Traffic Management

Time spent: 13 hrs

Hossein Naraghi CE 590 Special Topics Safety January 2003

Road network and functional hierarchy

Traffic management is a process of adjusting or adapting the existing road network to improve traffic operations without major construction Traffic management objectives may include

Traffic efficiency
Road capacity

Improved environment amenity

Reduced noise

Traffic management objectives (continued)

Enhanced access
Better access for particular group of road users
Pedestrians Bicyclists Freight vehicles

Road safety

These objectives may potentially be in conflict of each other, so priorities may have to be determined.

Road functions and functional hierarchy

The use of traffic management to pursue safety objectives must take place in the context of a clear view of the functions of a road network, which is referred to as functional hierarchy.
Roads function is the prime determinant of the management of any given road within the overall network.

Road functions and functional hierarchy (continued)

There are essentially two needs from a road function point of view

The traffic movement function

The role of roads in providing a means to transfer people and goods from one place to another; these roads constitute the arterial road network

The access function

The role of these roads is providing access to abutting properties and land uses; these roads constitute the local road network

Ideally each road would perform one of these functions, but in practice there are many roads that perform both functions

Road functions and functional hierarchy (continued)

The only roads that do not have an access function are those which are access controlled

The only access is via ramps at interchanges

Freeways

Access from abutting property is oriented away from the road

Sometimes done with distributor roads in residential neighborhoods

Access via frontage roads paralleling an arterial roads

Road functions and functional hierarchy (continued)

The roads which carries both functions of access and mobility, create a major challenge for traffic management

Tend to have very poor crash record as a result of their mixed and inherently conflicting functions People living and working along them seek to use them for
Access purposes Exiting and entering properties Parking in the street

Have significant pedestrians and bicycle activities in residential areas

Road hierarchy as a network planning tool

The basis for any traffic management plan is usually the development of road hierarchy and agreement to it by various stakeholders. Main objectives

Prevent residential areas being used by through traffics Influence driver behavior to follow planned routes at moderates speeds, with proper attention being given to pedestrians and bicyclists Use physical devices in support of legal regulations in order to overcome the lack of enforcement for such measures as speed limits, one way streets and turning prohibitions.

Road hierarchy as a network planning tool (continued)

Local roads, which have solely an access function, will have objectives related to local amenity and safety

If road configuration does not allow these objectives to be met, then there is a need for some form of treatment Similarly roads with mixed functions will need some kind of treatment in order to satisfactory achieve both safety and mobility There is also an urban space which is motor vehicle-free
Mobility is solely provided by walking and bicycling

Road hierarchy as a network planning tool (continued)

Gunnarsson defines three classes of road

F (exclusive foot space) C (local street) T (exclusive transport space) This provides a conceptual framework for traffic calming

F/ F C T/ T C C
Gunnarson describes local street (zone C) and two transition zones (F/C and T/C) as traffic calming space

Lessons for new network

Wallwork (1993) said:

Traffic calming is a negative reaction to a problem caused by bad planning, zoning and/or street design. We need to be proactive in our approach and learn from the past and others This is mainly involve
Attention to network layout Ensure that problems are not built in Attention to detail in civic design
To ensure that an appropriate balance of built and open spaces and the connection between them are provided

Lessons for new network (continued)

Research for the safety aspects of road network design summarized the key network planning principles for new residential areas as follows

Strict differentiation of streets according to their traffic function leads to safer residential areas Distribution of traffic into residential area with multiple access from a ring road is safer than central distribution

Lessons for new network (continued)

Full segregation of vehicle, pedestrians and bicycle movements is accompanied by very low accident rates Cul-de-sac streets are safer than loop streets, which in turns are safer than ordinary through streets Crash rate is minimized where frontage access is prohibited

Traffic management or traffic calming

There have been many different interpretations of traffic calming in different countries A useful resolution of this conflict of interpretation has been proposed by Brindle

Traffic calming is used encompasses two axes

The scope of the measure
Local, intermediate or citywide

The type of measure

Use of physical devices and regulations Social/cultural change

Area treatments

Area treatments divided into two distinct types

Applicable to low density residential development

Aim to control speeds which are in excess of a statutory speed limit of around 30-35 mph

Used in higher density cities

Aim is to reduce speed to around 20 mph

Area treatments (continued)

