CEE 4651

Transportation Engineering
and
Traffic Design

Moinul Hossain

Lecture 3-a
Vehicle Characteristics
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 Vehicle Characteristics
Characteristics of vehicles vary as those motorists who drive them.

• Motor vehicle classification [AASHTO]

 Passenger cars – passenger car, SUV, minivan, van, pickup trucks

 Buses – intercity, school bus, transit bus, articulated bus

 Trucks – single unit, tractor-trailer, tractor-semi-trailer combined

 Recreational vehicles – motorhomes, trailer attachments (boat,

campers, motorcycle, etc.)

• Why motorcycles and bicycles are not included?

- Their characteristics in general do not limit/define design or control needs

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 Critical Vehicle Properties
 Breaking and deceleration

• Acceleration

• Low-speed turning characteristics

• High-speed turning characteristics

“Issues associated with vehicles of vastly different size,

weight and operating characteristics sharing roadways
must also be addressed by traffic engineers”.
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 Design Vehicles – Key Issues
 Primarily employed in the design of turning roadways and
intersection curbs - appropriate lane widths, lane widening on
curves, etc.
• Provision for emergency vehicle
• Usual minimum design vehicle for local streets
– Single Truck Unit
• Hook and ladder fire vehicle – rear axle steering
“Design should consider the largest vehicle likely to use the road.
Also, 95% or more of the expected vehicle mix should easily be
accommodated”.
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 Concept of Design Vehicles (1)

AASHTO has defined 20 “design vehicles”.

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 Some Design Vehicles (1)

P BUS-40

SU-30 WB-50 6
 Some Design Vehicles – WB-40

Wheelbase dimensions are measured from the front-most axle to the rearmost
axle, including both the tractor and trailer in a combination vehicle.
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 Quiz Time…

 What is the typical height of a

 passenger car, large truck, emergency vehicle?

• Typical width of a

• passenger car, large truck?

• What should be the minimum lane width?

• Should it be uniform or will it vary along the path?

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 Turning Characteristics of Vehicles
• Two conditions [AASHTO]

 Low-speed turns (<= 10 mph) – limited by

vehicle characteristics: minimum radius
allowed by steering.

 High-speed turns (> 10 mph) – limited by

dynamics of side-friction between roads and
tires and super-elevation of the cross slope.

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Low-speed Turns (1)

• AASHTO specifies minimum

design radii for each of the
design vehicles
• Centerline turning radius &
minimum inside turning
radius
• Actual turning radius - front
wheel
• "Off-track" - rear wheels
WB-50 10
 Low-speed Turns (2)
• Minimum turning radius is defined by the track of the front
outside wheel.
• Minimum design turning radius = minimum centerline radius
+ 1/2(frontal width of vehicle)
• Combination vehicle:
• high "off-tracking" by rear inside wheel
• increase lane width
• path is not circular.
• Range: Passenger car - 24.0'; WB-109D - 60.0'
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 Low-speed Turns (3)

• Intersections - "Off-tracking" is important to locate (or cut

back) the curb.
• Outside wheel should be able to negotiate its path without
"spilling over". 12
 High Speed Turns (1)

• Applied Force – Centripetal forces of momentum

• Opposing Force – Side Friction (resistance to sliding – road
surface, tires) and Super Elevation (horizontal support).
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High Speed Turns (2)

Crunching numbers: 14
 High Speed Turns (3)

• Typical Super-elevation rates [AASHTO]

 Directly proportional to speed.

 Support drainage = 0.5%.

 Maximum = 12%.

 Icing = max. 8%

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 High Speed Turns (3)

• Coefficient of Side-Friction [AASHTO]

 Wet road condition.
 Depends on Speed.

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 Quiz Time…
𝑆2
𝑅=
15(0.01𝑒 + 𝑓)
 What if super-elevation = 0?

 What if side-friction = 0?

 Calculate Maximum Allowable Radius.

 Calculate Maximum Allowable Speed.

 What if we drive at a higher speed?

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 Braking Characteristics
• When brake is applied, vehicle’s ability to
 STOP!, or,
 Decelerate.

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Braking Characteristics

Crunching numbers: 19
 Acceleration Characteristics
• Depends on
 Horsepower
 Weight

What is the significance of

PCU/PCE?
Disparity in key operating
characteristics of trucks and
passenger cars is taken into
account in design by providing
additional capacity as needed.
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Stopping Distance and Its Applications (1)
Total distance to bring a vehicle to a full stop, from the time the
need to do so is first noted, is the sum of the reaction distance,

dr, and the braking distance, db.

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Stopping Distance and Its Applications (2)

• Three major applications

 Safe Stopping Sight Distance

 Decision Sight Distance

 Other Sight Distances

• Passing Sight Distance (Ch. 16)

• Intersection Sight Distance (Ch. 18)

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 Safe Stopping Distance

 On all roadway sections, the driver must have a sight

distance that is at least equivalent to the total stopping
distance required at the design speed.

Typical width of a


• passenger car, large truck?

• What should be the minimum lane width?

• Should it be uniform or will it vary along the path?

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