CE 4361

Transportation Engineering

Lecture #4: Characteristics of Driver,

Pedestrian, Vehicle & Road

February 2, 2016

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 Debate Topics

• Urban Passenger Mode: Cars (Olivier, Clinton, Anas, Jeremy, Farida)

• Urban Passenger Mode: Buses (Arun, Bimarsha, Ricardo, Dimitrios, Joshy,
Nicholas)
• Urban Passenger Mode: Rail (Michelle, Nick, Catherine, Sharanya, Alicia, Joel)
• Urban Passenger Mode: Bicycles (Martin, Jason, Beau, Devin, Derral, Collin)

• Medium-Distance Passenger Travel: High-speed Rail (Jake, Jess, Evan, Samer,

Daniel, David)
• Medium-Distance Passenger Travel: Buses (Westin, Nathin, Alex, John Bush,
Albert)
• Medium-Distance Passenger Travel: Airlines (Blake, Matthew, James, John
Chilton, Julia)

• Long-Distance Freight: Rail (Richard, Garrett, Michael, Luke, William)

• Long-Distance Freight: Trucks (Brent, Raphael, Dalton, Alex, Elania, Jacob
Woytek)

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Braking Distance

• Braking

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AASHTO recommends 11.2 ft/sec2 as a deceleration rate.
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 Determining Braking Distance (Ex 3.6)

• A student trying to test the braking ability of her car determined that
she needed 18.5 ft more to stop her car when driving downhill on a
road segment of 5 % grade than when driving downhill at the same
speed along another segment of 3 % grade. Determine the speed at
which the student conducted her test and the braking distance on
the 5 % grade if the student is traveling at the test speed in the uphill
direction.

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 Determining Braking Distance (Ex 3.7)

• A motorist traveling at 65 mph on an expressway intends to leave the

expressway using an exit ramp with a maximum speed of 35 mph. At
what point on the expressway should the motorist step on her brakes
in order to reduce her speed to the maximum allowable on the ramp
just before entering the ramp, if this section of the expressway has a
downgrade of 3 %?

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Estimation of Velocities

• Step 1: Measure the length of the skid marks.

• Step 2: Determine the coefficient of friction, or use 0.35.

• Step 3: Estimate the velocity uu, just prior to impact.

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 Estimating Speed of a Vehicle from Skid
Marks (Ex 3.9)
• In an attempt to estimate the speed of a vehicle just before it hit a
traffic signal pole, a traffic engineer measured the length of the skid
marks and performed trial runs at the site to obtain an estimate of
the coefficient of the friction. Determine the estimated unknown
velocity of the vehicle when the brakes are applied.
o Length of skid marks: 585, 590, 580, 595 ft
o Speed of the trial run: 30 mph
o Distance traveled during trial run: 300 ft
o Estimate of speed of the vehicle at impact: 35 mph

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Minimum Radius of a Circular Curve

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 Road Characteristics

• Skid Resistance

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• Lane width (Typically 10-12 ft)
• Shoulder width (Typically 0-10 ft)

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Sight Distance
• Stopping sight distance (SSD)

or, Tables 3.4

• Decision sight distance – Tables 3.5
• Passing sight distance – Tables 3.6, 3.7

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 Stopping Sight Distance(SSD)
(a.k.a. Safe Stopping Distance)

𝑢2 • Components
𝑆𝑆𝐷 = 1.47𝑢𝑡 + 𝑎 o Perception-Reaction Distance
30( ± 𝐺)
Where:
𝑔 o Breaking Distance
u= speed (mph)
t= perception reaction time*
a= deceleration of the vehicle when brakes are applied*
g= acceleration due to gravity*
f= coefficient of skidding friction
G= percent grade

Braking P-R
Distance Distance

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*Assume t=2.5 sec, a/g= 0.35

Stopping Sight Distance(SSD)
(a.k.a. Safe Stopping Distance)

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 Stopping Sight Distance(SSD) Example

A driver on a mountain highway with a 7% downslope notices a deer

in the roadway. At what distance would the driver have to start
applying the brakes in order to safely stop without striking the deer?
Assume the driver is driving at 70 mph.

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 Summary

• Four main components of highway mode are: driver, pedestrian,

vehicle, and roadway
• Perception-Reaction (or PIEV) Time: 2.5 sec
• Four general classes of vehicles by AASHTO: passenger vehicles,
buses, trucks, RVs
• Physical relationships among vehicle characteristics and roadway
conditions (grade, surface friction) are used to derive braking
distance, minimum radius of a circular curve, or other variables.

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