On the Treatment of Trucks for Analysis of Freeway Capacity

The influence of trucks on highway performance has always been of interest. However, planning studies today tend to assume that a certain percentage of the traffic stream is trucks (e.g., 5%) and to make adjustments accordingly. The Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) converts trucks into passenger car equivalents by using a passenger car equivalent factor. For the HCM, however, this situation is changing. This paper describes changes to the basic freeway section methodology that are being developed to better address truck-related issues. Specifically, new models predict the space mean speeds of autos and trucks in mixed traffic streams for a variety of road grades. Also presented is a capacity adjustment factor that allows conversion of capacity values for auto-only conditions to be transformed into equivalent capacity values for mixed traffic conditions. The methodologies are presented, their development is described, and examples are given to illustrate how the procedure works.