Exclusive Lanes for Trucks and Passenger Vehicles on Interstate Highways in Virginia PDF Download
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Author: Lester A. Hoel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Express highways
Languages : en
Pages : 106
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Book Description
Increases in heavy truck traffic on Virginia's highways in recent years have raised concerns about both safety and capacity, particularly on the interstate system. Transportation agencies have developed a number of strategies for dealing with the impacts on safety and capacity of a truck population that has been increasing in volume and in the percentage of large tractor-trailers. One strategy that has been suggested is separate lanes for trucks and passenger vehicles. A reliable methodology to determine when separate lanes for trucks and passenger vehicles are economically feasible would enable transportation officials to make informed decisions concerning when this approach should be considered and used. This study evaluated a computer program, Exclusive Vehicles Facilities (EVFS), developed by the Federal Highway Administration for determining the economic feasibility of separating trucks and other vehicles on freeway segments. A 50.7-km (31.5-mi) segment of 1-81 in Virginia was selected to demonstrate the application of the program. A number of factors contribute to the feasibility of exclusive lanes. Although no single factor predominates, traffic volume, vehicle mix percentage, accident rates, and maintenance and construction costs are given more weight than other factors in the program. Among the program's strengths are its ability to analyze a number of alternatives for a variety of different conditions, its ease of use, and the fact that it can be inexpensively applied. Its weaknesses include its inability to differentiate between the lane(s) (i.e., inside, middle, outside) to which restrictions are applied and its unsuitability for analyzing exclusive lane alternatives in which a barrier is used to separate vehicle types. With respect to 1-81, several exclusive lane strategies produced a benefit-cost ratio greater than 1.0 and a net present worth in the millions of dollars. Should 1-81 or another high-volume interstate corridor with a large truck percentage be considered for improvement, VDOT should apply EVFS to assist in evaluating the feasibility of exclusive lane alternatives. Since EVFS is designed to perform economic analyses, operational and geometric implications of any exclusive lane strategy should also be considered.
Author: Lester A. Hoel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Express highways
Languages : en
Pages : 106
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Book Description
Increases in heavy truck traffic on Virginia's highways in recent years have raised concerns about both safety and capacity, particularly on the interstate system. Transportation agencies have developed a number of strategies for dealing with the impacts on safety and capacity of a truck population that has been increasing in volume and in the percentage of large tractor-trailers. One strategy that has been suggested is separate lanes for trucks and passenger vehicles. A reliable methodology to determine when separate lanes for trucks and passenger vehicles are economically feasible would enable transportation officials to make informed decisions concerning when this approach should be considered and used. This study evaluated a computer program, Exclusive Vehicles Facilities (EVFS), developed by the Federal Highway Administration for determining the economic feasibility of separating trucks and other vehicles on freeway segments. A 50.7-km (31.5-mi) segment of 1-81 in Virginia was selected to demonstrate the application of the program. A number of factors contribute to the feasibility of exclusive lanes. Although no single factor predominates, traffic volume, vehicle mix percentage, accident rates, and maintenance and construction costs are given more weight than other factors in the program. Among the program's strengths are its ability to analyze a number of alternatives for a variety of different conditions, its ease of use, and the fact that it can be inexpensively applied. Its weaknesses include its inability to differentiate between the lane(s) (i.e., inside, middle, outside) to which restrictions are applied and its unsuitability for analyzing exclusive lane alternatives in which a barrier is used to separate vehicle types. With respect to 1-81, several exclusive lane strategies produced a benefit-cost ratio greater than 1.0 and a net present worth in the millions of dollars. Should 1-81 or another high-volume interstate corridor with a large truck percentage be considered for improvement, VDOT should apply EVFS to assist in evaluating the feasibility of exclusive lane alternatives. Since EVFS is designed to perform economic analyses, operational and geometric implications of any exclusive lane strategy should also be considered.
