HVs without
attempting to switch lanes, which would worsen the traffic
conditions.
Six-Lane Highway
On the six-lane highway, no samples of a flow rate over
800 veh=h= ln level were observed. As shown in Fig. 12, in gen-
eral, as the percentage of HVs increases, the speed decreases across

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Fig. 9. Traffic speed versus percentage of HVs as traffic flow is 600 veh=h= ln ∼700 veh=h= ln

Fig. 10. Traffic speed versus percentage of HVs as traffic flow is 800 veh=h= ln ∼900 veh=h= ln

Fig. 11. Traffic speed versus percentage of HVs as traffic flow is 1,000 veh=h= ln ∼

all traffic flow rates. Other than the flow rate of 100 veh=h= ln, the
flow rates showed a stabilization region.
Fig. 13 illustrates the speed versus flow-rate graph for each per-
centage of HVs. Speed reductions did not occur with higher traffic
volumes. Changes in speed showed a cup-shaped distribution as the
flow rate increased for all HV percentages. The greater number of
lanes seemed to provide additional opportunities for vehicles that
change lanes whenever possible to become trapped by the slower
vehicles ahead, which may positively affect speed reductions.
Eight-Lane Highway
This section analyzes the results for the eight-lane highway. Fig. 14
shows that a higher percentage of HVs resulted in decreasing speed

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Fig. 12. Relationship between HV ratio and speed (six-lane highway)

Fig. 13. Curve of flow rate versus speed (six-lane highway)

Fig. 14. Relationship between HV ratio and speed (eight-lane highway)

values when the flow rate was lower than 500 veh=h= ln. However, speed recovered. The speed-reduction effect of an HV as the lead-
at the higher flow rates, even though not all values of the percent- ing vehicle of a sporadically distributed platoon seemed to disap-
ages of HVs were available, it seemed that a speed reduction did not pear when the flow rate exceeded a certain threshold value, in this
clearly exist in the available data range. In some cases, in fact, the case 500 veh=h= ln.

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Fig. 15. Flow rate versus speed curve (eight-lane highway)

Fig. 14 shows the relationship between the speed and the flow
rate across all percentages of HVs. The speed decreased steadily as
the flow rate increased.
As seen in Figs. 12 and 15, the average speed of the traffic de-
creased as the HV ratio increased in the cases of the six-lane and
eight-lane highways. However, in the case of the four-lane high-
way, as shown in Figs. 6–11, the average speed increased when
the HV ratio exceeded a certain threshold value.
Effect of HVs during Congestion on a Four-Lane
Highway
During traffic congestion, reductions in speed occurred as the per-
centage of HVs increased. Fig. 16 shows an exponential distribu-
tion of the data for the traffic flows under congested flow
conditions, while the HV ratios of 45% or less are excluded due
to the insufficient number of valid samples.
Interestingly, under congested flow conditions, the speed in-
creased when the percentage of HVs was 85% or higher. As the
percentage of HVs approached 100%, similarly behaving HVs do-
minated the movement of the traffic; this reduced the interaction
between passenger cars and HVs, forcing the passenger cars to
follow the pace of the HVs. There was also a higher chance that
an HV was the leading vehicle of a platoon on the highway. The
magnitude of the speed reduction became larger as the percentage
of HVs increased, following an exponential distribution.
Fig. 17 shows that the average speed converges to about
60 km=h, regardless of the percentage of HVs, when the flow rate
is 1,500 veh=h= ln or higher. As the flow rate of an oversaturated
traffic flow continues to rise and approaches near-traffic-jam den-
sity, causing instability in the overall traffic by shrinking the head-
ways to a minimum, the average speed tends to converge to a
certain level because all drivers try their best to keep moving by
making lane changes, a more likely behavior on an eight-lane
highway.
Vehicles travel in platoons on highways. The characteristics of
the motion of a vehicle are largely determined by the type of the
vehicle. The maneuvering characteristics of HVs are not signifi-
cantly affected by other vehicles. However, passenger vehicles, es-
pecially on four-lane highways (two lanes in each direction), are
significantly impacted by higher ratios of HVs, because there
are fewer opportunities for switching lanes and the passenger ve-
hicles are forced to move in the platoons of HVs. When the ratio of
HVs exceed a certain threshold level, the passenger vehicle has

