Global Transport Atlas

GTA-302 Road Networks hierarchy - classification

This figure shows a single road linking two destinations

Series 3- Discussion Papers

Figure 2 shows roads which connect to four destinations. The lower right destination is connected to the road network. However the road network is not contiguous. This destination does not have a road link to the other three destinations. Figure 4 shows several roads which connect to four destinations. The road network is contiguous. Each road has been given a level in an overall road hierarchy for this network. The four levels of the hierarchy are indicated by the letters A,B,C and D.

Figure 3 shows several roads which connect to four destinations. The lower right destination is connected to the road network. The road network is complete. This destination has a road link to the other three destinations.

1. Road networks
road networks - road hierarchies road classification 1. Road networks 2. Road hierarchies 3. Road classification 4. Current practice with road classification 5. Suggestions for a road classification system 6. Summary This is one of a series of discussion papers on highway engineering. It discusses roads in terms of networks, hierarchies and classifications. It suggests the introduction of a common method of classification which should include speed.

Concept

A road by itself is simply a line connecting two points. If an area is crisscrossed by many roads they form a road network. There are different types of network, such as: road network a series of interconnected roads. They cover an area and connect a number of destinations. 3-dimensional network a road network in which the individual links have been defined (and perhaps constructed) in terms of a hierarchy of functions (see also road hierarchy). Also known as a function-based network. 2-dimensional or flat network a road network in which the individual links have not been defined in terms of any hierarchy of functions. Not unusual for cycle or pedestrian networks broken network a network in which the links are not all contiguous; a network to which not all destinations have a connection vehicle-based network a network specific to a particular type of vehicle, for example pedestrians or cyclists, or handicapped users. purpose-based network a network specific to a particular type of purpose, such as scenic networks, farm-to-market networks, emergency service networks etc. scalar network a road network which is contiguous regardless of the scale of magnification under which it is being observed Proposition

The text is based on a google knol which was published in 2009.

Source: Robert Bartlett

A road network connects each land use in the area to all the other land uses. August 2012 Page 1

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Global Transport Atlas Series 3 - Discussion Papers

2. Road hierarchies
Concept
This idea was proposed by Buchanan in his Traffic in Towns publication. The argument is that roads should not be considered simply as individual, unrelated transport links. Rather they should form a network. In this way the duplication of routes between individual origin and destination pairs would be avoided. The next step was to argue that a road network should be seen as a sort of 3-dimensional object with some roads being of a higher level of importance than others (higher up in the hierarchy).The importance of the roads can be based on their transport function for example, a road which is meant to take traffic over longer distances could be considered to be more important and so placed at a higher level in the hierarchy. A short access road would be less significant and at a lower level in the hierarchy. To put this argument in a different way, a road hierarchy simply structures the individual links of a road network in terms of functions. Thus in a 4-level hierarchy level 1 could represent long distance travel link (e.g. motorway) whilst level 4 could represent a short distance travel link (such as an access road). Here the function is one of journey length. Alternatively, level 1 could represent high-speed roads and level 4 the lowest speed roads. Here the function is speed.

speaking the longer the journey length the fewer trips are made. For example a person may visit the local shops almost once a day but visit another continent less than once a year. This reasoning suggests that table 1 could be inverted to give a better order of ranking as shown in table 2 below: Table 2. Simplified road hierarchy based on short distance = more significant
Function 1) Journey distance Level in hierarchy: 1 (top) 2 3 4 (bottom) Access road Local distributor Urban distributor Long distance motorway 2) Speed 30 km/hr 70 km/hr 100 km/hr 120 km/hr

Inverted hierarchies

In the notes above there is no suggestion that a level 1 road is more important than a level 4 road. However decision-makers could easily misunderstand that a road hierarchy does imply importance, with the result (for example) that more money is spent on motorways than on access roads. Conversely, a society may consider accessibility to be important. After all, most journeys are short journeys. Generally Table 1. Simplified road hierarchy based on longer distance = more significant
Function 1) Journey distance Level in hierarchy: 1 (top) 2 3 4 (bottom) long distance motorway Urban distributor Local distributor Access road 2) Speed 120 km/hr 100 km/hr 70 km/hr 30 km/hr