Safety effectiveness

Traffic management schemes are usually successful in reducing

Vehicle speeds Sometimes traffic volumes But whether they increase objective safety; as measured by accident, is open to question

An in depth analysis of accident pattern within case study area in Sydney concluded that
Many of traffic management devices used extensively in local area fail to resolve the dominant types of accidents occurring on local streets

Area treatments (continued)

The dominant types of accident were

Cross traffic Right-through Rare end Hit parked vehicles

Local area traffic management schemes may not be as effective in reducing accidents as many practitioners believe However, there were several studies which have revealed the positive effects of traffic management schemes

Area treatments (continued)

Environmentally adapted through roads This is one which retains its status as an arterial road
Traffic efficiency role is curtailed, so other environmental or amenity goals may also be realized

There are two typical application

Bypass towns Adaptation of roads still fulfilling their arterial function

Area treatments (continued)

In either case, treatments typically involve some or all of the following

A form of gateway treatment using signs and town entry features to

Emphasize the changed status of the road Encourage slower driving Provide a sense of identity

Speed restricting devices

Road narrowing Road humps

Enhanced pedestrians and bicyclists facilities

Area treatments (continued)

Improved parking especially for bypass towns

The town can rejuvenate as a business center when through traffic is removed

Change traffic furniture like lighting and seating Enhanced signing A roundabout at the start and end of the town
To ensure traffic slows

Narrower lanes Change in road surface including color and texture Additional traffic control measures
Traffic signal Pedestrian crossing

Area treatments (continued)

Problems and difficulties

There is a negative response from affected parties which needs to be considered Brindle (1992) reported a citizen group opposition to traffic calming (especially speed humps) in the following terms

They discriminating against law-abiding road users They are dangerous to bicyclists and motor cyclists, especially when wet

Problems and difficulties (continued)

They cause unnecessary wear and tear on motor vehicles They disadvantage some local businesses Their lighting is a source of annoyance to some residents They hinder emergency vehicles They waste taxpayers money They make some motorists more aggressive and impatient They detract from the environment
lights, signs, noise

Problems and difficulties (continued)

They devalue property They are inappropriate for heavy vehicles They increase road maintenance costs They cost people time Some of these points are not without validity considerations such as these mean that the development of traffic calming schemes requires careful design and sensitive implementation

Speed management

Speed may be managed in two ways

Traffic calming
Using physical devices aimed to restrict the speed of vehicles

Imposition of speed limits

Speeds and safety

There is clear evidence of the effect of speed on accident rates As travel speeds drop, the impact speeds drop, and collision may be avoided

Speed management (continued)

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has quantified the effect of speed on accidents and accident severity, based on Swedish data

The percentage drop in accident rates outside built up area is n times the percentage drop in mean speed
n = 4 for fatal accidents n = 3 for injury accidents n = 2 for all accidents

In urban areas, there are two distinct speed related accident problems

Injury to drivers and passengers of vehicles where speed is in excess of posted speed limits

Speed management (continued)

Injury to vulnerable road users

Pedestrians and bicyclists
In many cases the driver is within the speed limit

McLean, et al, 1994 based on a detailed study of 146 fatal pedestrian crashes found that 45 percent of these would probably survived if vehicle struck them with 10 km/h slower speed

Speed Limits

Speed limits affect travel speed and therefore should affect accidents specially in urban areas and roads with limited design standards There is less clear evidence of affect of speed limits on crashes in rural areas Different studies found different results on affect of increasing speed limit in rural areas

Speed limits and travel speeds

Speed limits affect safety only if they affect actual travel speed The influence of speed limit relies

Reasonableness of speed limit as perceived by driver On enforcement

In order to bring about a reduction in mean speed and speed dispersion, a speed limit should be set at 85 percentile of existing speeds, or at a lower level ( but not too far below)

Reasonableness of speed limits

Reasonableness of speed limits (continued)

Road environment factors affecting the perception of driver about the reasonableness of speed limit
Alignment Urban or rural environment Road category Lane width Roadside development Traffic density Sight distance Parked vehicles Pedestrians Day and night vision

Enforcement

Enforcement would result in a reduction in mean speed and in the spread of speed

This will lead to reduction in crash number and severity Automated speed enforcement have been effective in reducing speed
Not only on the site where they have been set up But also in leading to a change in attitudes towards speeding The wide spread use of speed cameras has already produced a change in driver attitude in Australia where portable speed cameras have been in use for several years

