Types Of Highways Research Articles

Investigating pedestrian-vehicle crashes on interstate highways: Applying random parameter binary logit model with heterogeneity in means

In the U.S., the interstate highway system is categorized as a controlled-access or limited-access route, and it is unlawful for pedestrians to enter or cross this type of highway. However, pedestrian-vehicle crashes on the interstate highway system pose a distinctive safety concern. Most of these crashes involve ‘unintended pedestrians’, drivers who come out of their disabled vehicles, or due to the involvement in previous crashes on the interstate. Because these are not ‘typical pedestrians’, a separate investigation is required to better understand the pedestrian crash problem on interstate highways and identify the high-risk scenarios. This study explored 531 KABC (K = Fatal, A = Severe, B = Moderate, C = Complaint) pedestrian injury crashes on Louisiana interstate highways during the 2014–2018 period. Pedestrian injury severity was categorized into two levels: FS (fatal/severe) and IN (moderate/complaint). The random parameter binary logit with heterogeneity in means (RPBL-HM) model was utilized to address the unobserved heterogeneity (i.e., variations in the effect of crash contributing factors across the sample population) in the crash data. Some of the factors were found to increase the likelihood of pedestrian’s FS injury in crashes on interstate highways, including pedestrian impairment, pedestrian action, weekend, driver aged 35–44 years, and spring season. The interaction of ‘pedestrian impairment’ and ‘weekend’ was found significant, suggesting that alcohol-involved pedestrians were more likely to be involved in FS crashes during weekends on the interstate. The obtained results can help the ‘unintended pedestrians’ about the crash scenarios on the interstate and reduce these unexpected incidents.

Pengaturan Santunan Asuransi Kecelakaan Penumpang dan Driver Go-Ride yang Diberikan Oleh PT Gojek

Indonesia is now entering the digital era and is developing not only in information technology but also in the field of transportation. People can now order motorcycle public transport (Go- Ride) only through the application. Go-Ride is one of the services provided by Gojek, whose mission is to carry passengers. High interest in the use of Go-Ride can cause traffic accidents. The purpose of this investigation is to find laws and regulations regarding insurance for public transport passengers and to determine regulations regarding the fulfillment of insurance claims due to accidents between passengers and Go-Ride drivers. The type of study used by the author is normative study. The nature of this study is descriptive and analytical. The data sources used in this study are primary and secondary data sources. In the data analysis method of this study, the author uses qualitative data analysis using an interactive model. The results of this study explain the regulations that Gojek used as a reference for implementing insurance. The regulation in question is Road Traffic and Transportation Law No. 22 of 2009, which requires all carriers to be held responsible in the event of a passenger accident, with Go-Ride passengers and drivers in an accident. Explains the mechanism of providing insurance coverage in the event of an accident. There are two types of highways and passenger insurance is Basic penumpang Go¬-Ride dan Perjalanan Aman+.

Conceptual estimation of construction duration and cost of public highway projects

State Highway Agencies (SHAs) and Departments of Transportation (DOTs) allocate their limited resources to thousands of competing projects in multi-year transportation programs using expert judgement for the expected construction costs and durations. Such estimates overlook influencing parameters known in the planning phase and the importance of building reliable databases to support decision making. Meanwhile, it is possible to generate meaningful predictions in early stages of project development based on historical data gathering and analysis. The present research introduces a newly developed method for conceptual cost and duration estimation for public highway projects utilizing an ensemble of machine learning (ML) models and data collected for projects completed between 2004 and 2015 (roads, bridges, and drainage projects). Unlike previous studies, the proposed method includes project parameters that affect construction durations and costs and were not studied simultaneously before. The parameters considered are facility type, project scope, highway type, length, width, location, level of technical complexity, and new parameters pertinent to payment and procurement methods. The developed method was tested using 29 and 56 randomly selected projects, and the results yielded a Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) of 7.4% and 4.5% for the duration and cost, respectively, which are lower than the estimation errors of methods reported in recent literature. Additionally, the generalization abilities were assessed by the Mann-Whitney test, and the developed method is found to successfully handle diverse projects. Thus, machine learning models can assist agencies in the review process of competing projects from a high-level management perspective to ultimately develop better management execution programs.

