Extent of highway travel time differentials resulting from rainfall intensities

Travel time on a roadway segment is what most road users are concerned about. It is a useful guide for measuring road users’ perception of the quality of roadway service. Rainfall affects traffic flows by reducing drivers’ visibility and road surface friction among others. These reductions have profound impacts on travel time. The aim of the paper is to determine the impact of rainfall intensities (slight, moderate and heavy) on travel time. The impact study was carried out at locations along Terengganu East Coast Highway 5, between November 2010 and February 2011. Based on the hypothesis that rainfall intensity has effect on travel time, a ‘with-and-without rainfall impact study for both directions of a single carriageway was conducted. Volume, speed, headway, gaps and types of vehicles collected by way of automatic traffic counter continuously for three months estimated and compared. Rainfall data were collected and supplemented with data supplied by the Malaysian Hydrology Department. Results show that light and moderate rainfall will cause a travel time increase of about 0.43 and 0.54 minutes per kilometer by respectively; whereas heavy rainfall will account for travel time increase of 0.74 minutes per kilometer. It also shows that traffic kinematics and shockwave propagations at the onset of rainfall can also be called to account for travel time differentials. The paper concluded that rainfalls irrespective of their intensities have significant impact on roadway travel time