Abstract
Recent research on impact of weather interaction on classified traffic volume variations on provincial highways in cold regions showed that the total truck volume is not affected with severity of snowfall and cold temperature. However, no research is conducted to analyze the variations in truck distributions, despite of its importance for truck counting and monitoring program. Described in this paper is the statistical investigation of association of truck type distribution on cold region highways during severe winter months and seasons in a year. The investigation is based on weigh-in-motion data collected from six sites located on five provincial highways in Alberta, Canada. Trucks were classified into three types such as straight unit, single trailer, and multi trailer using the FHWA vehicle classification scheme. Two statistical tests namely Chi-squared test and Binomial probability test are applied to analyze the distributional change in three different truck classes during high snowfall and low temperature conditions. The analysis suggested that the truck type distribution does not change from winter to non-winter season for regional commuter road (Highway 2A) and long distance roads (Highway 2 and Highway 16). Also, no change in truck distribution from month to month was noticed during sever winter months. Consistent results were not found for special roads such as Highway 44 due to difference in road user characteristics. The study findings have practical implications for rationalization of the length and frequency of traffic counts including classified traffic monitoring programs throughout the year. The knowledge about independency of truck type distribution with various seasons is likely to help in effective traffic monitoring and estimation of the highway planning and design parameters like Truck Annual Average Daily Traffic (TAADT), Truck Average Daily Traffic (TADT) and Design Hour Truck Volume etc.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andrey, J., Mills, B., Leahy, M., and Suggett, J. (2003). “Weather as a chronic hazard for road transportation in Canadian cities.” Natural Hazards, Vol. 28, Nos. 2-3, pp. 319–343, DOI: 10.1023/A:1022934225431.
Changnon, S. A. (1996). “Effects of summer precipitation on urban transportation.” Climatic Change, Vol. 32, No. 4, pp. 481–495, DOI: 1007/BF00140357.
Datla, S. (2009). Development and application of traffic volume - winter weather relationships, PhD Thesis, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Datla, S. and Sharma, S. (2008). “Impact of cold and snow on temporal and spatial variations of highway traffic volumes.” Journal of Transport Geography, Vol. 16, No. 5, pp. 358–372, DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2007.12.003.
Datla, S. and Sharma, S. (2009). Development and application of weather factors for accurate estimation of AADT from short duration counts, 88th TRB Annual Meeting, Washington D.C., January.
Datla, S. and Sharma, S. (2010). “Variation of impact of cold temperature and snowfall and their interaction on traffic volume.” Journal of the Transportation Research Record, No. 2169, pp. 107–115, DOI 10.3141/2169-12.
Goodwin, L. C. (2002). “Weather impacts on arterial traffic flow.” The Road Weather Management Program, FHWA, US Department of Transportation, Washington D.C., USA.
Hall, F. L. and Barrow, D. (1988). “Effects of weather and the relationship between flow and occupancy on freeways.” Journal of the Transportation Research Record, No. 1194, pp. 55–63.
Hanbali, R. M. and Kuemmel, D. A. (1993). “Traffic volume reduction due to winter storm conditions.” Journal of the Transportation Research Record, No. 1387, pp.159–164.
Hassan, Al Y. and Barket, Derek J. (1999). “The impact of unseasonable or extreme weather on traffic activity within Lothian region, Scotland.” Journal of the Transportation Geography, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 209–213, DOI: 10.1016/S0966-6923(98)00047-7.
Hogema, J. H. (1996). “Effects of rain on daily traffic volume and on driving behaviour.” TNO Human Factors Research Institute, Soesterberg, Netherlands.
Hong, F., Prozzi, J. A., and Leung, A. (2008). “Sampling schemes for weigh-in-motion traffic data collection.” Journal of the Transportation Research Record, No. 2049, pp. 38–44.
Ibrahim, A. T. and Hall, F. L. (1994). “Effect of adverse weather conditions on speed-flow-occupancy relationships.” Journal of the Transportation Research Record, No.1457, pp. 184–191.
Keay, K. and Simmonds, I. (2005). “The association of rainfall and other weather variables with road traffic volume in Melbourne, Australia.” Accident Analysis and Prevention, Vol. 37, pp. 109–124, DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2004.07.005.