INFRASTRUCTURE MONITORING USING THE INTERFEROMETRIC SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR (INSAR) TECHNIQUE

Abstract. This paper focuses on the application of spaceborne radar interferometry as a tool for assisting the monitoring different types of infrastructures, including railways and highways. The Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) technique, the most advanced class of differential interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar techniques (DInSAR), is used to generate the deformation maps, including the time series and the displacement velocity for each measured persistent scatterers. The dataset considered in this work consists of 261 SAR IW-SLC images acquired by the Sentinel-1 A/B satellites, between January 2016 and September 2021, over the metropolitan area of Barcelona. The infrastructures, especially railways and highways, not only cross the cities, but also connect them crossing non-urban areas. One main technical issue of monitoring infrastructures is the low density of persistent scatterers (PS) in rural areas. To improve the density, the processing chain combines the interferograms selection based on the coherence threshold. Also, for a better point selection, the Equivalent Spatial Coherence (Omega Factor) is tested.

Developing a Preliminary Engineering Cost Estimation Method for a Portfolio of Bridge Construction Projects in Project Planning Phase

For state departments of transportation (DOTs), estimating preliminary engineering (PE) costs over a multiple-year horizon is critical for proper planning of engineering resources and budgets to ensure timely delivery of a portfolio of bridge construction projects, which incur PE costs that are relatively higher than those required for other highway project types. However, given the uncertainties in the planning phase, it is challenging to estimate PE costs effectively and efficiently. The purpose of this study was to provide DOTs with a PE cost estimation method using different ratios of PE cost to construction cost for bridge projects by project type and size. To that end, the study tested the variability of PE costs by analyzing 628 Texas DOT bridge construction projects divided into three project types: bridge maintenance (BMN), bridge replacement (BR), and bridge widening and rehabilitation (BWR). The analysis found that the ratios of PE cost to construction cost for the BMN and BR project types were significantly different by project size, but was not conclusive for the BWR project type because of limited sample size. The validation results indicate that the proposed method is effective for planning and estimating the PE costs of a portfolio of projects. The study findings can provide DOTs with an improved PE cost estimation process for a portfolio of bridge projects during the project planning phase.

Novel Mathematical Method to Obtain the Optimum Speed and Fuel Reduction in Heavy Diesel Trucks

In Mexico and many parts of the world, land cargo transport units (UTTC) operate at high speeds, causing accidents, increased fuel costs, and high levels of polluting emissions in the atmosphere. The speed in road driving, by the carriers, has been a factor little studied; however, it causes serious damage. This problem is reflected in accidents, road damage, low efficiency in the life of the engine and tires, low fuel efficiency, and high polluting emissions, among others. The official Mexican standard NOM-012-SCT-2-2017 on the weight and maximum dimensions with which motor transport vehicles can circulate, which travel through the general communication routes of the federal jurisdiction, establishes the speed limit at the one to be driven by an operator. Because of the new reality, the uses and customs of truck operators have been affected, mainly in their operating expenses. In this work, a mathematical model is presented with which the optimum driving speed of a UTTC is obtained. The speed is obtained employing the equality between the forces required to move the motor unit and the force that the tractor has available. The required forces considered are the force on the slope, the aerodynamic force, and the friction force, and the force available was considered the engine torque. This mathematical method was tested in seven routes in Mexico, obtaining significant savings of fuel above 10%. However, the best performance route possesses 65% flat terrain and 35% hillocks without mountainous terrain, regular type of highway, and a load of 20,000 kg, where the savings increase up to 16.44%.

