Effect of speed humps on instantaneous traffic emissions in a microscopic model with limited deceleration capacity

As a common transportation facility, speed humps can control the speed of vehicles on special road sections to reduce traffic risks. At the same time, they also cause instantaneous traffic emissions. Based on the classic instantaneous traffic emission model and the limited deceleration capacity microscopic traffic flow model with slow-to-start rules, this paper has investigated the impact of speed humps on traffic flow and the instantaneous emissions of vehicle pollutants in a single lane situation. The numerical simulation results have shown that speed humps have significant effects on traffic flow and traffic emissions. In a free-flow region, the increase of speed humps leads to the continuous rise of CO_(2), NO_(X) and PM emissions. Within some density ranges, one finds that these pollutant emissions can evolve into some higher values under some random seeds. Under other random seeds, they can evolve into some lower values. In a wide moving jam region, the emission values of these pollutants sometimes appear as continuous or intermittent phenomenon. Compared to the refined Na Sch model, the present model has lower instantaneous emissions such as CO_(2), NO_(X) and PM and higher volatile organic components(VOC) emissions. Compared to the limited deceleration capacity model without slow-to-start rules, the present model also has lower instantaneous emissions such as CO_(2), NO_(X) and PM and higher VOC emissions in a wide moving jam region. These results can also be confirmed or explained by the statistical values of vehicle velocity and acceleration.

Traffic Calming in Quebec： Speed Humps and Speed Cushions

Speed management is an essential tool in ensuring the improved safety of users of urban roads, particularly vulnerable users. It relies on several measures： awareness campaigns, speed control, as well as the development and operation of the road infrastructure. Municipalities in Quebec are increasingly resorting to the development of traffic calming measures, and are facing numerous questions concerning their installation and their effectiveness. To respond to this need, the ministere des Transports du Quebec （Quebec Department of Transport） has begun publishing a series of fact sheets on a variety of traffic calming measures, including speed humps and speed cushions, raised crosswalks and intersections, neckdowns, centre islands and chicanes. A general fact sheet introduces all of the measures and notably outlines the procedure for pre-implementation analysis. Each fact sheet dedicated to an individual measure outlines the implementation context, advantages and disadvantages, geometric characteristics, effectiveness at reducing speed, and maintenance requirements, including winter maintenance. Two fact sheets are already published： the general fact sheet and the fact sheet on speed humps and speed cushions. The fact sheets as well as examples of measures implemented in municipalities are available on the minist6re＇s web site under Partenaires-Municipalites-Securite routiere.

Effect of speed hump characteristics on pavement condition

Speed humps are the most common type of traffic calming devices due to their low cost and easy installation. However, in many Egyptian roads, considerable number of these humps is randomly placed without proper engineering studies and justifications. Deteri- oration of pavement condition is observed near these humps. This paper presents a case study applied to collect and analyze visual inspection data for the reason of evaluating the impact of speed humps on pavement condition on intercity rural roads. The paper used 52 speed humps located in an intercity two-lane, two-way road that connects two cities, Tahta and Gerga, in Upper Egypt. The total length of this road is about 34 km. Pavement condition index （PCI）, in road sections, near speed humps in the two directions of travel were calculated from the visual inspection measurements. The characteristics of each speed hump （width, height, and distance from preceding hump） were measured. Using statistical analyses, the correlations between the pavement conditions and hump char- acteristics were examined. Regression analysis models were developed to represent the relationships between pavement conditions and hump characteristics. Generally, the re- sults proved that the pavement conditions are greatly influenced by the presence of speed humps and hump characteristics.