Knapp, K. K. and Smithson, L. D. (2007). “Winter storm event volume impact analysis using multiple-source archived monitoring data.” Journal of the Transportation Research Record, No. 1700, pp. 10–16, DOI: 10.3141/1700-03.
Maze, T. H., Agarwal, M., and Burchett, G. D. (2006). “Whether weather matters to traffic demand, traffic safety, and traffic operations and flow.” Journal of the Transportation Research Record, No. 1948, pp. 170–176, DOI: 10.3141/1948-19.
Roh, H. J. (2014b). “Impacts of snowfall, low temperatures, and their interaction on passenger car and truck traffic.” Ph.D. Thesis, University of Regina, Canada.
Roh, H. J., Datla, S., and Sharma, S. (2013). “Effect of snow, temperature, and their interaction on highway truck traffic.” Journal of Transportation Technologies, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 24–38, DOI: 10.4236/jtts.2013.32003.
Roh, H. J., Sahu, P., Sharma S. Datla, S., and Mehran, B. (2016). “Statistical investigations of snowfall and temperature with passenger car and truck traffic on primary highway in Canada.” ASCE Journal of Cold Regions Engineering, Vol. 30, Issue 2, DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE) CR.1943-5495.0000099.
Roh, H. J., Sharma, S., and Datla, S. (2014a). “The impact of cold and snow on weekdays and weekend highway total and passenger cars traffic volumes.” The Open Transportation Journal, Vol. 8, pp. 62–72, DOI: 10.2174/1874447801408010062.
Roh, H. J., Sharma, S., and Sahu, P. (2015a). “Modeling snow and cold effects for classified highway traffic volumes.” KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 1514–1525, DOI: 10.1007/s12205-015-0236-0.
Roh, H. J., Sharma, S., Sahu, P., and Datla, S. (2015b). “Analysis and modeling of highway truck traffic volume variations during severe winter weather conditions in Canada.” Journal of Modern Transportation, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 228–239, DOI: 10.1007/s40534-015-0082-2.
Saito, M. and Jin, T. G. (2009). “Evaluating the accuracy level of truck traffic data on state highways.” Utah Department of Transportation Research Division, Report No. UT-09.02.
Shah, V. P., Stern, A. D., Goodwin, L. C., and Pisano, P. (2003). “Analysis of weather impacts on traffic flow in metropolitan Washington D.C.” Proceedings of the Annual Meeting, Institute of Transportation Engineers, Washington D.C., USA.
Sharma, S., Lingras, P. J., Hassan, M. U., and Murthy, N. A. S. (1986). “Road classification according to driver population.” Journal of the Transportation Research Record, No. 1090, pp. 61–69.
Smith, B. L., Byrne, K. G., Copperman, R. B., Hennessy, S. M., and Goodall, N. J. (2004). “An investigation into the impact of rainfall on freeway traffic flow.” Proceedings of the 83rd TRB Annual Meeting, Washington D.C.
UMA (2001). “Calahoo-Villeneuve sand and gravel extraction area structure plan.” UMA Engineering Ltd, Edmonton, Alberta.
Wayne W. D. (1990). “Applied Nonparametric Statistics.” 2nd Edition, PWS-KENT Publishing Company.
WO (2014). Weather Office, Environment Canada, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. Accessed Oct 20, 2014. http://www.climate.weatheroffice. gc.ca/climateData/canada_e.html.
Wyman, J. H., Braley, G. A., and Stephens, R. I. (1985). “Field evaluation of FHWA vehicle classification categories.” Maine Department of Transportation.
Zhang, L., Colyar, J., Pisano, P., and Holm, P. (2005). “Identifying and assessing key weather-related parameters and their impact on traffic operations using simulation.” 84th TRB Annual Meeting, Washington D.C.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Roh, HJ., Sahu, P.K., Sharma, S. et al. Statistical Investigation of Truck Type Distribution on Cold Region Highways During Winter Months. KSCE J Civ Eng 22, 1394–1405 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-017-0573-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-017-0573-2