•Theare four main components of the CH-3 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DRIVER , THE PEDESTRIA N, THE VEHICLE, AND THE

HE ROAD

highway mode of transportation are

the driver,


the pedestrian,

the vehicle, and

 the road.

•The bicycle is also becoming an

important component in the design
of urban highways and streets.
•The success of transpiration depend
on the coordination, of the elements
 1 Driver Characteristics
Human are active component of
traffic system
And their Components are highly

variable and unpredictable in

capabilities and characteristics.
Generally human factors covered by

I. Psychological–Much more difficult

to measure and quantify
II. Physiological–Measurable and
Usually Quantifiable
 Con…
Psychological:

Desired speeds
Desired safety distance
o Physiological:
Perception-Reaction time
Visual factors
 The Human Response process
evaluation of the reaction to the
stimuli that they see or hear
Reaction is of visual perception as

well as of hearing perception

A. Visual perception: The principal
characteristics of the eye are
visual acuity/ sharpness/,
peripheral vision, color vision,
glare vision and recovery, and
depth perception
 CON,
 Visual Reception
The principal characteristics of the eye are
visual acuity, peripheral vision, color
vision, glare vision and recovery, and
depth perception.
 Visual Acuity:

 is the ability to see fine details of an object.

 It can be represented by the visual angle,

which is the reciprocal of the smallest pattern

detail in minutes of arc that can be resolved
where
and given as
L = diameter of the target (letter or symbol)
D = distance from the eye to target in the same units as L
 CON,
 Two types of visual acuity are of importance in traffic and
highway emergencies: static and dynamic visual
acuity.
 Static visual acuity:- The driver’s ability to identify an

object when both the object and the driver are stationary.
 Factors that affect static acuity include background

brightness, contrast & time.

 dynamic visual acuity :-The driver’s ability to clearly

detect relatively moving objects, not necessarily in his or

her direct line of vision, depends on the driver’s dynamic
visual acuity.
 Most people have clear vision within a conical angle of 3

to 5° & fairly clear vision within a conical angle of 10 to 12

.ͦ
 Peripheral Vision: is the ability of people to see objects

beyond the cone of clearest vision.

 CON,
 Color Vision: is the ability to differentiate one color
from another.
 Glare Vision and Recovery: There are two types of
glare vision: direct and specular.
direct glare occurs when relatively bright light
appears in the individual’s field of vision &
specular glare occurs when the image reflected by
the relatively bright light appears in the field of vision
 Depth Perception: is affects the ability of a person to
estimate speed and distance. It is particularly
important on two-lane highways during passing
maneuvers,
Hearing Perception
The ear receives sound stimuli, which is important to
drivers only when warning sounds, usually given out by
emergency vehicles, are to be detected.
 Perception-Reaction Process
 The process through which a driver, cyclist, or pedestrian evaluates and reacts to a
stimulus can be divided into four sub processes:
 Perception: the driver sees a control device, warning sign, or object on the road.
 Identification: the driver identifies the object or control device and thus under-
stands the stimulus.
 Emotion: the driver decides what action to take in response to the stimulus; for
example, to step on the brake pedal, to pass, to change lanes
 Reaction or volition: the driver actually executes the action decided
on during the emotion sub-process.
 Time elapses during each of these sub processes. The time that elapses
from the start of perception to the end of reaction is the total time
required for perception, identification, emotion, and volition,
sometimes referred to as PIEV time or as perception-reaction time.
 Perception-reaction time is an important factor in the determination of
braking distances
 American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
(AASHTO) Recommendations 2.5 seconds for stopping-sight
distances
 CON,
Example :