Differential speed limits for heavy vehicles

There is evidence that accident rates are related to the dispersion or variance of speeds of vehicles in the traffic stream Many different studies reported the chance of being involved in an accident follows a Ushaped distribution (Figure 13.4 page 335)

The minimum occurring when the vehicle is traveling at about the average speed of traffic, or slightly above As vehicle speeds move significantly above or below the average speed, the probability of being involved in a crash increases dramatically

Differential speed limits for heavy vehicles (continued)

There is an argument that there should not be a speed limit differential between heavy vehicles and other road vehicles

Evidence to support this produced in US following the introduction of nationwide 55 mph car speed limits in 1974, the observed speed differential between cars and trucks was reduced Radwan and Sinha examined the effect of this on truck accidents and found
There had been reduction in heavy truck crash rates in all severity types (fatality, injury and PDO) on freeways On four-lane and two-lane rural highways, the reduction occurred only for injury crashes The reductions were attributed to an absolute reduction in speeds and decreased speed dispersion

Setting speed limits

There are four types of speed limits

1.

General limits
Impose by statute and are applicable to all roads in an area unless signed otherwise
A general urban or rural limit

2.

Speed zones
Speed limits applied to a specific road depends on the roads design characteristics and its traffic and land use characteristics
Varying by time of day

Setting speed limits (continued)

3.

Vehicle limits
Apply to specific classes of vehicle
Trucks and buses

4.

Driver limits
Apply to specific classes of driver
Learners

Formal management of vehicle speeds using any of these legally enforceable speed limits involves
Establishing a balance between safety, mobility, and amenity for users

Setting speed limits (continued)

Meeting driver expectation
Making speed limits more or less self enforcing

Achieving consistency across the jurisdiction Ability to deter offenders by appropriate levels of enforcement Developing a culture of compliance Minimizing the cost of signing and enforcement A systematic approach to setting speed limits in a speed zoning context is the expert system called VLIMITS developed by the Australian Road Research Board which considers the factors shown in Table 13.1 page 339

Setting speed limits (continued)

VLIMITS is used as a basis for a major statewide speed limit review in Victoria The guidelines to use various speed limits are as follow

Shared zone (6 mph)

Vehicles and pedestrians sharing the same road space
Service vehicles in shopping malls

Local traffic area zone (24 mph)

Traffic management works have been undertaken to physically limit the speed

Local street speed limit (30 mph)

Local access or collector roads with abutting development

Setting speed limits (continued)

General urban limit (36 mph)

Applies to all urban roads that do not meet the criteria for higher or lower speed limit
Undivided or divided arterial roads with substantial abutting development Collector roads with higher standard 25 ft between curbs and carrying above 5000 vpd

Urban (42 mph)

Divided roads with direct access to through roadway Undivided roads with low traffic volumes, little or no abutting development

Setting speed limits (continued)

Urban (48 mph)

Divided roads with substantial abutting development with little or no direct access Undivided roads with limited amount of abutting development

General rural limit (60 mph)

Little or no abutting development and widely spaced intersection

Rural freeway (66 mph)

Applies to high standard rural freeways
meet the current design standards Have a 30 ft roadside clear zone Accident rate of less than one fatal accident per 1.2 miles per year Widely spaced interchanges (greater than 2 miles)

Devices and techniques for managing speed and volume

Type of devices and techniques available for keeping speed low falls into six categories
1.

Regulatory devices
Speed limits Stop and yield signs No-turn signs One-way operation

2.

Network modifications
Street closure at intersection Link closure

Devices and techniques for managing speed and volume (continued)

Partial street closure Diagonal closure of intersection

Placement of a barrier diagonally across a crossintersection, to create two right-angle bends instead of an intersection

3.

Closure of median opening Pedestrian refuge and/or narrow median Devices used at intersections

Roundabouts
Resolves priority issues in local streets Vehicle is required to divert from a straight line Reduce vehicle speed

Devices and techniques for managing speed and volume (continued)

Klyne (1988) established an empirical relationship between speed and path radius

V=6R/S
V = 95 percentile speed (km/h) of through vehicles R = radius of centerline of vehicle path (meters) S = sight distance factor (S=1.0 for good sight distance, up to 1.53 for poor sight distance
This formula suggests that to keep 95 percentile speeds through an intersection to 30 km/h, the roundabout geometry should be such that the path radius developed can not be greater than 80 feet

Devices and techniques for managing speed and volume (continued)

Channelization

To reallocate priority at an intersection

At t-intersection to give priority to vehicles traveling around a curve

To deter speeding by motorists on the top of the t-intersection by requiring them to slow down to negotiate the device

3.

