Modeling Free-Flow Speed Profiles on Expressway Curve Sections based on Minimum Jerk Concept

Abstract

The knowledge on free-flow speed is important to evaluate the safety and efficiency of highway and expressway systems. Previous studies have either assumed a constant speed throughout the horizontal curve or modeled the speed as a piece-wise linear profile. In this study a novel approach, which is based on minimumjerk principle, is proposed to model continuous speed profiles on expressway curve sections. Other than evaluating geometric design consistency, output of this study may be useful in advanced applications, such as 3-D visualization of realistic vehicle movements in driving simulator and virtual reality applications, and trajectory planning of autonomous vehicles.