Main Components of the

Highway Mode of
Transportation

[Chapter 3]

Dr. TALEB M. AL-ROUSAN

 Introduction
 The Four Main Components of the highway mode of
transportation are:
 The driver
 The pedestrian
 The vehicle
 The road
 The bicycle (becoming important in the design or
urban highways and streets)
 Its essential to know the characteristics and
limitations of these components and the
interrelationship between them.
 Their characteristics are also important when traffic
engineering measures (e.g. traffic control devices) are
to be used in the highway mode.
 Driver Characteristics
 Skills and perceptual abilities (hear, see,
evaluate, react) of drivers vary on the
highway.
 These abilities may also vary under
different conditions (influence of alcohol,
fatigue, and time of the day).
 Design criteria should be compatible with
drivers varying characteristics.
 85th or 95th percentile are usually selected
for design criteria (Note: as % increase,
wider range covered).
 Driver Characteristics/ Human
Response Process
1- Visual reception
 Drivers receive information from all senses, but more
than 90 percent is received visually.
 The principal characteristics of the eye are:
 Visual acuity: ability to see fine details of an object
(static & dynamic)
 peripheral vision: ability to see objects beyond the cone
of clearest vision.
 color vision: ability to differentiate among colors. (color
blindness).
 glare vision and recovery: due to bright light (3 sec
from dark to light and 6 sec from light to dark).
 depth perception: affects the ability of person to
estimate speed and distance (important on two-lane
highways during passing maneuvers).
 Driver Characteristics/ Human
Response Process
2- Hearing perception
 Important only when warning
sounds given out by emergency
vehicles.
 Loss of some hearing ability is not a
serious problem since it can be
normally corrected by a hearing aid.
 Perception Reaction process
 Perception: driver see a control device,
warning sign, or object on the road.
 Identification: driver identifies the objective
and understand the stimulus.
 Emotion: driver decide what action to take
in response to the stimulus ( to step on the
brake, to swerve, or change lane)
 Reaction or volition: driver execute the
action decided on during emotion sub-
process.
 Perception Reaction process
 The elapsed time in perception reaction
process is known as Perception-reaction
time.
 This time is important in determining:
 The braking distance, which dictates the
minimum sight distance required on a highway,
and
 The length of the yellow phase at signalized
intersections
 The perception reaction time varies among
individuals and may vary for the same
person as the occasion changes.
 Perception Reaction Time
 Changes in perception reaction time depend on:
 Situation Complexity
 Existing environmental conditions: familiarity,
visibility
 Driver age
 Condition of the driver (fatigued/ rested, under
influence of drugs and/or alcohol,…)
 Stimulus is expected or not.
 AASHTO recommends 2.5 seconds for stopping
sight distance (90% of drivers under most highway
conditions)
 Note: unexpected conditions may require higher PRT
 Older Drivers
 Important characteristics
 Slower information processing
 Slower reaction time
 Slower decision making
 Visual deterioration
 Hearing deterioration
 Difficulty to judge time, speed and
distance
 Side effects of prescription drugs
 Pedestrian Characteristics
 Pedestrian Characteristics relevant to traffic and
highways engineering practice include those of the driver
(visual and hearing).
 In addition:
 Walking characteristics: affect for example all-
red phase.
 Walking speed according Highway Capacity
Manual is 4.0 ft/sec and can be reduced to 3.3
ft/sec when % of elderly pedestrians in more
than 20%).
 Pedestrian characteristics affect the design and location
of pedestrian control devices such as: special signals,
safety zones, islands at intersections, pedestrian
underpasses, elevated walkways, and cross walks).
 Bicyclists and Bicycles
 Human factors are same for drivers with respect to
perception and reaction.
 Note: bicyclists are not only the drivers of the bicycles but
also provide the power to move the bicycle, thus should be
considered jointly.
 AASHTO classifies three classes:
 A: Experienced or advanced bicyclists: consider the bicycle as
a motor vehicle and can ride in traffic.
 B: Less experienced bicyclists: prefer to ride on neighborhood
streets and more comfortable on designated bicycle facilities.
 C: Children riding on their own or with parents: use residential
streets that provide access to schools, recreational facilities,
and stores.
 In designing urban roads and streets it is useful to consider
the feasibility of incorporating bicycle facilities that will
accommodate classes B and C.
 Min design speed at level terrain is 20 mi/h, 31mh/h on
down grade, 8 mi/h crossing intersection from stop
position, and mean acceleration rate is 3.5 ft.sec2
 Vehicle Characteristics
 Criteria for the geometric design of highways are
partly based on the vehicles following characteristics:
 Static: weight and size.
 kinematic: motion of the vehicle.
 Dynamic: forces that cause the motion of the vehicle.
 Knowledge of these characteristics will aid the
highway and traffic engineer in designing highways
and traffic control systems that allow safe and smooth
operations during maneuvers of passing, stopping,
