Determination of passenger car unit for motorcycles: The case of Metro Manila

• Main Authors: Espenilla, Nikko Nestor F., Lim, Nathanael S., Pique, Gene Martin L.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2010
• Subjects: Railroad passenger cars > Manila Metropolitan Area; Traffic flow > Philippines > Manila Metropolitan Area; Traffic engineering > Philippines > Manila Metropolitan Area; Traffic estimation > Philippines > Manila Metropolitan Area; Transportation, Automotive > Environmental aspects > Philippines > Manila Metropolitan Area
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/9865
• Institution: De La Salle University

The study primarily focuses on the determinations of Passenger-Car-Unit of motorcycles along straight road segments with continuous flow in Metro Manila. To aid in the determination of motorcycle PCU values, a traffic analysis program was developed that considers the maneuverability of each vehicle. This program was referred to as Passenger-Car-Unit Traffic Analysis Program (PCU-TAP). In determining the capacity of the road, obtaining the PCU values was a secondary goal to check whether it would have any significant effect on road capacity. In the study, video surveillance was done on three sites with two-lane, three-lane and four-lane roads. Raw video footage was then edited, using a video editing software, in order for it to be analyzed by the program. The outputs from PCU-TAP were organized in order to present the characteristics of both the mixed traffic and all-passenger car traffic and the computed PCU values from three PCU determination methods namely Chandra, Frame and Turbulence PCU methods. The outputs as well as the attained PCU values were further analyzed using the Greenshields model in order to determine the speed, density and flow relationships for the road segments under observations. It was determined that PCU values attained using the three methods did not vary significantly as these ranged from 0.26-0.30. Capacity was found to increase slightly when the presence of motorcycles in the traffic stream were taken into consideration. The percent increase ranges from 2%-6% depending on which type of road was being analyzed.