Evaluation of Panel Characteristics and User-Based Pavement Serviceability

Abstract

The effects of raters’ characteristics, vehicle classes, and highway classifications on panel ratings are described. Development of the present serviceability index (PSI) models as well as determination of the terminal PSI values for different highway classes in Taiwan also are investigated. Freeways and provincial highways as well as city streets were selected for use in evaluating road serviceability. A rating panel of 20 people rated the selected sections while they were in passenger cars and on buses. Pavement roughness also was measured with the Mays ride meter, and a manual distress survey was conducted to collect the pavement distress data. It is found that raters’ ages did not have a significant effect on the ratings, but factors of raters’ seat location on the bus, driving experience, and gender affected the ratings significantly. Another interesting finding is that raters tended to give lower ratings for freeways and provincial highways than for city streets, even if they were equally rough. Therefore, the terminal PSI of the former (2.1) was higher than that of the latter (1.8). Two PSI models that describe the relationship between panel ratings, pavement distresses, and roadway roughness are established and presented. Due to the large percentage of passengers who travel on buses within the city, a PSI model based on the ratings of city streets by a panel of raters on buses is recommended for the city system, and a PSI model developed from data for ratings of freeways and provincial highways by a panel of raters in passenger cars is recommended for highway systems.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

AASHTO Guide for Design of Pavement Structures. AASHTO, Washington, D. C., 1986.

Garg

, Horowitz

, and Ross

. Establishing Relationships Between Pavement Roughness and Perceptions of Acceptability. In Transportation Research Record 1196, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D. C., 1988, pp. 276–285.

Nick

J. B.

, and Janoff

M. S.

. Evaluation of Panel Rating Methods for Assessing Pavement Ride Quality. In Transportation Research Record 946, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1983, pp. 5–13.

Riverson

J. D. N.

, Sinha

K. C.

, Scholer

C. F.

, and Anderson

V. L.

. Evaluation of Subjective Rating of Unpaved County Roads in Indiana. In Transportation Research Record 1128, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1987, pp. 53–61.

Janoff

M. S.

Methodology for Computing Pavement Ride Quality from Pavement Roughness Measurements. In Transportation Research Record 1084, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1986, pp. 9–17.

Janoff

M. S

. NCHRP Report 308: Pavement Roughness and Rideability Field Evaluation. TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., July 1988.

Moore

R. K.

, Clark

G. N.

, and Plumb

G. N.

. Present Serviceability-Roughness Correlations Using Rating Panel Data. In Transportation Research Record 1117, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1987, pp. 152–158.

Nair

S. K.

, and Hudson

W. R.

. Serviceability Prediction from User-Based Evaluations of Pavement Ride Quality. In Transportation Research Record 1084, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1986, pp. 66–75.

Weaver

R. J.

Quantifying Pavement Serviceability as It Is Judged by Highway Users. In Transportation Research Record 715, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1979, pp. 37–44.

10.

Al-Omari

, and Darter

M. I.

. Effect of Pavement Deterioration Types on IRI and Rehabilitation. In Transportation Research Record 1505, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1995, pp. 57–65.

11.

Application of AASHTO Road Test Results to Design of Flexible Pavements in Minnesota. Minnesota Department of Highways, 1968.

12.

Sayers

M. W.

, Gillespie

T. D.

, and Queiroz

C. A. V.

. The International Road Roughness Experiment: A Basis for Establishing a Standard Scale for Road Roughness Measurements. In Transportation Research Record 1084, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1986, pp. 76–85.

13.

Paterson

W. D. O.

A Transferable Causal Model for Predicting Roughness Progression in Flexible Pavements. In Transportation Research Record 1215, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., pp. 70–84.

14.

Fwa

T. F.

, and Gan

K. T.

. Bus-Ride Panel Rating of Pavement Serviceability. ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering, Vol. 115, No. 2, March 1989, pp. 176–191.

15.

Survey of Trip Generation for Taipei Metropolitan Area. Institute of Transportation, Ministry of Transportation and Communication, Taiwan, 1992.