Equivalent Travel Time Cost of Road Quality

Abstract:

Using IRI (international roughness index) as a bridge, the quantitative relationship between RQI (ride quality index) and travel time cost was established. First, at different speeds, IRIs of fifty different roads were simulated by the use of dynamic equation of quartercar model. Next, the relationship between RQI and speed was obtained by the analysis of the relationship between RQI and IRI. Finally, the difference of RQIs at the same speed of 80 km?h-1 and the difference of speeds at the same RQI for any two of fifty roads were calculated. Good correlations were found between them. This result shows that the influence of RQI on travel time cost should not be ignored in the study of the behavior of travel choice or in the study of benefit evaluation of road maintenance.