Transverse Rumble Strips Research Articles

Assessing the Impacts of Merge and Speed Control Strategies on Highway Work Zone Safety and Operations Using Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Sensors

Speed management and merge control are two critical factors influencing highway work zone safety and operations. This study adopts artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced radar and thermal camera sensors to generate detailed vehicle trajectory and speed data, which are used to quantify the impacts of various Traffic control strategies on driver behavior as well as on work zone safety and operations. The strategies considered include transverse rumble strips, flashing speed limit signs, dynamic message signs, and different lane closure taper lengths. Among these strategies, flashing speed limit signs are found to significantly reduce vehicle speeds when approaching the lane closure point.

Characterization of Road noise levels increase due to installation of transverse rumble strips

Transverse rumble strips have been widely employed as a means to warn distracted. Noise emissions from traveling over the rumble strips negatively impact surrounding communities. Moreover, the distinguished noise characteristic of rumble strips makes this noise a nuisance to the surrounding community. Measurements of the noise emission generated from vehicles passing over transverse rumble strips have been completed adjacent to the 18-rumble strips. To determine the impact of the rumble strips on noise generation, sound level measurements were taken of vehicles traveling over smooth pavement prior to travelling over the rumble strips shortly after. The measurements were completed for uncontrolled normal road traffic and for controlled vehicle pass-by, where the vehicle speed was steady and controlled. The overall noise emission from the transverse rumble strips results with a 3-9 dB increase above the corresponding vehicle noise emission Leq on smooth pavement. The corresponding sound exposure level is calculated. The increase in the noise emission is largely dependent on the vehicle type and not correlated to vehicle speed. The rumble strip noise is characterized as quasi-steady impulsive sound for receptors, which may require an additional noise penalty. The results show that the rumble strips noise does not have any distinct tone.

Evaluation of Demand-Responsive Transverse Rumble Strip Effects on Drivers’ Behavioral Changes as a Traffic Calming Device

Evaluation of Demand-Responsive Transverse Rumble Strip Effects on Drivers’ Behavioral Changes as a Traffic Calming Device

Effectiveness of and Public Perception about the Installation of Transverse Rumble Strips with Road Studs

The installation of transverse rumble strips (TRS) is a common practice to reduce vehicle speed and alert drivers on the roadway. However, the combination of TRS with road studs to enhance traffic safety is still not widely used by local authorities. This paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness of and the public perception about the installation of TRS with road studs. A field observation was carried out on the TRS road section with and without road studs for speed evaluation. A questionnaire survey was also conducted to assess the public perception towards the installation of this measure. The results indicate that the mean speed at the TRS road section with road studs was lower than the speed at the TRS road section without a road stud and its effectiveness was evaluated using a statistical test. Responses from the questionnaire survey showed that respondents agree that both TRS with and without road studs can reduce speed effectively. Respondents also believed that the installation of road studs might cause damage to the vehicle. This paper concludes that TRS installed with road studs effectively reduces speed which is consistent with the results of the public perception survey.

Evaluation of Ground Vibration Resulting from a Heavy Vehicle Passing Over Transverse Rumble Strips: A Case Study in Kluang Road FT050

The transverse rumble strip (TRS) is one of the methods used to improve the driver's alertness to its driving and reduce their speed. However, the presence of a TRS causes unevenness on the road surface and may result in ground vibration when heavy vehicles passes it. This ground vibration may cause discomfort to the people living adjacent to the road. Therefore, there is a need to evaluate the level of ground vibration resulting from heavy vehicles passing over TRS especially on typical federal road in Malaysia which contains high percentage of fast-moving heavy vehicles. Ground vibration assessment study was conducted at federal road of Kluang-Batu Pahat Road (FT050) by using existing heavy vehicles in the traffic stream as study samples. ICP accelerometer and computer software Dewesoft7 have been used to measure and analyse the level of vibration generated. The results indicate heavy vehicles at a speed of 50 km/h, 33 km/h and 24km/h generate ground vibration level of 1.24 mm/s, 2.30 mm/s and 0.76 mm/s respectively. Other factors such as the weight of the heavy vehicles may involve in ground vibration generation mechanism as the results shown that there was no direct correlation between vehicle speed and level of ground vibration. All the generated ground vibration levels were found to be within the allowable limit set by Department of Environment Malaysia (DOE) standard guidelines.

