Experience and Evaluation of a Testing Program in an Underdeveloped Area as a Means of Developing a Road Capacity Estimating Method.

A report on the results of a series of field tests conducted on roads in Thailand to provide data for the development of a road capacity estimating method. Data accumulated for the five adjoining test routes included road descriptions, photographs, the locations of transition points and bridges, bridge descriptions (and safety), and altitude readings on the mountainous portion of the course. Multiple correlations between the data on speed, width, terrain, condition, surface, day/night, and empty/loaded categories suggest that condition and surface had the most effect on speed and that width and terrain had much less effect. Some of the limitations of this test, such as visual measurement of gap between two trucks, subjective definition of surface condition, and limited combinations of surface, condition, and terrain categories, could be avoided in more extensive tests. For a large test, it might be more feasible and less expensive to operate in the United States. This paper was presented at the Seminar on Road Capacity Estimating Methods sponsored by the Engineer Strategic Studies Group, U.S. Army Map Service, in Washington, D.C., September 1968. (See also P-3914.) 18 pp.