CVE 363
Highway Design
Spring 2024
Human factors and Highway elements in roadway design
Reading: Text Book: Chp3
Driver Activities (in order of complexity)
Control (least complex)
Steering
Speed control
Guidance (more complex)
Road/lane following
Safe path maintenance
Navigation (most complex)
Trip planning
Route Following
Characteristics of the Driver
Problem faced by designers:
Varying skills and perceptual abilities of drivers on the highway
Variation of abilities of individual drivers under different conditions (alcohol,
fatigue, time-of-day)
Typical design driver
Use of average driver may not be adequate for a large number of persons
Design driver typically selected as a driver that correspond to either the 85th or
95th percentile
Important driver characteristics for design purposes
Since most of the information received by a driver is visual, ability to see is of
fundamental importance in the driving task
Ability to hear important only to detect warning sounds
Process by which drivers react to the information they received is as important as
the ability to see
Elements of Visual Perception
Visual acuity Ability to see fine details
Affecting parameters:
Contrast and brightness of the object
Level of illumination
Relative motion between observer and object
Two types of visual acuity:
Static acuity: ability to identify stationary objects
Dynamic acuity: Ability to identify objects that are moving
Relation to cone of vision
Clear vision in a conical angle of 3-5o
Fairly clear vision within conical angle of 10-12o
Peripheral vision Ability to see objects beyond the cone of clear vision
Affecting parameters
Speed (tunnel vision effect at high speeds)
Age
Relation to cone of vision
Provide ability to see objects, although not in great details, in a cone of up to 160o
angle
Example
A speed limit sign can be seen (i.e., letter sized are large enough to be read)
clearly from a distance of 500 ft. The sign is placed 20 ft off the edge of the 12-
ft right travel lane (which is considered a safe distance away from the road). Is
the placement of the sign appropriate? If not, what do you suggest.
Perception-Reaction Time
Definition
Process by which a driver evaluates and reacts to a stimulus
Can be divided into four sub-processes
Perception: Driver sees an object
Identification: Driver identifies object and understand the stimulus
Emotion: Driver decides what to do
Reaction: Driver actually executes the action decided on
Perception-Reaction Time
Typical Values
Reaction time varies among
individual drivers
Reaction time function of
Age
Medical condition
Alcohol / drug consumption
Fatique / sleep deprivation
Emotional condition
Perception-Reaction Time
Typical Values
Reaction time also depends on how
complicated the situation is
85th percentile brake time varying from
1.0 to 5.0 seconds
Unexpected events can increase
reaction time by 35%.
Reaction time function of
Complexity of stimulus
Complexity of response
Perception-Reaction Time
Impact on Design
During a breaking maneuver, a vehicle continue moving forward for the
duration of perception-reaction time
Obstacle Brake Vehicle stops
perception application moving
Distance traveled Distance traveled
during perception while breaking
reaction
Total braking distance
This creates a need to consider perception-reaction time in highway
design and traffic operations
Typical design values
Perception-reaction time corresponding to 85th-95th percentile of driver population
AASHTO reaction time for stopping-sight distances 2.5 seconds
Perception-Reaction Time
Example
|
At which distance an obstacle was perceived by a driver if he stopped
his vehicle 30 m from it while traveling at an initial speed of 80 km/h on a
road with a 5% downhill
Obstacle Brake Vehicle stops
perception application moving
Distance traveled Distance traveled 30 m
during perception while breaking
reaction (x2)
(x1) total breaking distance
---------------------------------------|
|
t 2.5 sec x1 v o t vo 2 vf2 X 30 x1 x2
________
x2 =
f 0.3 x1 22.22 m/s 2.5 sec 2g(f G) X 30 100.8 55.6
G 0.05 x1 55.56 m 22.22 02 X 186.4 m
x2
vo 80 km/h 2(9.8)(0.3 0.05)
22.22 m/s x 2 100.8 m
vf = 0 km/h
Example
A driver with a normal vision can read a sign from a distance of 200 ft. Determine
how far away from an exit ramp a directional sign should be located to allow a
safe reduction of speed from 60 to 30 mph. The perception-reaction time is 1.5
sec. and the coefficient of friction is 0.3. The freeway section is level. What
difference does it make if the freeway section has a downward (downhill) slope
of 5%?