Assessment of Community Noise Annoyance due to Transverse Rumble Strips Installation at Residential Areas

Transverse rumble strips (TRS) acts as a traffic calming device to alert inattentive drivers, however, inappropriate design may generate excessive noise level which cause annoyance among the nearby residents. This study attempts to assess community noise annoyance by investigating current TRS designs and characteristics, measuring roadside noise level and traffic characteristics and evaluating noise annoyance due to TRS installation. Middle overlapped (MO), middle layer overlapped (MLO) and raised rumbler (RR) TRS profile types were selected. Noise indices such as A-weighted equivalent continuous sound pressure level (LAeq), sound level exceeding 10% (L10) and 90% (L90) of specified time were measured using sound level meter (SLM) based on ISO 11819 - 1: 2001 Acoustics: Measurement of the influence of road surfaces on traffic noise - Part 1: statistical pass-by (SPB) method. Traffic characteristics such as volume and speed were also measured. Then, community noise annoyance was evaluated in terms of LAeq changes, noise limit comparison by the Department of Environment (DOE) and traffic noise index (TNI) calculation. It was found that there are various TRS profile types with the thickness of only 3mm. Regardless the types, TRS installation has increased the roadside noise level of about 7dBA and exceeded permissible noise limits.

Evaluation of low noise transverse rumble strips in proximity to a stop controlled intersection

Transverse rumble strips (TRS) can generate noise and vibration to alert drivers when they approach an intersection. The feasibility of using shallower epoxy filled TRS to substitute for traditional TRS to address noise concerns was evaluated. Twenty-four prove vehicle strikes with TRS were recorded and exterior sound generated by TRS strikes were compared to baseline and epoxy filled sound. Experimental framework was based on the AASHTO SIP Method. Humans can detect differences in noise levels at 3 dB(A), with 5 dB(A) being easily noticed. Compared to traditional TRS, the shallower epoxy filled TRS average sound level measurements dropped from 93 dB(A) to 88 dB(A), a noticeable 5 dB(A) difference. When the peek (max value) of both measurements are compared, the difference in sound was 6 dB(A), or a clearly noticeable change. Additionally, the sound generated from the epoxy TRS is higher than the paved condition, where the TRS was completely paved with asphalt, at 95% CI [-1 dB(A), 9 dB(A)]. This CI range indicates that the epoxy filled TRS strike was indiscernible at least, and clearly noticeable at most compared to a baseline, meaning that the epoxy TRS is noticeable compared to background traffic. Comparing the before condition TRS to the after paved TRS, the average sound level measurement dropped from 94 dB(A) to 83 dB(A), a clearly noticeable 11 dB(A) difference. However, the peak difference in sound measurement is approximately 18 dB(A). This indicates the original TRS is nearly four times louder than the same baseline passing vehicle.

Design and preliminary testing of demand-responsive transverse rumble strips

Transverse rumble strips are common practice to alert drivers by engaging their auditory and tactile senses in addition to visual senses by traffic signals. However, continuous exposure to noise and vibration by transverse rumble strips often results in diminished effectiveness and erratic behaviors, leading to additional safety challenges. In response, demand-responsive transverse rumble strips were developed as traffic safety countermeasures that reduce unnecessary noise and vibration associated with transverse rumble strips by incorporating active control of the rumble strips. Rather than staying static, demand-responsive transverse rumble strips are activated based on the presence of pedestrians, at predesignated times, or in response to abrupt changes in traffic flow. To evaluate the effectiveness of demand-responsive transverse rumble strips, the research team assessed noise and vibration data, both inside the vehicles and on the roadside, for various types of vehicles traveling at different speeds. The test data indicate that demand-responsive transverse rumble strips produced noticeable in-vehicle noise and vibration that could alert drivers to downstream events. Furthermore, demand-responsive transverse rumble strips generated sufficient noise to alert roadside pedestrians to vehicle presence but at low enough level to be considered as acceptable for a residential neighborhood use. Accordingly, demand-responsive transverse rumble strips could address the challenges that static transverse rumble strips face, by providing a design with relatively limited noise while enhancing safety.

