Analysis of Side Friction on Urban Arterials

Abstract

The influence of the side friction activities on the speed has been analyzed in the present study by conducting series of traffic field surveys. Pedestrian movements, parked vehicles and entry-exit of vehicles from surroundings, and wrong way movements are observed from videos and analyzed to estimate weighing factors. To examine the combined effects of all the activities the weighing factors are used to determine total value of side friction on the road. The study suggests model to estimate average speed of vehicular stream with the effect of side friction and volume on the roads section. It was found that the vehicular speed decreases as side friction increases at all the levels of traffic volume. However, no change in the speed was observed at lower level side friction. Capacity value obtained for combined data based on Greenshield’s theory that showed 9% reduction in the value considering with and without side friction.

Keywords

• side friction
• urban roads
• capacity
• speed