Utilization and Cost Estimation Models for Highway Fleet Equipment

Highway agencies need to manage the utilization of their highway equipment assets to reduce fleet management costs, balance equipment use, and provide the required services. Predictive equipment utilization and operational cost models are required for optimal management; however, there are no widely accepted models for this purpose. Although the utilization data is collected by state DOTs, the literature does not show any specific statistical model to predict equipment utilization as a function of contributing factors such as asset age, fleet size, costs, and demand for service. This study will bridge this gap and develop a predictive model to estimate the utilization of fleet equipment. The main objective of this paper is to develop a set of predictive models to estimate the annual utilization of seven non-stationary highway equipment types based on several explanatory variables including their annual fuel cost, downtime hours, age, and weight. Furthermore, another set of models are fit to predict the annual operational cost for these equipment types based on the most important contributing factors. The prediction models are developed after a nationwide data collection. Several years of collected data from seven states are processed and used for model development. This research has identified annual mileage as an appropriate and widely used utilization metric. Various model structures to predict annual mileage are considered. The logarithmic function of annual mileage has provided the most appropriate structure. The final annual mileage predictive models have R-squared values that are between 0.65 and 0.89, which indicates a good fit for all models. The models are validated by performing several statistical tests and they have satisfied all required assumptions of regression analysis. The result of modeling and statistical analysis showed that the proposed models accurately estimated the utilization and operational cost for highway equipment assets.

Study of Asphalt-Concrete Pavement Fatigue Modeling

Deterioration of asphalt pavements due to fatigue cracking is one of the most common highway pavement failure types. If the fatigue cracks are allowed to develop and grow, the driving comfort and safety, i.e., serviceability of the pavement, decreases. Pavement fatigue behaviour is not a straightforward mechanism and involves many factors and effects, thus computational methods are developed in order to help understand how the pavement works. This paper explores the accuracy and applicability of a less computational resource demanding procedure that uses transient material mechanical behaviour to model the long-term behaviour of a pavement structure. First, the mechanical and fatigue properties of asphalt were determined at the laboratory. Then a four-layer finite-element model was created using Ansys software. Two different models – with and without infinity elements – and two different fatigue simulation procedures – full and simplified – were considered. Material parameters were obtained by the laboratory tests and material properties degraded over time. Cyclic surface loading was applied to simulate the passing of a truck – 6 million fatigue cycles were simulated.

Investigation of measured prestress losses compared with design prestress losses in AASHTO Types II, III, IV, and VI bridge girders

Inaccurate prediction of prestress losses leads to inaccurate predictions for camber, deflection, and concrete stresses in a bridge girder. This study aims to improve the prediction of prestress losses and provides bridge designers with insights into the differences between design and actual concrete properties. Prestress losses, compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, shrinkage, and creep were measured for several American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Types II, III, IV, and VI girders. The investigation revealed that the measured total prestress losses at the time of deck placement were lower than the design losses calculated using the refined estimates method of the 2017 AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications. This was mainly attributed to the actual concrete compressive strength at transfer being greater than the design compressive strength. This discrepancy was as high as 73% for some girders. It was also determined that the 2017 AASHTO LRFD specifications’ refined estimates method for estimating prestress losses overestimates the total prestress losses at the time of deck placement for AASHTO Types II and III girders.

Application of Bayesian Hierarchical Negative Binomial Finite Mixture Model for Cost-Benefit Analysis of Barriers Optimization, Accounting for Severe Heterogeneity