Devices relying on vertical displacement

Road humps
Bump
A pipe half buried which can potentially damage the vehicle and cause loss of control

Devices and techniques for managing speed and volume (continued)

TRRL or Watts profile hump
Circular in shape, about 2 to 5-inches high and 1013 ft in length

Flat-topped or plateau road hump

Similar in effect with circular humps but more user friendly (Figure 13.11 page 349) Has straight approach and departure ramp (typically 1:10 to 1:15) and a flat top, Length of flat top varies from 7 to 24 ft, so that vehicle has both axle on plateau

Rumble devices
May be placed transversely across the pavement to alert the driver to approaching hazard Intersections or pedestrian crossing

Devices and techniques for managing speed and volume (continued)

3.

Devices relying on horizontal displacement

Chicanes
Feature extending into the roadway from the curb which referred to as build outs in UK and curb extensions in Australia (Figure 13.12 page 351) Sometimes referred to as slow points is a short section of a narrow road Introduces a sudden change in road configuration (Figure 13.13 page 352) Rearrangement of parking can be an effective speed control measure (Figure 14.2 page 371)

Pinch points

Restructured parking

Devices and techniques for managing speed and volume (continued)

3.

Gateways

May be used at the entrance to towns to announce the start of the build up environment with devices such as
Pinch points Changes in surface texture and/or color Road humps Signing Landscaping features
Planting Street furniture

Implementation of devices

Useful guidelines in implementing devices introduced based on worldwide researches

Network configuration should be such that the amount of traffic volumes in residential streets are in the range of 2000-3000 vpd Wide, long streets with house frontages have a poor safety record and should be avoided Network discontinuities can be made to discourage the entry of non-local traffic Intersections along street within the residential network should be separated by at least 70 ft

Implementation of devices (continued)

Action is usually required when 85 percentile speeds exceed 35 mph The effect of speed control devices is localized, which introduce the following relationships between 85 percentile speeds and spacing
18 24 27 36 mph mph mph mph : : : : 250 330 500 670 ft spacing ft ft ft

Chicanes should not be used when traffic volume exceeds 600 vph

Implementation of devices (continued)

Chicanes will constraint vehicle speed to less than 20 mph if it is 30-45 ft long Chicanes and road humps should only used on straight sections Rumble devices can be problem for bicyclists and pedestrians
They should not exceed 0.6 inches in height and a gap of about 30 inches be left between the device and curb to allow passage for bicycles

Road humps lower than 2 inches give virtually no slowing effect

Parking

An important task for traffic management is how and where to store the vehicles since they are spending the majority of their time at rest

Parked or parking vehicles are particularly associated with pedestrian fatalities Ross Silcock Partnership suggest that planning for parking involves consideration of three factors
The need to maximize access to traffic generating facilities The need to minimize interruption to moving traffic The need to minimize traffic accidents

One-way streets

One-way streets tend to be inherently safer than two way streets

Friction from an opposing traffic stream has been removed Higher speeds and longer trips Fewer stops Traffic flow tends to be more orderly More confusing for pedestrians, but on the other hand conflicts at intersections are reduced Pedestrian accidents and accidents at low volume unsignalized intersections are particular problems

Generally one-way operation leads to

Truck routes

Control of trucks through truck routing is a means of implementing an urban traffic management scheme

Its application is to pursue amenity objectives, not safety objectives The only reference from the safety stand point is to trucks routing of hazardous materials Certain ideal guidelines from a number of studies to address the routing for trucks which are carrying hazardous materials are as follow:
All freeways and control access facilities are likely to be suitable

Truck routes (continued)

Routes should be as direct as possible Routes should be less densely populated Routes should avoid the centers of population concentration, such as schools, shopping centers, hospitals and so on Routes should possibly be free of physical characteristics, such as low overhead clearance, steep grades, narrow lanes Rail level crossing should be avoided Crossing over open water supply should be avoided