An Expanded Functional Classification System For Highways And Streets

This volume presents a series of carefully selected papers on the theme of Intelligent Interactive Multimedia Systems and Services (IIMSS-18), but also including contributions on Innovation in Medicine and Healthcare (InMed-18) and Smart Transportation Systems (STS-18). The papers were presented at the Smart Digital Futures 2018 multi-theme conference, which grouped the AMSTA, IDT, InMed, SEEL, STS and IIMSS conferences in one venue in Gold Coast, Australia in June 2018. IIMSS-18 included sessions on 'Cognitive Systems and Big Data Analytics', 'Data Processing and Secure Systems', 'Innovative Information Services for Advanced Knowledge Activity', 'Autonomous System' and ' Image Processing'. InMed-18 papers cover major areas of 'Digital Architecture for Internet of Things, Big data, Cloud and Mobile IT in Healthcare' and 'Advanced ICT for Medical and Healthcare'. STS-18 papers provide a comprehensive overview of various aspects of current research into intelligent transportation technology.

Declining revenue and increasing costs of highway construction and maintenance have had a severe impact on State and local transportation programs, forcing emphasis to be placed upon preservation of existing roads, improved traffic flow, and increased capacity on the established networks. As a result, highway officials are searching for more efficient and effective means of managing the highway program. Functional highway classification, which has been defined as the process of assigning streets and highways to classes or systems according to the service they perform, has proved to be a useful management tool in this rapidly changing statewide transportation planning and programming environment.

Context-sensitive solutions (CSS) reflect the need to consider highway projects as more than just transportation facilities. Depending on how highway projects are integrated into the community, they can have far-reaching impacts beyond their traffic or transportation function. CSS is a comprehensive process that brings stakeholders together in a positive, proactive environment to develop projects that not only meet transportation needs, but also improve or enhance the community. Achieving a flexible, context-sensitive design solution requires designers to fully understand the reasons behind the processes, design values, and design procedures that are used. This AASHTO Guide shows highway designers how to think flexibly, how to recognize the many choices and options they have, and how to arrive at the best solution for the particular situation or context. It also strives to emphasize that flexible design does not necessarily entail a fundamentally new design process, but that it can be integrated into the existing transportation culture. This publication represents a major step toward institutionalizing CSS into state transportation departments and other agencies charged with transportation project development.

Various methods of assessing noise, loudness, and noise annoyance are reviewed and explained; sources, types, and intensities of traffic noise are noted; typical means of abatement and attenuation are described; design criteria for various land uses ranging from low-density to industrial are suggested and compared with the results of previous BBN and British systems for predicting annoyance and complaint; and a design guide for predicting traffic noise, capable of being programmed for batch and on-line computer applications, is presented in form suitable for use as a working tool. A flow diagram describes the interrelationships of elements in the traffic noise prediction methodology, and each element is discussed in detail in the text. The text is presented of a tape recording that takes the listener through a series of traffic situations, with such variables as traffic distance, flow velocity, distance, outdoors and indoors, and presence or absence of absorbers and attenuators.

All phases of road developmentâ€"from construction and use by vehicles to maintenanceâ€"affect physical and chemical soil conditions, water flow, and air and water quality, as well as plants and animals. Roads and traffic can alter wildlife habitat, cause vehicle-related mortality, impede animal migration, and disperse nonnative pest species of plants and animals. Integrating environmental considerations into all phases of transportation is an important, evolving process. The increasing awareness of environmental issues has made road development more complex and controversial. Over the past two decades, the Federal Highway Administration and state transportation agencies have increasingly recognized the importance of the effects of transportation on the natural environment. This report provides guidance on ways to reconcile the different goals of road development and environmental conservation. It identifies the ecological effects of roads that can be evaluated in the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of roads and offers several recommendations to help better understand and manage ecological impacts of paved roads.