Influence of Darkness on Motorway Traffic Flow Characteristics

摘要

The study is aimed at estimating the influence of darkness on motorways during dry weather. In a 'with-and-without' impact studies, motorway traffic flow characteristics at two different locations in Malaysia were investigated. Travel speed, traffic flow and headway data were obtained continuously for six weeks at selected sites and supplemented with darkness and daylight data culled from Malaysian Metrological Department website. Start of pitch darkness time was given as 19.45 pm. The study used 22:00 pm as start of pitch darkness. Results show that maximum flow rate, optimum travel speed, critical density and optimum headway did not differ significantly. The study concluded that motorway traffic flow characteristics are not influenced by darkness significantly.