and turning.
 In designing a highway, A design vehicle is selected.
 The characteristics of the design vehicle are used to
determine criteria for geometric design, intersection
design, and sight-distance requirements
 Static Characteristics
 Size of design vehicle affects design standards for
several physical components of the highway.
 Lane width
 Shoulder width
 Length and width of parking bays
 Length of vertical curves
 The axle weight of the vehicles are important in
determining:
 Pavement thickness (depth)
 Maximum grade
 See Table 3.1 for range of max. allowable values of
length and weight of vehicles.
 Vehicle Static Characteristics
 Height
 Overall height – influences vertical clearance
 Clearance for overpass & bridges (always use
consistent measurements)
 Driver eye height – influences sight distance
 Center of gravity height – influences rollover
threshold (higher CG leads to higher risk)
 Width – influences cross-section elements
 Length – influences vehicle storage areas (turn
bays, parking, etc.)
 Configuration – influences alignment design
 Static Characteristics Cont.
 AASHTO selected three general classes:
 Passenger cars ( compact, sub-compact, all light
vehicles, and all light delivery trucks (vans and
pickups)).
 Trucks (single unit truck, truck tractor-
semitrailer, and truck tractors with semi trailers
in combination with full trailers).
 Buses/recreational vehicles ( single unit buses,
motor homes, passenger cars or motor homes
pulling trailers or boats
 See Table 3.2 for design vehicle dimensions.
 Turning Paths
 Min. turning radii at low speeds depend mainly on the
size of the vehicle.
 The boundaries are delimited by the outer trace of the
front overhang and the path of the inner rear wheel.
 Trucks and buses require more generous designs than
passenger cars.
 See Figures 3.2 and 3.3 for min. turning path for
passenger car and WB-62 design vehicle, respectively.
 Turning radii requirements are found in AASHTO policy
of geometric design of highways and streets.
 Kinematic characteristics
 Acceleration characteristics affect:
 passing maneuvers and gap acceptance
 Dimensions of highway features (free
way ramps and passing lanes
 Determining the forces that cause
motion. (velocity and distance).
 Operational Characteristics
 Weight-to-Horsepower Ratio:
 influences acceleration/deceleration of vehicles
 Influences speed maintenance on grades
 Acceleration/deceleration
 Influences sight distance, speed change lane
 Speed maintenance
 Influences length and steepness of grades
 Passenger cars usually not a concern.
 Dynamic Characteristics
 Several forces act on a vehicle while
it is in motion resisting the tractive
force delivered from the vehicle
engine:
 Air resistance
 Grade resistance
 Rolling resistance and friction
 Curve resistance
 Rolling Resistance
 Rollover Threshold
 Definition: maximum lateral acceleration that can be
achieved without causing rollover
 Influences horizontal design alignment
 Influences roadside design materials.
 Usually problem for vehicles with high CG, however, vehicle
with lower CG can also rollover more often.
 Rollover Threshold for Trucks
 Very high CG
 Loads may be uneven
 Effects of liquids (gas, oil, etc.) in emergency maneuvers
 Important design problems for freeway entrances and exit
ramps
 The maximum rollover threshold should be around 0.3 g for
horizontal curve design (85th percentile is 0.4 g)
 Minimum Radius of Circular Curve
 When a vehicle is moving a round a
circular curve, there is an inward radial
force acting on the vehicle (centrifugal
force).
 There is also outward radial force imagined
by the driver as a result of the centripetal
acceleration acting toward the center of the
curvature.
 In order to balance the effect of centripetal
acceleration, the road is inclined toward the
center of the curve (Superelevation).
 Superelevation
 The min. radius of a circular curve (R) for a vehicle
traveling at (u mi/h) can be determined by
considering the equilibrium of the vehicle with respect
to its moving up or down the incline.
 If :
 (α) is the angle of inclination of the highway.
 Wsin α = component of weight down the incline
 Wfs cos α = frictional force acting down the incline
 Fc = (W ac) / g = centrifugal force
where: ac = acceleration = u2/R
W = weight of the vehicle
g = acceleration of gravity
fs = coefficient of side friction (see Table 3.3)
 Superelevation Cont.
 When vehicle is in equilibrium with respect to the
incline, we may equate three relevant forces and
obtain:
[(W u2)/gR] cos α = Wsin α + Wfs cos α
[u2/g] = R (tan α + fs )
R = u2/[g (tan α + fs )]
tan α = tangent of the angle of inclination
=rate of superelevation (e)
R = u2/[g (e + fs )]
If (g= 32.2 ft/sec2), and (u in mi/h), and (R in feet),
then:
R = u2/[15 (e + fs )]
 Factors Controlling Superelevation
 There are max. values for e and fs
 Max Rate of superelevation (e) is affected by:
 Location of Highway (urban or rural):
 rural highway with no snow or ice (e = 0.10),
 Rural highway with snow & ice (e= 0.08 - 0.10)
 Expressway in urban area (e= 0.08)
 Local urban roads usually not superelevated due to low
speeds.
 Weather conditions (rain or snow)
 Distribution of slow moving traffic within the traffic
stream.
 Values used for side friction (fs) generally vary with
design speed (lower for higher speeds) and
superelevation. See Table 3.3
 Relationship between vehicular and facility characteristics