The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) initiated a project to optimize the heights of barriers that are not satisfying the barrier design criteria, while prioritizing them based on an ability to achieve higher monetary benefits. The equivalent property damage only (EPDO) was used in this study to account for both aspects of crash frequency and severity. Data of this type are known to have overdispersion, that is having a variance greater than the mean. Thus, a negative binomial model was implemented to address the over-dispersion issue of the dataset. Another challenge of the dataset used in this study was the heterogeneity of the dataset. The data heterogeneity resulted from various factors such as data being aggregated across two highway systems, and the presence of two barrier types in the whole state. Thus, it is not practical to assign a subjective hierarchy such as a highway system or barrier types to address the issue of severe heterogeneity in the dataset. Under these conditions, a finite mixture model (FMM) was implemented to find a best distribution parameter to characterize the observations. With this technique, after the optimum number of mixtures was identified, those clusters were assigned to various observations. However, previous studies mostly employed just the finite mixture model (FMM), with various distributions, to account for unobserved heterogeneity. The problem with the FMM approach is that it results in a loss of information: for instance, it would come up with N number of equations, where each result would use only part of the whole dataset. On the other hand, some studies used a subjective hierarchy to account for the heterogeneity in the dataset, such as the effect of seasonality or highway system; however, those subjective hierarchies might not account for the optimum heterogeneity in the dataset. Thus, we implement a new methodology, the Bayesian Hierarchical Finite Mixture (BHFMM) to employ the FMM without losing information, while also accounting for the heterogeneity in the dataset, by considering objective and unbiased hierarchies. As the Bayesian technique has the shortcoming of labeling the observations due to label switching; the FMM parameters were estimated by maximum likelihood technique. Results of the identified model were converted to an equation for implementation of machine learning techniques. The heights were optimized to an optimal value and the EPDO was predicted based on the changes. The results of the cost–benefit analysis indicated that after spending about 4 million dollars, the WYDOT would not only recover the expenses, but could also expect to save more than $4 million additional dollars through traffic barrier crash reduction.

Cross-Sectional Study of Vehicle Speeds on Rural Four-Lane Highway Curves

Research has consistently shown that horizontal curves are often associated with increased crash rates compared with similar tangent highway sections. These crashes are often related to speed and the difficulty of judging the severity of the curve. Curve speed models are used for a variety of applications, including assessing operational characteristics, evaluating design speed, conducting spot safety analyses, and setting curve advisory speeds. However, most of the documented curve speed models apply to rural two-lane highways, while relatively few models have been developed for rural multilane highways. These types of highways may exhibit different driver behavior in curves because of their more generous geometric design and higher traffic volumes. The objective of this paper is to document models that have been developed for several types of rural four-lane highways, including undivided highways, divided highways, and freeways. The authors developed models that account for geometric characteristics like curve radius, superelevation rate, and deflection angle, as well as operational characteristics like approach tangent (TN) speed. These models were calibrated using a database of about 46,000 vehicles across 29 horizontal curve sites in central Texas.

Influence of roadway emissions on near-road PM2.5: Monitoring data analysis and implications

Transportation projects must undergo a transportation conformity hot-spot analysis if they are designated as projects of local air quality concern (POAQC). We examined particulate matter 2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter or smaller (PM2.5) concentrations measured in 2017 from 48 near-road monitoring sites across the U.S. Annual average PM2.5 increments, the difference between near-road and background PM2.5, were between 0.1 ± 0.2 µg/m3 and 2.0 ± 0.2 µg/m3 for sites without noted confounding factor(s). The highest PM2.5 increment from monitors 10 or more meters from the roadway was 1.4 ± 0.2 µg/m3. Using modeled national average exhaust emissions, and associated near-road contribution to PM2.5, the upper bound of2.0 ± 0.2 µg/m3 isprojected to decrease 30% from 2017 to2040, for the types of highways assessed here, assuming a roadway with 8% heavy-duty vehicles and constant traffic volumes. These results can help inform transportation conformity POAQC designations.

Traffic Characteristics of Two-WayTwo-Lane (TWTL) Highway in Iraq: Al-Mishkhab Road As A Case Study

Two-Way Two-Lane (TWTL) highways have been developed rapidly throughout the world, and they represent a large percentage of the road network spread about the world. In Iraq, this type of road still has also been adopted widely. Therefore, this study tries to investigate the two-way, two-lane highway characteristics because very few studies have been devoted to studying this topic in Iraq. Three sections of this type of highway have been selected along Al-Mishkhab city as a case study. The data collected include flow, headway, number passing and speed. A speed gun was used to measured speed in the selected sections. The passing frequency was high and amounted to about 240passings/hr. Further, the speed distribution was normal. The results of this study indicate that the number of passing vehicles is up to 240 passes/hr/km at 1200 veh/hr. In addition, as flow increases more than 1200 veh/hr, the number of passing vehicles decreases because of absence the adequate gap for such passing.