Fig. 16. Relationship between HV ratio and speed (congestion flow)

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Fig. 17. Relationship between flow rate and speed (congestion flow)
difficulty while changing lanes. HVs are also less influential on the
speed reduction due to the HVs’ characteristics, which run on the
designated lane, and less number of changing lanes by the passen-
ger vehicles. For these reasons, the phenomenon of improved traffic
speed resulted.
These results were observed in the four-lane highways, as
shown in Figs. 6–17. The cause of this phenomenon should be an-
alyzed for future study. However, it is possible to make a first
judgment based on the difference in geometry. It is considered that
as the space that allows avoidance of the heavy vehicles increases
(as the number of lanes increases), the decrease in the speed reduc-
tion is due to the lessened influence of the heavy vehicles with rel-
atively low driving speed.
Identification of Inflection Point of Speed Change
The inflection points for the speed change caused by an HV were
identified using two different methods: cluster analysis and indica-
tor analysis. These analyses offer scientific approaches for group-
ing the results into a few categories. If two independent methods
result in similar groupings, it means that those identified groups do
exist and are significantly different from each other.
Cluster Analysis
Cluster analysis is a form of multivariate data analysis that assigns
objects having similar properties into groups or clusters. After the
distance connectivity between the objects is computed using the
squared Euclidean distance (SED), as shown in Eq. (2), all objects
are clustered using the centroid linkage method. The SED is com-
puted using the equation
X
n
DistanceðO1 ; O2 Þ ¼ ðx1;j − x2;j Þ2 ð2Þ
j¼1
where O1 and O2 are groups 1 and 2 in a data set; x1;j ¼ jth
member of group 1; and x2;j ¼ jth member of group 2.
The centroid linkage method uses the distance between different
cluster centers and the SED to determine the distance connectivity.
It is a useful method of analysis for data sets containing singular
objects because influences from outliers can be minimized. The
number of clusters is determined based on the coefficient value
of the agglomeration schedule, and each result is verified using
a speed distribution map and a dendrogram. Using this method,
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the sections where the speed changes occur are identified after
screening for clusters with similar changes in speed. Figs. 18(a–c)
show the method of grouping the results into five groups.
Indicator Analysis
A separate indicator analysis is conducted in order to statistically
verify the inflection point where a change in the speed gradient
occurs. Kim (2002) performed this form of analysis, in which
the effect of HVs on traffic flows can be computed using a
speed-change parameter. The method is useful for focusing on
the low-frequency components; it gives results that are free from
the influences of random fluctuation and measuring variations in
volatile properties such as speed. While Kim (2002) applied a dif-
ferential value between 5 units of integrated data at a point in time
and the previous 5 units of integrated data divided by the sum of
those 10 units, in this research, 3 units of integrated data were di-
vided by the sum of 6 units. The applied v-indicator is shown
Pn P
i¼n−3 vi − i¼n−4
i¼n−6 vi
vindicator ¼ P n ð3Þ
v
i¼n−6 i
where n = order of speed values; vi = average traffic speed value for
step i; and vindicator is a variable between −1 and 1. This method
makes it possible to measure the changes in speed and to identify
the inflection point where the speed gradient shifts. The point in
time when the value of vindicator is highest or lowest is when the
maximum change in speed occurs. The highest point of vindicator
is when the speed increases the most, while its lowest point is when
the speed decreases the most. In addition, the vindicator analysis
shows that when the gradient changes, vindicator is 0. Therefore,
when vindicator ¼ 0, the corresponding HV percentage value be-
comes the inflection point of the speed changes for each traf-
fic flow.
In this paper, data are analyzed using a unit value of 3 with the
purpose of finding the exact HV percentage value at the inflection
point when the slope of the speed distribution shifts and
vindicator ¼ 0. The results are shown in Fig. 19 and Table 7. Each
graph represents a different flow rate, and the vertical lines re-
present the HV percentage values at the inflection points where
vindicator ¼ 0 was identified. Both the indicator analysis and the
cluster analysis show a shift in the slope of the speed distribution
curve when the HV percentage is within the range of 25–45%.
J. Transp. Eng., Part A: Syst.
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Fig. 18. (a) Dendrogram plot (flow rate of 0–100 veh=h= ln); (b) speed transition into five cluster groups; (c) result of cluster analysis