Author: Joseph Edgar Vidunas
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 166
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Book Description
Author: Michael D. Fontaine
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Express highways
Languages : en
Pages : 39
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Book Description
Virginia, like many other states, has used truck lane restrictions on parts of its interstate system in an attempt to improve mobility and safety. The Code of Virginia currently specifies two types of lane restrictions. First, trucks may not travel in the left-most lane of interstates with three or more lanes by direction (1) when the speed limit is 65 mph or higher, (2) along all of I-81, and (3) along interstates in the Virginia Department of Transportation's (VDOT) Northern Virginia District. Second, trucks may not travel in the left lane of two-lane directional interstate segments when their speed is below the posted speed limit; this restriction was enacted in 2007 and was intended to reduce cases of trucks impeding traffic flow on steep grades in the western part of the state. This report describes Phase II of a 2007 study that found that the safety impact of the first type of restriction appeared to be affected by traffic volume. Safety was enhanced on low- volume roads (i.e., annual average daily traffic [AADT] less than 10,000 vehicles per day per lane [vpdpl]) but degraded on high-volume roads (i.e., AADT above 10,000 vpdpl). Given that most of the high-volume interstates investigated were in Northern Virginia, there was a need to re-examine the safety analysis to ensure that the findings were not a product of the growing congestion in the region but rather were attributable to the effects of the truck lane restrictions. The purpose of this study was to provide a detailed assessment of the safety and mobility impacts of Virginia's truck lane restrictions, expanding on the Phase I study. First, crashes on high-volume interstates with three or more lanes by direction noted in the Phase I study were re-examined. Individual crash reports were reviewed, and any crashes that were not influenced by the restriction were removed from subsequent analysis. An empirical Bayes analysis was then used to re-assess safety using the screened crashes. Second, the operational and safety impacts of the restriction on two-lane segments of interstate were examined. Third, the effect of an enforcement campaign on compliance with the restriction for two-lane segments was determined. The crash analysis for the high-volume, three-lane segments confirmed that crashes were higher than expected after the restriction was put in place and thus were not merely the products of growing congestion. The safety and operational impacts of the restriction for two-lane interstates revealed no significant benefits, likely because the level of non-compliance with the restriction was high. With regard to the effect of the concentrated enforcement campaign, compliance improved, but the improvement was relatively modest. The study recommends that VDOT (1) pursue a legislative modification to remove truck lane restrictions on high-volume interstates with three or more lanes in each direction; (2) determine if signing could be modified to improve compliance; (3) partner with the Virginia State Police and the Virginia Trucking Association to increase compliance on the two-lane directional segments of interstate; and (4) direct a study to re-evaluate the effectiveness of the two-lane restrictions once at least 3 years of "after" crash data are available. Removal of the truck restrictions on the specified high-volume interstates should create crash reduction benefits. If crash costs are converted into dollars, an estimated $266,996 of crashes would be eliminated statewide annually through removal of these restrictions. Those costs accrue to drivers. Additional direct savings to VDOT would occur through the reduction of signing.
Author: Jack D. Jernigan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Rural roads
Languages : en
Pages : 48
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Book Description
In April of 1987, Congress passed the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act (STURAA), which permitted states to raise their maximum speed limit on rural interstate highways to 65 mph. Virginia's 65 mph speed limit went into effect on July 1, 1988, for passenger vehicles and on July 1, 1989, for commercial buses. This is the final report in a series to examine the 65 mph speed limit in Virginia, and it summarizes Virginia's experience with the 65 mph speed limit from 1989 through 1992. Following the implementation of the 65 mph speed limit, average and 85th percentile speeds increased on Virginia's rural interstates, and fatal crashes and fatalities increased significantly. On Virginia's urban interstates, on which the speed limit remained at 55 mph, there was a smaller increase in average and 85th percentile speeds, but there was a slight, nonsignificant decrease in fatal crashes and fatalities. Absolute numbers of fatal crashes and fatalities were used in this analysis rather than rates because traffic volume increases on interstates are averaged for both rural and urban systems. Thus, if volumes increased more on rural interstates, comparisons of relative rates would be misleading. The data in this report clearly show that speeds, fatal crashes, and fatalities increased on Virginia's rural interstates after the implementation of the 65 mph speed limit. However, these increases appear to have plateaued in the last two years of the study. Reports from other states and from national studies reflect a general increase in travel speeds and fatal crashes on rural interstates, but there is conflicting evidence on whether the 65 mph speed limit is the cause. Likewise, there is conflicting evidence concerning whether differential speed limits for trucks and cars have had an impact on the frequency of crashes in states maintaining such differential limits.
Author: Michael D. Fontaine
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Express highways
Languages : en
Pages : 41
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A number of states have implemented truck lane restrictions in an attempt to improve safety and mobility on freeways. These restrictions typically prohibit trucks from traveling in the median lane, potentially increasing passing opportunities and reducing negative interactions between slow-moving trucks and other vehicles. Virginia currently has two forms of truck restrictions in place. The first type of restriction prohibits trucks from the median lane of interstates that have three or more lanes by direction, provided certain criteria on speed limit and location are satisfied. The second type of restriction prohibits trucks from traveling more than 15 mph below the posted speed limit in the left lane of two-lane directional interstate segments. This report documents the results of a safety and operational evaluation of Virginia's truck lane restrictions. Crash data were examined at a total of 43 sites with restrictions and 16 similar sites without restrictions. Likewise, operational data were collected at 7 sites with restrictions and 6 similar sites without restrictions. The results of the analysis showed that the restrictions on two-lane sites appeared to be having a positive impact on operations and safety. At these sites, crashes were reduced by 23 percent, and speeds were estimated to have increased by 5.5 mph. At the three-lane sites, no statistically significant increase in speed was observed. A breakpoint in crash performance appeared to occur at approximately 10,000 vehicles per day per lane. Roads below this threshold experienced significantly fewer crashes than anticipated, whereas roads above this level had significantly more crashes than expected.
Author: Joseph E. Vidunas
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Express highways
Languages : en
Pages : 15
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Author: Jodi Louise Carson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Express highways
Languages : en
Pages : 176
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Author: Jennifer L. Peek
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 216
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Author: Virginia. State Highway Commission
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Roads
Languages : en
Pages : 240
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Author: Darrell W. Borchardt
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Truck lanes
Languages : en
Pages : 60
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