Victims of road accidents with serious injuries and dependence on some individual, climatic and infrastructure factors on federal highways in Brazil

Road or urban traffic accidents in Brazil have a large presence in external causes of mortality. The main goal of this study is to discover significant factors in the incidence of accidents on Brazilian highways based on a database with information on each person injured on federal highways in Brazil reported by the Federal Highway Police. Some factors are considered in the study as cause of the accident, type of accident, stage of the day, weather condition, highway type, highway facility, age of the victim, gender of the victim and type of vehicle. From the obtained results of chi-square tests and logistic regression models, it was observed statistical dependence (p < 0.05) of the occurrence of injured people with serious injuries and the factors cause of the accident, type of accident, day, highway type and vehicle type. Considering the dead victims, the covariates age, time of day, highway type, highway facility, gender and type of vehicle showed significance (p < 0.05). These results are of great interest for authorities to increase road enforcement, improve highway facilities and target the production of vehicles with better safety standards.

Economic Effects of Transportation Infrastructure Quantity and Quality: A Study of German Counties

In this paper, we analyze the impact of transportation infrastructure quantity and quality on regional economic production. We exploit an extensive panel dataset on the German county level (N=401), expressing the capital value and condition of highways between 2007 and 2016, to estimate a spatially extended translog production function. The spatial specification uses SLX and SDEM models, with various linear and nonlinear variants estimated using FGLS and GMM estimators accounting for endogeneity. We find, in line with existing research, a positive impact of the quantity of transport infrastructure both locally and supra-regionally. We furthermore provide evidence for the claim that insufficient maintenance and low infrastructure conditions significantly slow economic growth through a negative correlation between GDP and the quality grade of highways. A more detailed analysis, distinguishing different types of highways and constructions, confirms these findings and underlines the importance of the Bundesstrasen network as compared to the Autobahn system. The estimated impact of the quality of bridges is rather ambiguous and requires further research to achieve a better understanding.

Severity analysis of tree and utility pole crashes: Applying fast and frugal heuristics

A roadway departure (RwD) crash is defined as a crash that occurs after a vehicle crosses an edge line or a center line, or otherwise leaves the designated travel path. RwD crashes account for approximately 50% of all traffic fatalities in the U.S. Additionally, crashes related to roadside fixed objects such as trees, utility poles, or other poles (TUOP) make up 12–15% of all fatal RwD crashes in the U.S. Data spanning over seven years (2010–2016) shows that TUOP crashes account for approximately 22% of all fatal crashes in Louisiana, which is significantly higher than the national statistic. This study aims to determine the effect of crash, geometric, environmental, and vehicle characteristics on TUOP crashes by applying the fast and frugal tree (FFT) heuristics algorithm to Louisiana crash data. FFT identifies five major cues or variable threshold attributes that contribute significantly to predicting TUOP crashes. These cues include posted speed limit, primary contributing factor, highway type, weather, and locality type. The balanced accuracy is around 56% for both training and test data. The current model shows higher accuracies compared to machine learning models (e.g., support vector machine, CART). The present findings emphasize the importance of a comprehensive understanding of factors that influence TUOP crashes. The insights from this study can help data-driven decision making at both planning and operation levels.