Effectiveness Analysis of Transverse Rumble Strip using the Image Processing Technique

Transverse rumble strip is a traffic calming device which usually installed at the vicinity of schools and accident prone spots. The Malaysia Public Work Department has introduced the latest high performance thermoplastic rumble strips as an intervention along blackspot stretches in Malaysia. This study was carried out to investigate the effectiveness of the new rumble strips installed at SMK Sri Lalang in Kluang, Johor, with respect to the operational speed variation immediately upstream and downstream of the rumble strips area. Operational speed data acquisition was carried out by using the unmanned aerial vehicle or drone and image processing technique. Drone can be used as an alternative to other image recording devices such as telescopic mast. The presence of a drone is often unnoticed by drivers thus giving the advantage of obtaining naturalistic data. The footages from drone were analysed using the image processing technique to ensure every vehicles were taken into account, compare to handheld device such as speed laser gun that can only detect speed of selected vehicles. The operational speeds were analyzed to obtain parameters namely pace, median, and 85th percentiles speed. The results proved that the new rumble strips succeed to reduce speed of vehicles from 7 to 13 kilometer per hour, which are 7 to 18 percent from the initial speed, respectively.

Traffic calming measures: An evaluation of four low-cost TCMs' effect on driving speed and lateral distance

The transition from rural highways that afford higher speeds, to urban communities with lower speed limits and wide ranges of road users is a critical safety issue in Northern Iran that such transitions are frequent along a high-way running approximately parallel to the Caspian Sea shoreline and linking >50 urban communities. This study aims to investigate the efficiency of 4 low-cost traffic calming measurements (TCM) at a simulated 1.5 km length of this rural highway as a representative. 39 participants with at least 3 years of driving experience took part in this study, and comparisons of driver behaviors in case of speed and lateral position as a safety index in 4 scenarios and base scenario were outputted. MANOVA analysis was conducted on speed and lateral position data outputted from the simulator device, at the entry into the urban community. Comparison of mean speed results obtained revealed that all 4 treatments significantly reduced the mean speed of drivers. In this respect, the benefits of modified road signs were proven to be as successful as road surface markings. As another criterion for safety, the investigation showed road signs and transverse rumble strips increased lateral position, but the pattern of peripheral hatched markings significantly reduced the lateral position. In case of speed reduction, maintaining the reduced speed is another issue that has been resulted that as soon as TCMs end up, the speed increases, however, does not reach the former values.

The effect of vehicle weight on the sound produced by transverse rumble strips

Transverse rumble strips (TRS) are commonly used as traffic calming measure in the vicinity of premises. So far research have been extensively concentrated on the effect of vehicle type and speed on the noise produced by TRS, and very little research focused on the effect of vehicle weight. Do these vehicles produce extremely higher sound level parallel to their heavier weight? This is important as in reality, traffic flow consist of light, medium and heavy vehicles, which are also important sources of noise. This study investigated the effect of vehicle weight, such as gross vehicle weight (GVW) when transited on TRS, particularly with emphasis on impulsivity content. The objectives of this research were to: (1) determine the effect of GVW on noise generation when a vehicle transits on TRS and (2) assess the effect of GVW on the impulsivity of noise. Data from vehicles with weight between 800 kg - 8000 kg were collected based on previous research where these vehicles were tested on speed values of 30km/h and 50km/h. It was found that when the vehicles transited on TRS, the generated noise was strongly related with the vehicle weights (R2=0.71) higher than those normal road surface (R2=0.49). However, the changes of noise were not well represented by direct relation. It was found that TRS can increase and decrease the sound pressure level, depending on GVW, but on average, TRS can increase the sound pressure level by 1 dBA. Despite that, TRS was found to have an impulsive characteristic within the tested speed range. This finding can facilitate the authority to evaluate the environmental noise produced by TRS.

The Effectiveness of Transverse Rumble Strip to Reduce Speed

The Effectiveness of Transverse Rumble Strip to Reduce Speed

Change of Road Integrated Design Consistency due to Antiskid Transverse Rumble Strips on High-Speed Federal Road FT050