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Fig. 19. Results of indicator analysis

Table 7. Results of Indicator Analysis

Flow rate (veh=h= ln)
% of PCU 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1,000 1,100
0 0.0227 0.0319 0.0301 0.0319 0.0302 0.0336 0.0351 0.0330 0.0320 0.0258 0.0159
5 0.0161 0.0311 0.0278 0.0295 0.0318 0.0328 0.0323 0.0295 0.0244 0.0198 —
10 0.0181 0.0256 0.0213 0.0233 0.0285 0.0269 0.0253 0.0205 0.0073 — —
15 0.0198 0.0209 0.0159 0.0182 0.0212 0.0178 0.0136 0.0099 — — —
20 0.0157 0.0150 0.0121 0.0129 0.0115 0.0073 −0.0036 −0.0052 — — —
25 0.0160 0.0133 0.0101 0.0075 0.0005 −0.0076 −0.0181 — — — —
30 0.0119 0.0102 0.0070 0.0000 −0.0090 −0.0134 — — — — —
35 0.0127 0.0086 0.0030 −0.0069 −0.0144 −0.0213 — — — — —
40 0.0133 0.0033 −0.0012 −0.0160 — — — — — — —
45 0.0128 0.0037 −0.0038 — — — — — — — —
50 0.0098 −0.0051 −0.0062 — — — — — — — —
55 0.0124 — — — — — — — — — —
60 0.0163 — — — — — — — — — —
65 0.0110 — — — — — — — — — —
70 −0.0084 — — — — — — — — — —
Note: The bold numbers represent the inflection points.

Research Summary
Traffic Flow Pattern in Undersaturated Flow of
Four-Lane Highway
Four-lane and four-lane-or-under highways account for 70.9 and
74.9%, respectively, of the total highway length in Korea. The
analysis of heavy vehicles’ effect on traffic flows on four-lane high-
ways showed different results from the commonly recognized ap-
proach to highway traffic analysis, which is based on the premise
that in an undersaturated flow, the level of service and the average
speed decrease with a higher percentage of heavy vehicles in
the mix.
When heavy vehicles accounted for less than 25% of the traffic,
the average speed decreased, a result in line with past research re-
sults. However, when the percentage of heavy vehicles was in the
range of 25–45%, the drop in average speed nearly stopped with a
shift in the speed’s gradient. With the percentage of heavy vehicles
at 45% and over and the flow rate at 300–900 veh=h= ln, the aver-
age speed went up as the percentage of heavy vehicles increased.
The causes of the increase in average speed in an undersaturated
traffic stream on a four-lane highway, despite a higher percent of
heavy vehicles, are as follows:
• The traffic flow shows a platoon pattern, where its characteris-
tics are determined by the specific types of vehicles.
• The traffic patterns in heavy vehicles are not as greatly affected
by the travel patterns of the other vehicle types.
• On a four-lane highway, the possibility for a passenger car,
which shows patterns sensitive to the increase in traffic flow rate
and the percentage of heavy vehicles, to be able to change lanes
and pass heavy vehicles in front of it diminishes, resulting in a
traffic pattern in which passenger cars adapt to and follow the
travel patterns of the heavy vehicles.
Traffic Flow Pattern in Oversaturated Flow of
Four-Lane Highway
In the case of the oversaturated flow, the average speed tended to
drop as the reduction rate went up with a higher percentage of
heavy vehicles. The average speeds in traffic flows with the same
proportion of heavy vehicles dropped with increasing flow rates,
showing a distribution in which the average speed approached
60 km=h when the flow rate exceeded 1,500 veh=h= ln. That is,
the headways in the oversaturated flows shrank as the traffic vol-
ume approached the highway capacity, which reduced the possibil-
ity of an effect from outside factors such as lane changing; thus, a