A driver with perception/reaction

time of 2.5 seconds is driving at 60
km/h when he observes an
accident has blocked the road. How
far would the vehicle travel, in
meter, before being able to apply
the brakes
 Solution: Find the distance traveled:
 Convert km/h to m/sec: 60km/hr =60X0.27778 = 16.67m/s
Find the distance traveled:
d = v t= 16.67x2.5= 41.67m
 2. Pedestrian Characteristics
 These are influence the design and location of
pedestrian control devices( pedestrian signals,
safety zones and islands at intersections,
pedestrian underpasses, elevated walkways &
crosswalks). For example, the design of an all-red
phase, which permits pedestrians to cross an
intersection with heavy traffic, requires knowledge
of the walking speeds of pedestrians.
 Observations of pedestrian movements have

indicated that walking speeds vary between 3.0

and 8.0 ft /sec.
 Significant differences have also been observed

between male and female walking speeds. At

intersections, the mean male walking speed has
been determined to be 4.93 ft /sec, & for females,
4.63 ft /sec. A more conservative value of 4.0 ft /sec
 3. Bicyclists and Bicycle Characteristics
 Three classes of bicyclists (A, B and C) have been identified in
the AASHTO.
1. Experienced or advanced bicyclists are within class A,
consider the bicycle as a motor vehicle and can comfortably ride
in traffic.
2. less experienced bicyclists are within class B, prefer to
ride on neighborhood streets and are more comfortable on
designated bicycle facilities, such as bicycle paths. and
3. children riding on their own or with parents are classified
as C:use mainly residential streets that provide access to
schools, recreational facilities, and stores
 In designing urban roads and streets, it is useful to consider

the feasibility of incorporating bicycle facilities that will

accommodate class B and class C bicyclists.
 4. VEHICLE CHARACTERISTICS
 Criteria for the geometric design of highways are
partly based on the static, kinematic, and dynamic
characteristics of vehicles.
 Static characteristics include the weight & size of the
vehicle.
 kinematic characteristics involve the motion of the
vehicle without considering the forces that cause the
motion.
 Dynamic characteristics involve the forces that
cause the motion of the vehicle.
 A. Static Characteristics
 The size of the design vehicle for a
highway is an important factor in the
determination of design standards for
several physical components of the
highway. These include lane width,
shoulder width, length and width of
parking bays, and lengths of vertical
curves.
 The axle weights of the vehicles

expected on the highway are important

when pavement depths and maximum
grades are being determined.
 CON,

•80,000 lb gross weight, with axle loads of up to 20,000 lb

for single axles & 34,000 lb for tandem (double) axles
•102 in. width for all trucks
•48 ft length for semitrailers and trailers
•28 ft length for each twin trailer
 CON,
 The federal regulations stipulate that the overall maximum
gross weight for a group of two or more consecutive axles
should be determined By :

where
W = overall gross weight (calculated to the nearest 500 lb)
L = the extreme of any group of two or more consecutive
axles (ft)
N = number of axles in the group under consideration
 CON,
 AASHTO also has suggested the following guidelines for
selecting a design vehicle:
 For a parking lot or series of parking lots, a passenger car may
be used
 For intersections on residential streets and park roads, a
single-unit truck could be considered
 For the design of intersections of state highways and city
streets that serve bus traffic but with relatively few large trucks,
a city transit bus may be used
 For the design of intersections of highways with low-volume
county and township/ local roads with Average Annual Daily
Traffic (AADT, see Chapter 4 for definition) of 400 or less, a
large school bus with a capacity of 84 passengers or a
conventional bus with a capacity of 65 passengers may be used
 the minimum turning radius for the selected design vehicle
traveling at a speed of 10 mph should be provided. Minimum
turning radii at low speeds (10 mi/h or less) are dependent
mainly on the size of the vehicle.
 2. Kinematic Characteristics
 The primary element among kinematic
characteristics is the acceleration capability of
the vehicle.
 Acceleration capability is important in several traffic

operations, such as passing maneuvers and gap

acceptance, dimensioning of highway features
such as freeway ramps and passing lanes is
often governed by acceleration rates.
 this section the mathematical relationships among

acceleration, velocity, distance, &time

 3. DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS
 Several forces act on a vehicle while it is in motion:
 air resistance,

 grade resistance,

 rolling resistance, and

 curve resistance.

 The extents to which these forces affect the operation of

the vehicle are discussed in this section.