Abstract Malaysia is one of many developing countries that have a high rate of road accidents. Most accidents happen to motorcyclists and car users, and motorcycles are deemed 17 times more dangerous than passenger cars. One of the most common accident types are collisions between motorcycles and passenger cars due to a lack of geometric design consistency on roads, wherein drivers make errors because of geometric features. Therefore, this study is conducted to develop a consistency model for motorcycle-car collisions based on the characteristics of the geometric design on the roads and vehicle continuous speed profiles. The study was conducted on the FT050 federal road in Malaysia, from km 31 to km 35. Use of a DG-200 global positioning system (GlobalSat, New Taipei City, Taiwan), the continuous speed profile was extracted to develop road design consistency profiles based on the following parameters: the bounded area between the profile, the average speed, and the standard deviation of speed along the road. Furthermore, the study investigated the effects of antiskid transverse rumble strip treatment along the section of km 34 to km 35 after the rumble strip treatment. The installation of antiskid transverse rumble strips generally produced a significant reduction in vehicle speeds on the Federal Road FT050, which has posted speed limits of 60 km/h. The mean speed along the sections with antiskid rumble strips declined by 3.4 km/h on federal roads with a speed limit of 60 km/h. The 85th percentile speed declined to 3.8 km/h with a speed limit of 60 km/h. The profiles show that the influence area of antiskid rumble strips would be generally less than 0.5 km. The km 34 to km 35 road section, which is justified based on the design consistency of the area and on the integrated design consistency model between car and motorcycle, is found to be acceptable.

New Concept Design of Directional Rumble Strips for Deterring Wrong-Way Freeway Entries

Drivers who make wrong-way entries onto freeways pose a serious risk to the safety of other motorists and themselves. As a new countermeasure to mitigate the wrong-way entry issue, directional rumble strips (DRSs) were designed to generate elevated noises and vibrations to warn against wrong-way drivers and a normal level of stimuli to slow down right-way traffic. Five conceptual designs were developed based on Department of Transportation (DOT) guidelines, existing transverse rumble strips implementations, and input from rumble strip vendors. A national survey and extensive field tests were performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed configurations. Acoustic and tactile signatures of the DRSs were measured by a specially equipped passenger car under different speed categories. The results indicated that the tested patterns could provide similar sound and vibration levels in the wrong-way direction as the existing transverse rumble strips (61.8–80.0 dBA sound signals and 1.1–1.4 g vibrations). The statistical and comparative analyses identified three DRS configurations that could produce greater audible and tactile signals in the wrong-way direction than the right-way direction, thereby serving the purpose of alerting inattentive wrong-way drivers while offering good visual attentiveness and applicability.

Impulsivity of Noise due to Single Lightweight Vehicles Transit on Transverse Rumble Strip

Transverse Rumble Strips (TRS) acts as safety device that alert inattentive drivers from potential dangers. However, the noise produced due to TRS was reported as noise annoyance among the nearby residents lived adjacent to roadways. Thus, this paper investigates the impulsivity characteristic of noise due to single lightweight vehicles transit on TRS. The objectives of this study are to determine the increase of sound level and to evaluate the impulsivity of noise. Two TRS profiles namely middle overlapped (MO) and middle layer overlapped (MLO) were selected. Three types of single lightweight vehicles which include hatchback, sedan and multipurpose (MPV) were tested at speed of 30, 50 and 70km/h. The sound level was measured using sound level meter (SLM). Noise indices such as LAeq, LAIeqT, LAImax, LAFmaxand LASmaxwere obtained from the measurement. This study considered the differences of LAImax– LAFmax> 2dBA, LAFmax– LAeq≥ 10dBA, LAIeqT– LAeq≥ 2dBA and LAImax– LASmax> 6dBA to evaluate the impulsivity of noise. It was found that TRS increased the sound level by at most of 6dBA. Furthermore, all single lightweight vehicles transit on TRS show significant impulsive characteristic. These results proved that TRS produce significant impact to the nearby residents.

Assessment of traffic noise due to transverse rumble strips at residential areas

Transverse rumble strips (TRS) are commonly being installed to alert the drivers through sound and vibration effects. The sound produced affects the existing traffic noise level which caused noise annoyance to the nearby residents. This study aims to assess the traffic noise due to TRS at residential areas by determining the roadside noise levels, traffic and road characteristics and evaluating the relationship between these parameters. Middle overlapped (MO), middle layer overlapped (MLO) and raised rumbler (RR) TRS profiles with same thickness were selected. The measurements of roadside noise levels and skid resistance were conducted using sound level meter (SLM) and British pendulum tester (BPT) respectively. Traffic characteristics were evaluated using previous data measured using automatic traffic counter (ATC). In overall, MLO produced highest roadside noise levels with increase of 20.5dBA from baseline. Generally, the increase of roadside noise level due to TRS is strong with speed, weak to medium with skid resistance of TRS and no relationship with traffic volume. Based on three TRS profile types, MLO is not suitable to be installed on the roadways adjacent to the residential areas as the increase of roadside noise level is significant which is more than 5dBA compared to MO and RR.