Development of vehicle speed forecasting method for intelligent highway transport system

Interaction of vehicles on an intercity highway is considered. The vehicle control model here is idealized, close to the 4th generation automated intelligent transport system. Each vehicle has the desired motion program, independent of the driver's motives, which is justified by minimum resource consumption and compliance with the desired schedule. The diversity of programs affects their unwanted change. The aim was to identify the dependence of the actual vehicle speed on traffic flow parameters. The main task was to reveal a direct parameter for changing the motion program. The use of simulation models based on cellular automata is substantiated. A new cellular automaton, which is a sliding window with a reference point, which is the observer vehicle is developed. The number of objects in the field increases periodically and is constant. All cells on the left and right of the reference point of the automaton form the information field, or the total length of the automaton. The automaton height, which depends on the type of highway, is modeled. The rules of objects movement in the automaton grid at each iteration are finite, established and similar to the Schreckenberg automaton, except for randomization, which is minimized in this model. Such an automaton reflects relative speeds of vehicles relative to the observer vehicle, as well as the ability to reproduce accelerations. At each iteration, the change in vehicle speeds is calculated. The simulation algorithm is programmed in the Delphi language. Simulation of the vehicle movement on the E-471 international highway is performed. On the 20 km section of this route, traffic flows with different density and speed distribution are modeled. The quadratic correlation dependences of the forced change in the desired speed of the observer vehicle on changes in the average speed of the flow vehicles are revealed. The degree of agreement between the theoretical dependence and empirical data is very high. On the basis of the dependencies obtained, the choice of the direct diagnostic parameter of the traffic flow is justified.

2 + 1 Highways: Overview and Future Directions

Most of the rural transportation system is composed of two‐lane highways, and many of them serve as the primary means for rural access to urban areas and freeways. In some highways, traffic volumes can be not high enough to justify a four‐lane highway but higher than can be served by isolated passing lanes, or can present high number of head‐on collisions. In those conditions, 2 + 1 highways are potentially applicable. This type of highway is used to provide high‐performance highways as intermediate solution between the common two‐lane highway and the freeway. Successful experiences reported in Germany, Sweden, Finland, Poland, or Texas (US) may suggest that they are potentially applicable in other countries. The objective of this white paper is to provide an overview of the past practice in 2 + 1 highways and discuss the research directions and challenges in this field, specially focusing on, but not limited to, operational research in association with the activities of the Subcommittee on Two‐Lane Highways (AHB40 2.2) of the Transportation Research Board. The significance of this paper is twofold: (1) it provides wider coverage of past 2 + 1 highways design and evaluation, and (2) it discusses future directions of this field.

A traffic micro-simulation model to estimate four-lane highways' capacity in Thailand

This article purposed to present the maximum capacity and to develop the equation in the capacity estimation of 4 types of four-lane highways by using the micro-simulation model. Regarding the analysis, the factors affecting the capacity include access-point, heavy vehicles and median u-turn. According to the study, it was found that the maximum capacity of the four-lane highways in type 1 is 2194 passenger car/hour/lane. In the descending orders, the maximum capacity of the highways with four lanes in type 2, 3, and 4 are 2161, 2094 and 2017 passenger car/hour/lane, respectively. At the same time, the maximum capacity of the prevailing condition in the study is 1300-1600 vehicles/hour/lane, which is different from the HCM2010 method for 20-30%, due to the Thai's highway characteristics directly affect the traffic and driving behavior. Median u-turn affects the four-lane highways in type 1 and 2 the most, while access-point factor has the most influence towards type 3 and 4. In addition, the author has developed the equation models for capacity estimation, which the result derived from the relationship between the capacities and affecting factors. It was aimed at using as the guidelines in the capacity assessment of Thai's four-lane highways in the future.

Vibrations under moving distributed loads of a non-prismatic prestressed Rayleigh beam

The vibrations of a non-prismatic prestressed Rayleigh beam resting on an elastic foundation and traversed by distributed loads moving with constant velocities is investigated. The fourth order partial differential equation with variable coefficients governing vibrations of the non-prismatic prestressed Rayleigh beam is solved using the generalised Galerkin method and a modification of the Struble's asymptotic method. Closed form solutions are obtained for the simply supported and clamped/fixed ends boundary conditions. The theoretical considerations find application in calculations relating to dynamic stresses in railways, bridges and foundation for all types of highways.