Correlation of user perceived pavement roughness (PSR) with physical roughness measurements

This report describes New Jersey's pavement ride quality Panel Studies. It highlights the experimental design, testing and data analyses of the 1985 and 1986 Panel Studies. These studies were conducted to establish the relationships between user opinion of pavement roughness and the mechanical measurement of roughness as estimated with a Mays Meter, an ARAN and an Inertial Profilometer. An exponential model was found to be the best fit curve for the data. An analyses of the data proved that a single curve defined the relationship between user opinion and mechanical measurement for each device, Multiple curves were not necessary to distinguish between bituminous, composite and concrete pavements types. The studies also established the terminal serviceability indices (TSI) for each pavement type. This is the level at which the average user feels a pavement needs rehabilitation. The analyses suggested that New Jersey motorists are more tolerant of bituminous pavements than the raters at the AASHO Road Test, where the TSI was 2.5. Our tests indicate that the TSI for bituminous pavements sections was 2.0 while concrete and composite was approximately 2.5. The report outlines the preliminary work of selecting test sites, vehicles, and panelists, the testing procedure and the data analyses for both the 1985 and 1986 studies. The 1986 study was conducted as part of NCHRP 1-23(2), Pavement Roughness and Rideability - Field Experiment (A).