Noise Annoyance Produced by Commercial Vehicles Transit on Rumble Strips

This paper reports on research examining the extent of noise annoyance affecting residents within the vicinity of installation of two types of transverse rumble strips (TRS), namely Middle Overlapped (MO) and Multilayer Overlapping (MLO). In order to assess the noise annoyance in the area, measurements were taken at 7.5m from centre of road with TRS installation using single vehicle test to determine the extent of changes of sound level indices and sound spectrum. Two light and two medium weight commercial vehicles were used. Indicators LAeq, LAFmax, LAImax, LAIeq, and LASmax were used to determine impulsivity that led to noise annoyance. The results showed that, at 30 km/h, all commercial vehicles considered in this study that transited on MO produced impulsive noise, while only light commercial vehicles caused noise annoyance when they transited on MLO. The research also analysed the extent of low-frequency noise and found a significant low-frequency component, which indicated that noise annoyance might arise from the hitting of MO and MLO by the commercial vehicles. For night-time related annoyance, it was suggested that an additional weighting factor could be added to the average A-weighted value during night-time.

Effects of speed-control measures on the safety of unsignalized midblock street crossings in China

ABSTRACTObjective: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different speed-control measures on the safety of unsignalized midblock street crossings.Methods: In China, it is quite difficult to obtain traffic crash and conflict data for pedestrians using such crossings, mainly due to the lack of traffic data management and organizational issues. In light of this, the proposed method did not rely on such data, but considered vehicle speed, which is a leading contributing factor of pedestrian safety at mid blocks. To evaluate the speed reduction effects at different locations, the research team utilized the following methods in this study: (1) testing speed differences—on the basis of the collected data, statistical analysis is conducted to test the speed differences between upstream and crosswalk, upstream and downstream, and downstream and crosswalk; and (2) mean distribution deviation—this value is calculated by taking the difference in cumulative speed distributions for the two different samples just mentioned. In order to better understand the variation of speed reduction effects at different distances from speed-control facilities, data were collected from six types of speed-control measures with a visual range of 60 m.Results: The results showed that speed humps, transverse rumble strips, and speed bumps were effective in reducing vehicle speeds. Among them speed humps performed the best, with reductions of 21.1% and 20.0% from upstream location (25.01 km/h) and downstream location (24.66 km/h) to pedestrian crosswalk (19.73 km/h), respectively. By contrast, the speed reduction effects were minimal for stop and yield signs, flashing yellow lights, and crossings without treatment.Conclusions: Consequently, in order to reduce vehicle speeds and improve pedestrian safety at mid blocks, several speed-control measures such as speed humps, speed bumps, and transverse rumble strips are recommended to be deployed in the vicinity of pedestrian crosswalks.

Exterior Noise Due to Interaction of Tire-Thermoplastic Transverse Rumble Strips

Transverse rumble strips (TRS) are a common choice to reduce vehicle speed and increase driver alertness on roadways. However, there is a potential trade-off using them on rural roadway due to the noise problem created when vehicles go over the strips. The present study investigated the noise level, spectral analysis and the possible noise generation mechanism when the TRS hit by a vehicle. Ten-raised-rumbler (RR) and three-layer-overlapped (TLO) were selected in this study as they have received complaints from the public. Results showed that RR generated relatively higher noise and impulse at low speed, and increased sound level in each octave band. Based on these results, RR may irritate human ears even when the vehicle travels at low speed. It was found that RR increased all noise generation mechanism of tire-pavement interaction whilst for the TLO increased structural resonance, sidewall and surface texture vibration.

Investigation of Exterior Noise Generated by Vehicles Traveling over Transverse Rumble Strips

AbstractThis study focuses in the impact of vehicle speed, vehicle type, and transverse rumble strip (TRS) design on the sound pressure level perceived by drivers when they traverse a TRS. TRSs are commonly installed on approaches to toll plazas and at intersections, etc. The ability of a TRS to capture a driver’s attention is directly related to the magnitude of the sound and vibration. However, the traffic noise generated by TRS creates a problem for adjacent residences and businesses near the roadway. Thus, the aim of this study is to quantify the level of traffic noise and verify the effects of TRS shapes. The research team measured the exterior noise, inner noise, and vibration generated by three types of vehicles (sedan, minivan, and truck) traveling over four types of transverse rumble strip applications (Types A, B, C, and D) with speed range between 40 and 100 km/h. In general, the increase in the exterior noise generated was greater at 100 km/h than at 40 km/h and lower for a sedan than for a...