Classification of Roadway Context and Target Speed for Multilane Highways in Thailand Using Fuzzy Expert System

Chomphunut Sutheerakul, Nopadon Kronprasert (), Wichuda Satiennam and Moe Sandi Zaw
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Chomphunut Sutheerakul: Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
Nopadon Kronprasert: Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
Wichuda Satiennam: Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand
Moe Sandi Zaw: Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 9, 1-23

Abstract: The classification of roadway contexts and speeds is a critical step in the planning, design, and operation of highway infrastructure. In developing countries, road users encounter safety and operational issues due to poorly defined roadway contexts and inappropriately determined target speeds for a highway network. This study developed an expert system for classifying roadway contexts and target speeds of multilane highway segments and applied the classification process to 16,235 km of multilane highways in Thailand’s highway network. The proposed methodology used a fuzzy decision mechanism to deal with subjective and imprecise expert judgment (e.g., low, high), many variables, and a complex evaluation process. This study used the Fuzzy Delphi method to identify the possible important factors influencing contexts and speeds and the Fuzzy Inference System method to reason factors to categorize multilane highway segments in Thailand into different classes of roadway contexts (e.g., rural, low-density suburban, high-density suburban, and urban highways) and target speeds (e.g., ≤50 km/h, 50–60 km/h, 60–70 km/h, 70–80 km/h, 80–90 km/h, 90–100 km/h, and 100 km/h). The study was based on data from questionnaire surveys of experts and field investigations of 120 highway segments. The results showed that roadside environments and activities influence the roadway contexts, while the target speeds are sensitive to the roadway characteristics and contexts. These findings support the need for changes in context-adapted highway design and speed management. The proposed expert system provided high accuracy (90.8%) in classifications of both roadway contexts and target speeds. The fuzzy expert system provides a systematic and structural framework for analyzing imprecise data in highway contextual and speed classifications and improving the clarity and accuracy of the evaluation process. The implementation of the fuzzy expert system has the potential to revolutionize the highway classification decision-making problem under uncertainty.

Keywords: sustainable safety; highway classification; roadway context; target speed; fuzzy expert system; decision making (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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