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The first version of German Highway Capacity Manual was published in 2001. Now, a new version is published in 2015 (HBS 2015). For the new German Highway Capacity Manual, most major chapters are revised and some of them are totally rewritten. The chapter for merge, diverge, and small weaving segments is rewritten in accordance with forthcoming developments in the past 10 years. In this paper, an overview of the chapter in the new German Highway Capacity Manual is presented. Procedures dealing with performance analyses and level of service (LOS) of those segments are introduced both for freeways and rural highways. Differences between the former version and the new version of the chapter in the German Highway Capacity Manual are indicated and discussed. In most of the existing highway capacity manuals, LOS of merge, diverge, and small weaving segments is traditionally defined by speed, volume, or density in critical areas. In that traditional concept several capacity values of different critical areas (merge, diverge, and weaving) as well as upstream and downstream basic segments within the influence areas are evaluated separately. In the new HBS 2015, a new model which considers the total merge, diverge, and weaving segment as an entire object is incorporated. A combined volume-to-capacity ratio (freeways) or a combined density (rural highways) is used for defining the LOS of the total segment. The parameters of the new procedure are functions of the number of lanes of the major road, the number of lanes in the on-ramp or off-ramp, and the predefined geometric design of those segments. The coefficients are calibrated with field data or defined by experts" experiences within a matrix of coefficients. With those procedures, the traffic quality (LOS) can be obtained directly as a function of the volumes or densities on the major road and on the on-ramp or off-ramp respectively. The new procedure has the following advantages: a) a uniform function for all types of merge, diverge, and small weaving segments, b) traffic quality assessment for all critical areas under investigation in one step, and c) the procedure can easily be calibrated. For applications in practice, a set of graphs is provided.
Measuring and characterizing airborne particulate matter (PM) is an important research area because PM can lead to impacts on health and to visibility reduction, material damage and groundwater pollution. In regard to road dust, suspension and re-suspension and the contribution of non-exhaust PM to total traffic emissions are expected to increase as a result of predicted climate scenarios. European environmental regulations have been enforced to reduce exhaust particle emissions from road traffic, but little attention has been paid to reducing non-exhaust coarse particle emissions due to traffic. Therefore, a monitoring program for coarse PM has been initiated in early 2013 to assess the predicted increase in the abundance of non-exhaust particles. Particle sampling was performed with the passive-sampler technique Sigma-2. The subsequent single-particle analysis allows for characterization of individual particles, determination of PM size distribution, and calculation of PM mass concentrations. Two motorways n ear Cologne (Koeln), Germany were selected as sampling sites, and the experimental setup in the field was realized with a so-called twin-site method. The present study reports single-particle analysis data for samples collected between May 31, 2013 and May 30, 2014. Coarse PM, generated through multi-source mechanisms, consists of, e.g., tire-wear, soot aggregates, and mineral dust. The highest mass concentration occurs at both motorways in spring, and the observed PM mainly contains traffic-abrasion particles. The field measurements show that the minimum PM concentration was found in the 5 to 12-°C temperature range, whereas the maximum concentration was observed in both the "5 to 5-°C and the 12 to 24-°C ranges, in agreement with previous laboratory measurements. Correlation between super-coarse (d p 10"80 μm, geometric equivalent diameter) PM concentration and precipitation displays a significant increase in concentration with decreasing number of precipitation events (dry weather periods).