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 potential conflict or interference between vehicles was observed,
which resulted in a slowdown in speed shifts.
Traffic Flow Pattern on Six-Lane and Eight-Lane
Highways
The analysis showed that the average speed decreased on the six-
lane and eight-lane highways as the percentage of heavy vehicles
and the flow rate increased. It is assumed that the passenger cars
running on a six-lane or eight-lane highway determine the charac-
teristics and properties of the traffic flow, even if the percentage of
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heavy vehicles is high. A passenger car driver can find ways to
minimize obstruction by heavy vehicles in front, such as lane
changing. Hence, the speed reduction patterns on six-lane and
eight-lane highways are different from those on four-lane
highways.
Speed Reduction of Heavy Vehicles’ Count Variance
It was found that when traffic flow rate was 600 veh=h= ln or under,
an average speed reduction of 1 km=h occurred for every additional
12 units of a heavy vehicle or every single unit increase on a
30-second-raw-data basis, independent of the percentage of heavy
vehicles. Over the 600 veh=h= ln flow rate, the average speed
tended to rise when the percentage of specific types of the vehicle
was high, a phenomenon that could be attributed to the fact that
those types of vehicles determined the characteristics of the traffic
flow. The amplitude of the speed variation in the traffic flows that
included large-sized heavy vehicles was found to be small when the
variation rates of the lowest of all cases were analyzed. Those re-
sults can be explained by the results that showed that large-sized
heavy vehicles maintained their traveling patterns regardless of the
traffic conditions (e.g., the speed).
Analysis of Heavy Vehicles’ Traffic Flow Pattern
The analysis of traffic flow patterns by vehicle type showed a high
volume of traffic on four-lane highways in particular. As the overall
flow rate increased, so did the flow rates in the rightmost lane of the
highway, with the average speed of passenger cars decreasing as the
percentage of passenger cars operating in the lane reached 35% or
more (or with the flow rate of 400 veh=h= ln). Midsize to large-size
heavy vehicles maintained an average speed of 70 km=h or more
regardless of the flow rate in all flow rate categories, exceeding the
average speed of passenger cars when the flow rate was above the
700–900 veh=h= ln range. This result may strengthen the previous
study showing that the average speeds increased despite a higher
percentage of heavy vehicles.
Conclusions and Discussion
The objective of this study was to analyze the characteristics of real
traffic flows, on which the effect of heavy vehicles varied with the
traffic flow rate and the percentage of heavy vehicles, using data
gathered from vehicle detecting systems. The data were obtained
using the automatic vehicle classification system that measured
traffic flows on four-lane, six-lane, and eight-lane highways; the
data characteristics were analyzed in the cases of undersaturated
and oversaturated traffic flows. On six-lane and eight-lane high-
ways, the average speed declined as the traffic rate and the percent-
age of heavy vehicles went up. The declining rate of average speed
on four-lane highways, however, decreased in proportion to the
higher percentage of heavy vehicles to the point at which for
25–45% of the heavy vehicles the average speed either remained
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at a characteristic speed or shifted in a gradient of average speed
changes. Because the result deviates from the heavy vehicle factor
currently used to reflect the heavy vehicles’ effect on all traffic
flows, it may contribute to formulating a more accurate and realistic
way to incorporate the effect of heavy vehicles on highway traf-
fic flows.
Future Research Studies
After the analysis of heavy vehicles’ effect on traffic flows, the re-
sults obtained here were different from those reflected in the current
passenger car equivalents. The results suggest a need to recalibrate
the current heavy-vehicle adjustment factors. The widely used
method applies the same PCU to all phases of highway design
and management, regardless of case-specific flow rates and the
percentage of heavy vehicles.
The analyses conducted in this research show that the traffic
pattern on four-lane highways is different from that on six-lane
or eight-lane highways and suggests a possibility of error in apply-
ing the existing PCU to highway design and management proc-
esses. The research results could lead to the formulation of a
new set of passenger car equivalents by the percentage of heavy
vehicles and flow rates, and if carried out, the new equivalents
could be applied and could contribute to more efficient highway
design and management.
The characteristics of the traffic flow can vary depending on
various unknown factors (e.g., country, region, roadway condition,
and measured time), and therefore it is difficult to generalize the
analysis results. However, it is expected that the effect of the heavy
vehicle on the traffic flow can be analyzed in more detail than that
in the model presented in this study if a large amount of high-
quality traffic flow data is obtained.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by a grant (16TBIP-C094546-02)
from the Transportation and Logistics Research Program funded
by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT)
of the South Korean government.
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