 Air Resistance

 A vehicle in motion has to overcome the resistance of the

air in front of it as well as the force due to the frictional

action of the air around it. The force required to over-
come these is known as the air resistance and is
related to the cross-sectional area of the vehicle in
a direction perpendicular to the direction of motion
and to the square of the speed of the vehicle.
Claffey has shown that this force can be estimated from
the formula
 Grade Resistance
When a vehicle moves up a grade, a component of
the weight of the vehicle acts down-ward, along the
plane of the highway. This creates force acting in a
direction opposite that of the motion. This force is
the grade resistance.
Note: grade resistance = weight * grade, in decimal.
Rolling Resistance
 The forces offer resistance to motion of the vehicle. These forces
are due to frictional effect on moving parts of the
vehicle(frictional slip between the pavement surface & the tires).
 The rolling resistance depends on the speed of the vehicle and the

type of pavement.
 Rolling forces are relatively lower on smooth pavements than on

rough pavements.
 The rolling resistance force for passenger cars on a smooth

pavement can be determined By

where
R = rolling resistance force (lb), Crs = constant (typically 0.012 for passenger cars)
Crv = constant (typically 0.65 * 10-6sec2/ft2 for passenger cars),
u = vehicle speed (mi/h)
W = gross vehicle weight (lb)
Curve Resistance
When a passenger car is maneuvered to take a curve,
external forces act on the front wheels of the vehicle
that have a retarding effect on the forward motion of
the vehicle is curve resistance.
This resistance depends on the radius of the curve,
the gross weight of the vehicle, and the
velocity at which the vehicle is moving. It can be
determined as

where
R = radius of curvature (ft), g = acceleration of gravity
(32.2 ft/ sec2), W =gross vehicle weight (lb) u=
vehicle speed (mi/ h), Rc = curve resistance (lb)
 POWER REQUIREMENTS
Power is the rate at which work is done. It is usually
expressed in horsepower, where 1 horsepower is 550
lb-ft /sec.
The performance capability of a vehicle is measured in
terms of the horsepower the engine can produce to
overcome air, grade, curve, & friction resistance
forces and put the vehicle in motion. The power
delivered by the engine is

where
u = speed of vehicle in mi/ hr), R = sum of resistance to
motion ( lb), P = horsepower delivered (hp)
 BRAKING DISTANCE
 The action of the forces on the moving vehicle &
 the effect of perception-reaction time are used to

determine important parameters related to the dynamic

characteristics of the vehicles.
 These include the braking distance of a vehicle & the

minimum radius of a circular curve required for a vehicle

traveling around a curve with speed u where u>16
km/h(10mi/hr). Governed by size of vehicle.
 The relationships among elements, such as the

acceleration, the coefficient of friction between the

tire and the pavement, the distance above ground
of the center of gravity of the vehicle, and the track
width of the vehicle, could be developed by analyzing
the action of these forces
Braking: Consider a vehicle traveling downhill with an
initial velocity of u, in mi/h
Let
Db = horizontal component of distance traveled during braking (that
is, from time brakes are applied to time the vehicle comes to rest)
a = deceleration of the vehicle when the brakes are applied,
ɤ = angle between the grade and the horizontal,
f = coefficient of friction between the tires and the road pavement,
W = weight of the vehicle
 CON,
 Frictional force on the vehicle = f*W*cosγ
 The force acting on the vehicle due to deceleration is

W*a/g, where g is acceleration due to gravity. The

component of the weight of the vehicle is W sin g,
substituting into,

 The deceleration that brings the vehicle to a

stationary position can be found in terms of the initial
velocity u as
a =-u2/2x (assuming uniform deceleration), where x is
the distance traveled in the plane of the grade during
braking.
 CON,

 However, Db = x cosɤ , and we therefore obtain

Note, tan ɤ is the grade G of the incline (that is, percent of

grade /100).