Characteristics of the Pedestrian
Pedestrian characteristics include driver characteristics described earlier
Elements of visual perception
Perception-reaction process
However, walking characteristics play a major role in design of
pedestrian facilities
Range of observed walking speeds
From 3.0 to 8.0 ft/sec
Average walking speed:
4.63 ft/sec (Women) to 4.93 ft/sec (Men)
Design walking speed (Highway Capacity Manual):
General population: 4.00 ft/sec
When elderly account for more than 20%: 3.30 ft/sec
Considerations should also be given where appropriate to
characteristics of handicapped pedestrians
Blind pedestrians
Pedestrian on wheelchairs
Summary: Main human factors impacts on road design
Vehicle Characteristics
Kinematic Characteristics:
Deals with the acceleration capabilities of the vehicle
These are not covered in this course
Dynamic Characteristics:
The major forces affecting the vehicle, while it is in motion are:
Power produced by the engine (P)
Resistance forces, which are:
– Air resistance (Ra)
– Rolling resistance (Rr)
– Grade resistance (Rg)
– Curve resistance (Rc)
When the vehicle travels at constant speed:
P = Ra +Rr + Rg +Rc
Vehicle Characteristics
Air resistance:
Vehicle Characteristics
Rolling resistance:
Frictional effects on the moving parts of the vehicle and frictional
slip between the tires and the pavement. The rolling resistance
can be calculated for passenger cars as:
Vehicle Characteristics
Grade resistance:
Vehicle Characteristics
Curve resistance:
When vehicles travel over a curve, they experience a curve
resistance (Rc):
Vehicle Characteristics
Power Requirements:
The power (P), in horsepower (hp), required for a vehicle to
maintain speed (u) is given as:
P = Horsepower delivered (hp)
R = Sum of resistance forces (lb)
u = Vehicle speed (mph)
Vehicle Characteristics
Example:
Determine horsepower by passenger car traveling at a speed of 70mph on
a curve that has a radius of curvature of 2000ft. The slope on this section
of the road is 3%. Assume the gross weight of the car is 3000lb and the
cross section area of the car is 40ft2.
Solution:
Air resistance
Grade resistance
Vehicle Characteristics
Rolling resistance
Curve resistance
Total resistance= 200.5+90+56.4+245.4= 592.3 lb.
Required horsepower
Design Vehicles
The physical characteristics of vehicles directly affect the
required characteristics of the roadways on which they are
driven.
Jurisdictions evaluate their vehicle fleet populations and
establish a grouping of vehicles on which roadway design can
be based.
Roadway features such as: (a) intersection corner radii, (b)
overpass clearances, (c) ramp widths, and (d) lane widths; are
all directly affected by the size and shapes of the vehicles using
a facility.
Design vehicles have representative dimensions and operating
characteristics and are used to establish highway design
controls.
Four Design Vehicle Classes
Passenger Vehicles
passenger vehicle class includes compact, small, medium, and large passenger
vehicles, including pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles, and vans
Buses
include all single unit buses, all articulated buses and intercity busses
Trucks
include single-unit trucks, tractor-trailers, and semi-tractor trailer combinations
Recreational Vehicles
vehicles with long wheel bases that have tracking characteristics are similar to
single-unit buses
In the design of any highway facility, the designer should consider
the largest design vehicle likely to use that facility with considerable
frequency.
Examples of Selecting a Design Vehicle
Traffic Volume
ADT – Average daily traffic
30HV – 30th highest hourly volume of the year
DHV – design hourly volume (both directions)
DDHV – directional design hourly volume
