30TH PEAK HOUR FACTOR TREND

THE RELATIONSHIP WAS DETERMINED OF THE DESIGN HOUR FACTORS TO ANNUAL AVERAGE DAILY TRAFFIC IN THE HOPE THAT DEVELOPED TRENDS WOULD FURNISH A GUIDE TO PREDICT FUTURE DESIGN HOUR FACTORS. AN ANALYSIS WAS MADE OF 69 COUNTING STATIONS THAT HAD BEEN IN OPERATION IN NEW JERSEY FOR TEN YEARS. DATA FROM THESE STATIONS FURNISHED THE ADT, DHV AND DHV FACTORS. RESULTS SHOW THAT PREDICTING THE FUTURE DHV BY USE OF THE TREND CURVE DEVELOPED IN THIS STUDY IS A MORE RELIABLE METHOD THAN THE NO CHANGE METHOD. CONCLUSIONS SHOW THAT' 1/ THE 30TH PEAK HOUR FACTORS GENERALLY DECLINE AS THE AADT INCREASES, 2/ THE REDUCTION RATE FOR HIGH 30TH PEAK HOUR FACTORS IS MUCH GREATER THAN FOR LOW 30TH PEAK HOUR FACTORS, 3/ LOW POPULATION AND SPARSELY DEVELOPED AREAS GENERALLY HAVE A HIGH 30TH PEAK HOUR FACTOR AND MARGINAL GROWTH TENDS TO LOWER THE DESIGN HOUR FACTORS, 4/ AN INCREASE IN POPULATION DECREASES THE DHV FACTORS, AND 5/ THE CAPACITY OF A ROADWAY HAS NO GREAT INFLUENCE ON THE DHV FACTORS OR THE RATE OF CHANGE.