AASHTO

Where uphill is positive and downhill is negative. Here the plus

sign is for vehicles traveling uphill, the minus sign is for vehicles
traveling downhill, and G is the absolute value of tanɤ .
 MINIMUM RADIUS OF A CIRCULAR CURVE

 When a vehicle is moving around a circular curve, there is inward radial force
acting on the vehicle, usually referred to as the centrifugal force. There is
also an out ward radial force acting toward the center of curvature as a result
of the centripetal acceleration.
 In order to balance the effect of the centripetal acceleration, the road is
inclined toward the center of the curve. The inclination of the roadway
toward the center of the curve is known as super elevation.
 The centripetal acceleration depends on the component of the vehicle’s
weight along the inclined surface of the road and the side friction
between the tires and the roadway.
 The minimum radius of a circular curve R for a vehicle traveling at u mi/h can
be determined by considering the equilibrium of the vehicle with respect to
its moving up or down the incline. If α is the angle of inclination of the
highway, the component of the weight down the incline is W sin α, and the
frictional force also acting down the incline is . The centrifugal force Fc is:

Where
g = acceleration of gravity, W = weight of the vehicle, ac =acceleration for
curvilinear motion = u2/ R(R = radius of the curve)
CON,
 The minimum radius R is given in feet as

Where
e= the rate of super elevation
fs = coefficient of side friction
u = Design Speed of vehicle in mi/hr
CON,
Example: An existing horizontal curve on a
highway has a radius of 465 ft, which restricts the
posted speed limit on this section of the road to
only 61.5% of the design speed of the highway. If
the curve is to be improved so that its posted
speed will be the design speed of the highway,
determine the minimum radius of the new curve.
Assume that the rate of super elevation is 0.08 for
both the existing curve and the new curve to be
designed. assume fs is 0.16
 4. Road characteristics
 The characteristics of the highway discussed in this section are
related to stopping and passing because these have a more direct
relationship to the characteristics of the driver and the vehicle.
 Sight Distance
 is the length of the roadway a driver can see ahead at any

particular time.
 There are two types of sight distance are

(1) stopping sight distance and

(2) passing sight distance.
 Stopping Sight Distance (SSD) taken as the minimum sight

distance required for a driver to stop a vehicle after seeing an

object in the vehicle’s path without hitting that object. This
distance is the sum of the distance traveled during perception-
reaction time and the distance traveled during braking. The SSD
for a vehicle traveling at u mi/h is therefore the same as the
stopping distance given
 con..
Stopping Sight Distance (SSD) taken as the minimum
sight distance required for a driver to stop a vehicle after
seeing an object in the vehicle’s path without hitting that
object. This distance is the sum of the distance traveled
during perception-reaction time and the distance traveled
during braking. The SSD for a vehicle traveling at u mi/h
is therefore the same as the stopping distance given

 Ds = SSD in meter
 Vi=speed before braking (km/hr)
 f= coefficient of longitudinal friction
 G=grade expressed in decimals (+ for upgrade and - for
downgrade)
Passing Sight Distance
• is the minimum sight distance required on a two-lane,
two- way highway that will permit a driver to complete a
passing maneuver without colliding with an opposing
vehicle and without cutting off the passed vehicle.
•In determining minimum passing sight distances for
design purposes, only single passes (that is, a single
vehicle passing a single vehicle) are considered.
 ERA(Ethiopian Road Authority) defines, the passing sight distance
can be divided into four quantifiable portions:
d1=initial maneuver distance, including a time for
perception and reaction.
d2=the length of roadway that is traversed by the
passing vehicle while it occupies the left lane
d3=the clearance distance between the passing vehicle
and the opposing vehicle when the passing vehicle
returns to the right lane.d4=the distance that the
opposing vehicle travels during the final 2/3 of the period
when the passing vehicle is in the left lane
 CON,
 d 3:
The clearance distance might not seem
necessary at first, but for now let’s take it on
faith that an opposing vehicle is necessary.

Speed Group 50-65 66-80 81-100 101-120

(km/h)
d3 (m) 30 55 80 100

 d 4:
The distance traversed by the opposing
vehicle seems to be the most troubling which
is approximately equal to d2 or less the
portion of d2 whereby the passing vehicle is
entering the left lane, estimated at:
Thank