Vehicular characteristics Related facility characteristics

Length Parking stall length
Transit station platform length
Width Lane width
Parking stall width
Lateral clearance
height Vertical clearance
Minimum vertical curve length
Wheel base (turning radius) Lateral clearance on curves
Intersection edge radii
Weight Structural design of surface
Structural design of guideway
Structural design of bridges
Acceleration / deceleration Maximum grade
Minimum vertical curve length
Horizontal curve radius
Speed Horizontal curve radius
Minimum vertical curve length
Maximum superelevation
lift Runway length
 Road Characteristics
 The characteristics of the highway are related to
stopping and passing because they have more direct
relation to the characteristics of the driver and the
vehicle discussed earlier.
 Sight Distance: the length of the roadway a driver can
see a head at any particular time.
 The sight distance available at each point of the
highway must be such that when a driver is traveling
at the highway’s design speed, adequate time is
given, after an object is observed in the vehicles path,
to make the necessary evasive maneuvers without
colliding with the object.
 Types of sight distance:
 Stopping Sight Distance (SSD).
 Passing Sight Distance (PSD).
 Stopping Sight Distance (SSD)
 The minimum sight distance required for a
driver to stop a vehicle after seeing an
object in the vehicle’s path without hitting
that object.
 SSD = SUM (distance travel during
perception reaction time + distance
traveled during braking)
 It is essential that the highway be designed
such that the sight distance along the
highway is at least equal to the SSD.
 SSD requirements dictates:
 Min radii for horizontal curves.
 Min length of vertical curve
 Stopping Sight Distance (SSD)
 Table 3.4 shows SSD’s for different design speeds for
horizontal alignment and zero grade.
 On upgrades, SSD’s are shorter
 On downgrades, SSD’s are longer

SSD = 1.47 u t + [u2 / (30 [(a/g) ± G)])]

SSD = stopping sight distance (ft)
u = vehicle speed (mi/h)
t = perception-reaction time (sec) (2.5 sec mostly)
G = grade percent (+ uphill, -ve down hill)
g = acceleration of gravity (32.2 ft/sec2)
a = deceleration of the vehicle when the brakes are applied
(11.2 ft /sec2 most comfortable)
 Decision Sight Distance
 When stimulus is un expected for the driver, SSD’s in
Table 3.4 become inadequate.
 When the driver is expected to make unusual
maneuvers, longer SSD’s are usually required since
the perception reaction time is much longer.
 The longer sight distance is the decision sight
distance.
 Decision sight distance: distance required for a driver
to detect an unexpected or other-wise different to
perceive information source or hazard in a roadway
environment that may be visually cluttered ,
recognize the hazard of its threat potential, select an
appropriate speed and path, and initiate and complete
the required safety maneuvers safely and efficiently.
 Decision Sight Distance
 It depends on:
 Type of maneuver required to avoid the
hazard on the road.
 Road location (urban or rural)
 See Table 3.5 fro recommended
decision sight distance values for
different avoidance maneuvers which can
be used for design.
 Passing Sight Distance
 Is the min sight distance required on a two-
lane, two-way highway that will permit a
driver to complete a passing maneuver
without colliding with opposing vehicle and
without cutting off the passed vehicle.
 AASHTO has made some assumptions
regarding the movement of the passing
vehicle during a passing maneuver in order
to develop a minimum passing sight
distance.
Passing Sight Distance Components
 d1 = distance traversed during perception-
reaction time and during initial acceleration
to the point where the passing vehicle just
enters the left lane.
 d2 = distance traveled during the time the
passing vehicle is traveling in the left lane.
 d3 = distance between the passing vehicle
and the opposing vehicle at the end of the
passing maneuver.
 d4 = distance moved by the opposing
vehicle during two thirds of the time the
passing vehicle is in the left lane (= 2/3 d2).
 Passing Sight Distance
Determination

d1 =1.47 t1 [u – m + ((a t1)/2)]

d1 = (ft)
t1 = time for initial maneuver (sec)
a = average acceleration rate (mi/h/sec)
u = average speed of passing vehicle (mi/h)
m = difference in speeds of passing and impeder vehicles

d2 =1.47 u t2
d2 = (ft)
t2 = time passing vehicle is traveling in left lane (sec)
u = average speed of passing vehicle (mi/h)
 Passing Sight Distance
Determination
d3 =distance between the passing vehicle and the
opposing vehicle at the end of the passing maneuver
d3 = found to vary between 100 and 300 ft.

 Table 3.6 shows components of safe passing sight

distance on two-lane highways for design purposes
only and cannot be used for marking passing and no-
passing zones on completed highways.
 Values used for marking passing zones are obtained
from different assumptions and are much shorter.
 Table 3.7 shows values recommended for this purpose
(although recent studies showed that these are
inadequate)