Urban Goods Movement

A Guide to Policy and Planning

K Ogden

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351876582
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Supply Chain Management
• Index: Business

Freight transport is essential to modern urban civilization. No urban area could exist without a reliable freight transport system. Although the private sector is responsible for much of this system, the public sector has a vital role to play in the provision of infrastructure and the establishment of a social and legal framework within which transport can occur. For these reasons, goods movement deserves and is increasingly receiving, explicit consideration in urban transport policy and planning. Many cities around the world have conducted studies aimed at resolving urban goods movement problems and a considerable, if disparate, body of research results are available. This book brings together much of this knowledge and experience in a comprehensive source of information on urban freight, particularly from a public policy or planning viewpoint. It provides both a conceptual basis for urban goods movement analysis and detailed, practical guidelines which may be used directly by those responsible for urban freight policy and planning. The author has worked for over twenty years in this field and he draws upon his experience in Australia, the United States, Great Britain, Canada and The Philippines to produce a book which is international in scope and perspective. The book is written for practising professionals, such as engineers, economists and planners, working in local government, urban transport planning agencies, highway authorities, consultancies, or research institutes; it is also relevant to graduate courses in transport planning, traffic engineering or urban policy. It is of interest to all who have a concern for contemporary issues in urban development.

Part B

Planning: Strategies for Improvement

6 Traffic management

Introduction

Trucks have always been recognised as part of the traffic stream, and thus to an extent their needs have been included in aspects of traffic engineering practice. However, this recognition has been limited, and has only recently extended beyond such basic parameters as vehicle size and the use of passenger car equivalents (e.g. 1 truck equals 2 cars) in roadway capacity calculations.

It is now increasingly recognised that, on the one hand, trucks have special needs and problems that can and should be recognised by the traffic engineer, while on the other hand, there are real and unique benefits which can accrue from truck-oriented traffic management. These benefits relate to many of the objectives outlined in Chapter 5, including regional economic development, land use, road safety, environmental protection, and traffic flow.

Traffic management is a very important strategy in urban freight policy and planning. Indeed, management of truck traffic is one of the most powerful and direct ways in which the public sector can influence urban trucking efficiency and safety. Traffic management strategies are of four general types (Ogden, 1991):

• – measures at a network level;
• – measures at a site level;
• – measures directed at parking and loading; and
• – the removal of physical impediments to truck movement.

Network strategies

Truck routes

Strategies for application at the network level involve the nomination of specific routes for use by trucks. Various applications are possible (Gordon, Aitken and Clark, 1982), but the two principal applications are an advisory system and a statutory system.

An advisory truck route system involves making particular routes attractive to trucks, with the aim of attracting trucks to it away from ‘protected’ routes. There are obvious enforcement advantages with this approach.

In practice, this feature is very common, whether intended or not, in that certain routes are more attractive for trucks. In urban areas this would include most if not all roads forming the arterial road network. Many urban areas are content to leave it at that, being concerned that if a formal advisory truck route network was promulgated they would need to upgrade it to make it unambiguously the best route rather than just one of a number of suitable routes (Hall, 1982, p 11).

An advisory truck route network would usually include all freeways and major arterial roads in an urban area, and may encompass other road types where they extend into industrial areas or truck terminal locations. The network must be free of barriers to truck travel, such as sub-standard overhead clearances.

A designated advisory truck route network assists route selection, particularly by out-of-town drivers; it reassures truck drivers that the route is suitable for large vehicles and is reasonably continuous and connected to other routes; and, by helping remove traffic from other routes, assists in reducing the environmental impact of trucks in sensitive areas. From a traffic engineering viewpoint, designating an advisory truck route network helps to focus attention on traffic improvements to assist truck travel. As an advisory system, the enforcement costs and implementation costs are minimal, but on the other hand, it’s usefulness may be susceptible to truck driver preferences (Loder and Bayly, 1981, p 30).

A statutory truck route system is one which legally prohibits trucks from using routes other than designated routes. In implementation, this approach tends to rely more on its corollary, i.e. particular areas (e.g. a local street network) are protected by an entry ban (‘no entry except for access’); this type of control is discussed below under Area Bans. This was carried one stage further in Britain in the 1970s, where there was a proposal for a nationwide truck route network. Legislation in 1973 (the so-called ‘Dykes Act’) required local authorities to carry our truck surveys, formulate control proposals and publish draft orders for truck control. The prime response to this was a concentration on truck routing, and from this the proposal for a national network. However, for several reasons, mainly having to do with central government funding and desire for local autonomy, the proposal was abandoned in 1977 (Ogden, 1980; Cooper, 1990).

