Development of a Tool to Calculate Appropriate Advisory Speeds on Horizontal Curves

Abstract

Horizontal curves are a contributing factor for numerous deaths on roadways. The curve characteristics dictate the severity of the curve and require the driver to be more attentive while driving. To address this issue, advisory speeds are posted on horizontal curves to warn drivers to slow down for their safety. There are six main procedures to assign advisory speeds. This paper focuses on two of these methods, finds a connection between the two, and develops an Android Application that can be used to determine an advisory speed for a curve. In this work, a brief summary of the six existing methods for advisory speed assignment are discussed. Pros and cons are included for each for comparison purposes. Next, two of these methods are highlighted by applying them in the field. Data is collected and a relationship between them is determined. Using this relationship, an Android Application is created and the various details of the design process are described. This Application, called CurveAdvisor, allows the user to assign the appropriate advisory speed on a desired horizontal curve. An analysis is then conducted to test the effectiveness of CurveAdvisor. Results indicate that CurveAdvisor is successful in many cases. Finally, contributions and suggestions for future work are included.