Measures of Functional Reliability of Two-Lane Highways

Krzysztof Ostrowski and Marcin Budzynski
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Krzysztof Ostrowski: The Faculty of Civil Engineering, Cracow University of Technology, Warszawska 24 Street, 31-155 Cracow, Poland
Marcin Budzynski: The Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Gdansk University of Technology, Narutowicza 11 Street, 80-233 Gdansk, Poland

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 15, 1-20

Abstract: Rural two-lane highways are the most common road type both in Poland and globally. In terms of kilometres, their length is by far greater than that of motorways and expressways. They are roads of one carriageway for each direction, which makes the overtaking of slower vehicles possible only when there is a gap in the stream of traffic moving from the opposite direction. Motorways and express roads are dual carriageways that are expected to support high speed travel mainly over long distances. Express roads have somewhat lower technical parameters and a lower speed limit than motorways. Two-lane highways are used for both short- and long-distance travel. The paper presents selected studies conducted in Poland in 2016–2018 on rural two-lane highways and focuses on the context of the need for their reliability. The research was carried out on selected short and longer road sections located in various surroundings, grouped in terms of curvature change rate CCR, longitudinal slopes and cross-sections (width of lanes and shoulders). The studies of traffic volumes, travel time and travel speed, as well as traffic density, will be used to analyze traffic performance and identify measures of travel time reliability. The analyzed roads were characterized by good technical parameters and significant variability of traffic volume throughout the day, week and year. Some roads experience congestion, i.e., situations in which traffic volume Q is close to or above respective road capacity C . In order to determine the form of the suitable reliability measures, it will be important to determine the extent to which a road’s geometric and traffic characteristics impact travel speed and time. The paper presents well-known reliability measures for dual carriageways and proposes new measures, along with an evaluation of their usefulness in the assessment of the functioning of two-lane highways.

Keywords: reliability measures; two-lane highways; travel speed; travel time; empirical research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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