Paper No.
667
road. For the identification of base section, predefined
conditions followed for bidirectional carriageways
covering varying road typologies are as follows:
● The carriageway width should be 7.0 m with a
minimum of 1.0 m soft shoulder to facilitate two
way traffic movement in the case of two lane
bidirectional roads. Similarly, in the case of
intermediate lane road, being a road with
restricted carriageway width, the carriageway
width should be 5.5 m with a minimum of 1.0 m
soft shoulder to facilitate two way traffic
movement at reduced speeds.. In the case of
single lane roads, the carriageway width should be
3.75 m with soft shoulder of 1.0 m.
● The section should be straight and level.
● The section should not be influenced by
interruptions such as intersections, steep
gradients and curvatures as well as any other
adjoining roads.
● There must not be any physical barrier on at least
500 m section such as speed breakers, rumble
strips, as it may affect the traffic stream.
● Section must be free from any side friction
activities.
● No work zone activity at or near the section.
● No incidents or crashes at the time of observation
at or near the section.
4. METHODOLOGY AND DATA
COLLECTION
The methodology adopted for the estimation of capacity
and adjustment factors presented in this section. It starts
with a discussion on the identification and collection
of Classified Traffic Volume Count (CVC) data on the
identified base as well as non-base road sections based
on the vehicle types typically witnessed on the two
lane, Intermediate lane and Single lane of interurban
roads using videography method. This is followed by a
discussion on the determination of dynamic Passenger
Car Units and Steam Equivalency Factor, which is
followed by the estimation of capacity under base
conditions, termed as the base capacity and thereafter
application of adjustment factors for the prevailing site
conditions. The major issue concerning mix traffic flow
a) Two Lane Road b) Intermediate Lane Road
Fig. 2 Typical Illustration of Varying Typologies of Interurban Bidirectional Roads
62 Journal of the indian Roads Congress, July - September, 2017
analysis is the estimation of Passenger Car Units (PCU)
for individual vehicle types to convert heterogeneous
traffic observed on such types of roads into homogeneous
equivalent volume. The research studies carried out
by Chandra et al. (2003), Chandra, and Kumar (2003)
have been utilized to determine the PCU factor for any
given vehicle type in Indo - HCM study (CSIR - CRRI,
2017). The overall methodology devised in this study is
presented in the form of a flowchart in Fig. 1.
A total of 29 road sections, which encompasses 14 two
lane test sections, 10 intermediate lane test sections and
5 single lane test sections covering different regions
of the country have been considered in this study.
Videography method is considered for the collection
of speed and traffic volume data. A base test section
of about 500 m having uniform width and shoulder
condition was identified on the road section. Since
it is not always possible to cover the entire length of
500 m in the camera view, trap of suitable length, but
not less than 60 m was made near the middle of such
selected test section using retro reflective white colored
tape (refer Fig. 2). The speed data collected on this trap
section was taken as the representative sample for the
larger section of 500 m. Videographic traffic survey was
conducted during morning hours (8:00 AM to 12:00
noon) as well as evening hours (2:00 PM to 6:00 PM).
Similarly, roadway condition in the form of data on road
geometry was collected using Automated Road Survey
System (ARSS).
Fig. 1 Methodology for Estimation of Capacity
and Adjustment Factor
c) Single Lane Road