Accidents between right turning trucks and straight driving cyclists often show massive consequences. Accident severity in terms of seriously or fatally injured cyclists that are involved is much higher than in accidents of other traffic participants in other situations. It seems clear that adding additional mirrors will very likely not improve the situation. At ESV 2015, a methodology to derive test procedures and first test cases as well as requirements for a driver assist system to address blind spot accidents has been presented. However, it was unclear if and how testing of these cases is feasible, to what extent characteristics of different truck concepts (e.g. articulated vehicles, rigid vehicles) influence the test conduction and outcome, and what tolerances should be selected for the different variables. This work is important for the acceptance of a draft regulation in the UN working group on general safety. In the meantime, three test series using a single tractor vehicle, a tractor-semitrailer combination and a rigid vehicle have been conducted. The test tools (e.g. surrogate devices) have been refined. A fully crashable, commercially available bicycle dummy has been tested. If used correct, this dummy does follow a straight line quite precisely and it does not cause any damage to the truck under test in case of accidental impact. The dummy specifications are freely available. During testing, the different vehicle categories resulted in different trajectories being driven. Articulated vehicle combinations did first execute a turn into the opposite direction, and on the other hand, single tractor vehicles did behave comparable to passenger cars. A possible solution to take these behaviors into account is to require the vehicles to drive through a corridor that is narrow for a precise straight-driving phase and extends during the turn. Other investigated parameters are the dummy and vehicle speed tolerances. The results from this research make it possible to draft a regulation for a driver assistance system that helps to avoid blind spot accidents: test cases have been refined, their feasibility has been checked, and corridors for the vehicles and for important parameters (e.g. test speeds) have been set. The test procedure is applicable to all types of heavy goods vehicles. In combination with the accidentology (ESV 2015 paper), the work provides the basis for a regulation for such an assistance system.
Cycling and designing for cyclist in Germany: an overview of road safety, research and guidelines
(2016)
Cycling is considered a social, eco-friendly, pollution-free, low noise and healthy activity and mode of transportation. There are currently around 67 million bicycles in Germany. This number is expected to increase in the near future with greater use of electromotive assisted bicycles. Regarding the expected increase, there should be additional attention given to road traffic accidents involving cyclists. In 2014, 396 cyclists were killed in road accidents in Germany, which is 12 % of all road fatalities. Also in 2014, Germany reported over 78,000 injuries to cyclists. The majority of the fatalities (about 58 %) and 83 % of the serious injuries to cyclists occurred in urban areas. This paper will examine three aspects concerning cyclists. First, the paper will show the main current developments, for example the National Cycling Plan 2020, the effects of the road safety programme and provide an analysis of the German national accident statistics. Second, the paper will give an overview of the regulations, guidelines for road traffic and designing of cycling facilities. Lastly, this study will detail the current and completed research in Germany addressing cyclist. For example, the paper will discuss the topic "Accidents between Turning-off Trucks and Cyclists" Accidents between right turning trucks and straight riding cyclists often show massive consequences. Accident severity is much higher than in other accidents. The situation is critical especially due to the fact that, in spite of the six mirrors that are mandatory for ensuring a minimum field of sight for the truck drivers, cyclists in some situations cannot be seen or are not seen by the driver. Either the cyclist is overlooked or is in a blind spot area that results from the turning manoeuvre of the truck. At present driver assistance systems are discussed that can support the driver in the turning situation by giving a warning when cyclists are riding parallel to the truck just before or in the turning manoeuvre. The paper will describe the requirements for turning assist systems for trucks. The outcome of the study is an overview of the accident situation between right turning trucks and straight driving cyclists in Germany as well as a corresponding test procedure for driver assistance systems. Below are several other projects which will be investigated, too: Accident Risk and Acceptance of Traffic-Rules by Cyclists ; Safety Improvement in Terms of Using Bicycle Paths in the Opposite Direction ; Cycling in Mixed-Traffic ; Observation of Pedal Electric Cycles Riders to Identify Safety Concerns. These three aspects will provide the current situation on the topic of cyclist safety in Germany.
As the data for road weather stations is used for online traffic control within section control systems, it is very important for the efficiency of the traffic control systems to be based on reliable data of a high quality. Therefore, a Test Site for checking the quality of road weather stations was established near Munich in Germany in 2003 and has been operational since then. In close co-operation with all participants (sensor manufacturers, road authorities, German Federal Research Institute, research and consultancy bodies), the overall goal was to improve the sensors" quality as well as to establish methods to detect failures in measurements. Furthermore, several improvements were carried out within the scope of the Test Site using the expertise of all participants and the infrastructure of the Test Site. The developments, reports and results obtained are both significant and helpful for manufacturers, road authorities, practitioners, research and consultancy.