If a truck route network, whether advisory or statutory, is to be introduced, there are a number of factors to be taken into account in designating and promulgating it (Hasell, Foulkes and Robertson, 1978a; Christiansen, 1979, p IV– 27; Institution of Highway Engineers, 1981; Gordon, Aitken and Clark, 1982):

• – agreement must be reached between the various local governments in the urban area encompassing the network;
• – the network should serve the major generators of truck traffic in as convenient and direct a manner as possible;
• – it should comprise most if not all freeways and main arterial roads, with connecting and access links as necessary;
• – the roads themselves should be in good condition, having adequate structural strength and geometric layout to accommodate larger, heavier vehicles, and should be reasonably smooth to minimize vibration;
• – structures on the network should have adequate strength, and overhead clearances should be at least equal to the legal height limit for trucks in that state or nation;
• – traffic lanes should be of adequate width, which may vary with the maximum permitted width of trucks in that state or nation; generally a lane width of around 3.6 m (12 ft) is appropriate;
• – steep grades should be avoided, especially in localities where noise is a problem; perhaps a 4 percent grade would be a desirable maximum;
• – the network should be selected with consideration for abutting land uses; residential and retail land uses and areas with high pedestrian activity should be avoided as much as possible;
• – consideration should be given to present traffic volumes on the roads, and the capacities of intersections to accommodate extra truck traffic;
• – roads used as part of the network must be through roads, with reasonable connection to other roads comprising the network, and with as few sharp turns as possible; this may mean that some reconstruction of intersections is necessary, e.g. to provide turn lanes;
• – similarly, traffic control on all roads on the network should be adequate, with STOP or GIVE WAY control on all minor side streets, and signals or grade separations at all major intersections; roundabouts with small central islands should be avoided;
• – driver and vehicle facilities should be provided along the route, and provision made for easy access to them and easy re-entry back on to the through route; these facilities include fuel, parking, toilets, telephones, food, etc;
• – the network should be developed in close cooperation with the road freight industry, unions, and other affected parties such as public transport operators;
• – in implementation, careful attention must be given to signing (Figure 6.1), and the distribution of maps and other publicity advising of the network and its conditions;
• – further to the previous two points, the definition of vehicle to be affected by the route needs careful attention (e.g. mass, length, number of axles); this determines both the effectiveness of the network and its impacts on operators, and also the extent of enforcement in the case of a statutory truck route; and
• – in the case of a statutory network, route designation must comply with relevant legislation.

Figure 6.1 Advisory truck route sign, Australia

Routes for designated vehicles

Truck routes may be designated only for specific classes of vehicle, of which the following examples are most common.

Over dimensional truck routes. These involve the nomination of specific routes for vehicles which exceed statutory mass, height, width, or length limits. Since such vehicles, by definition, would be operating illegally if they were used in the traffic stream in the usual way, all movements of such vehicles require a permit and possibly also an escort.

The designation of a specific set of routes for over-dimensional vehicles simplifies route specification, issue of permits, and traffic control for the movement of large indivisible loads. Routes should be selected to cover the majority of truck movements involving large loads, to ensure that overhead clearances are adequate, turn radii at intersections are suitable, and that impact on other traffic is minimized. In some cases (e.g. a route providing access to a power station which requires transport of large indivisible generating equipment) the route may have stronger structures to accommodate the heavier vehicles. By ensuring adequate clearances and restricting large vehicles to these routes, the potential for disruption due to collisions with overhead power lines, overbridges, etc is minimized.

Overdimensional truck routes cannot however cater for the every movement of large indivisible loads in an urban area, and there will still need to be individual route assessment for occasional movement of such loads on other routes, at least until they access the designated overdimensional network. Routes for overdimensional vehicles should be clearly signed.

Hazardous load routes. These involve the designation of specific routes for vehicles carrying hazardous loads (e.g. highly volatile, flammable or explosive goods, toxic wastes, etc), especially where the movement is frequent, e.g. between chemical plants, storage or disposal sites, etc.

The designation of truck routes and the development of management plans for the transport of hazardous materials should be based upon a risk assessment procedure. Risk may be broadly defined as ‘the product of the probability of a hazardous materials accident and the consequences of that accident’ (Scanlon and Cantilli, 1985). More comprehensively, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (1988, p 6) asserted that ‘risk assessment analyses involve a chain of probability cal...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half title
• Title Page
• Copy Right Page
• Content page
• List of tables
• List of figures
• Foreword
• Preface
• Part A Policy
• Part B Planning: Strategies for Improvement
• Part C Implementation: From Ideas to Action
• References
• Index