The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology is funding a projectrncalled "Leistra2" with the aim of understanding the tire road contact and to find measures to reduce traffic noise, in particular to reduce the noise of tires rolling on pavements, i.e. tire-road noise. The project is composed out of three mayor subjects, low noise tires, low noise pavements and verification of the results, each made out of single sub-projects. The purpose of this paper is to give a survey about Leistra2 and to report about the latest activities and results. More detailed information and contact data of the partners involved can be found at http://www. LeiStra2.de. The program is the successor of the program LeiStra (Leiser Strassenverkehr), dealing with similar topics.rn
With the introduction of the German Highway Capacity Manual (HBS) in January 2002 (FGSV, 2002), all methods for the evaluation of the performance of highway facilities were, for the first time in Germany, simultaneously updated and consolidated in a single work following the ideas of the American Highway Capacity Manual (HCM). This paper gives an overview of the new 2015 edition of the German HBS and describes the changes as for example the addition of chapters for freeway, rural roads, and major urban street facilities, comprising segments and intersections.
The paper describes the development of transitions between different safety barriers in Germany but also in the context of the European standardization. In the paper practical and impact test expriences with transitions are shown. In view of the sheer number of theoretically possible combinations of safety barriers, the demand for testing every transition, even if the connecting safety barriers differ only slightly, appears to be economically unacceptable. On the other hand the experience from accidents and also from failed impact tests shows that transitions can be a risk to traffic safety. Therefore criteria for the distinction between transitions (impact test required/impact test unnecessary) are explained. In order to distinguish transitions which do not have to be impact-tested from those that require impact tests, criteria were developed and formulated.
According to an investigation in March 2008 by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs (BMVBS) about 14,000 truck parking spaces are missing in the near of motorways in Germany. Beside constructional enlargement of rest areas, intelligent traffic systems ought to be used to detect automatically the occupancy rate of rest areas and to provide better demand management and also to achieve an increase of capacity of truck parking spaces. The essay describes the newly developed control procedure "Compact parking", which is currently under development by German Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt). The method achieves that a number of trucks are parking in a compact way, side by side and without a driving lane between them. With the help of dynamic displays above the parking rows, the drivers receive the needful information to park their vehicle in a parking row, in which other trucks have the same or an earlier departure time. This system is able to increase the rest area capacity in short-term, more quickly than constructional enlargement of rest areas.
Rural roads (highways) in Germany have to provide both high road safety and an appropriate level of service in accordance with their function in the road network. Single carriageway rural roads often underperform these expectations. An analysis of severe accidents on rural roads found two main contributing factors. First, high or inappropriate speed leads to accidents caused by the loss of control of the vehicle. Second, unsafe passing manoeuvres related to a misjudgement of sight distance, speed of oncoming vehicles or a misjudgement of the driver vehicle's acceleration capability. On the five roads where unsafe passing manoeuvres were a main contributing factor to accident occurrence, single short passing lanes (600 m to 1.2 km) were built to provide safe passing. On the remaining two-lane sections passing was prohibited by road signs and road marking. This paper investigates the effect of this design change on the accident situation and on traffic flow. The research project is based on a before/after comparison of traffic and accident data. Traffic volume, vehicle types and their velocities as well as the time gaps between the vehicles were recorded at different cross-sections. The result shows a significant improvement in road safety. This improvement was especially noted for severe head-on crashes, which were reduced to almost zero. The analysis of traffic flow on these roads pointed out that the chosen lengths of passing lanes were sufficient for safe passing and thereby reduced the need for dangerous driving behaviour. The recommendations of this research were fundamental for the determination of the design parameters of the second highest design class (EKL 2) in the new German Rural Road Design Guideline (RAL) published in spring 2013.