Fig.5: Heavy goods vehicles are restricted to one road network / road hierarchy

Fig.6: Bikes and bicycles have another road network / road hierarchy - although though many roads may appear in both networks / hierarchies

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Multiple hierarchies

Global Transport Atlas Series 3 - Discussion Papers

In the real world many different organisations use a regions road network. These organisations have their own tasks and priorities, and so can each give a different level of ranking to one and the same road. It is even possible that one road may be very important for one organisation but completely un-important for another. This argument is not merely a play with words. Todays road network managers have to provide a safe, functioning road network which matches the needs and priorities of the road users which means that half their task is understanding what the route needs and priorities of these users are. Road networks are a form of spatial infrastructure. To study this complex aspect of their nature, road network managers should use a spatial analysis system or GIS. Indeed a GIS allows them to display and study layers representing e.g. different (function/level) combinations on the same screen.

Proposition for road hierarchies

There is a risk that decision-makers will make the simple assumption that the top levels in a road hierarchy are the more important, and that therefore more money should be spent on them A road hierarchy is a 3-dimensional structuring of a 2-dimensional road network. Different measures can be used to structure a road network into a road hierarchy Shorter roads are more important than longer roads In the real world, a road system is a multiple of several different road hierarchies (and several different road networks)

Germany has road hierarchies which cover forest roads (photo: REB)

Table 3. Road network, multiple hierarchies

Function 1) Journey distance and 2) Speed and 3) Vehicle type, e.g. and 4) Use type, e.g. emergency goods vehicle routes service routes

Level in hierarchy: 1 (top) 2 3 long distance motorway urban distributor local distributor 120 km/hr 100 km/hr 70 km/hr 30 km/hr weight > 40 tonnes weight 7.5 40 tonnes weight 3.5 7.5 tonnes micro goods vehicles only regional hospitals connector network roads to district centres roads to polyclinics access to medical practice / surgery

4 (bottom) Access road

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Global Transport Atlas Series 3 - Discussion Papers

3. Road classification
Introduction

Concept

Volkswagen and Honda basically sell the same models of their cars all over the world. If the same vehicles travel the roads in different countries then theoretically the roads should be the same. However there is the impression that roads differ between countries. This is partly due to the fact that design standards vary from country to country, and also because there is no common form of road classification. Indeed road classification, and the terminology used to describe the classes in a classification, are not clearly defined or permanent even within one country. An important publication on road hierarchy, the UK government's 1963 report on 'Traffic in Towns' ('the Buchanan Report') discussed this question of names for different types or classes of road. It suggested there should be a simple set of names which could replace "the present large number of terms - arterial roads, through roads, expressways, freeways, principal traffic roads, collector roads, service roads etc. which are freely used with little if any standardisation of meaning" an. Here Buchanan was referring to the terms used in one country. The design and structure of road classification systems have arguably not kept up to date with the change in uses and types of roads. For example a road can be an urban single carriageway road, but at the same time a cycle route a bus route a shopping street a main road for emergency services It would be useful to develop a classification which would be applicable to every country and which could be computerised for use in (e.g.) a municipal urban GIS. The task should not be impossible given that there exist classifications for complex groups such as goods sold in supermarkets (the product "bar code") and for the plant world. This following notes take a brief look at some existing road classification systems around the world and suggests some ideas for the development of a standard international classification system.

A classification is a system for telling the reader something about the character and use of a road. A classification system is the 'systematic placement in categories', where categories are 'a class or group of things, people etc. possessing some quality or qualities in common' (Collins' thesaurus). It does not necessarily arrange things in order, and so is not a hierarchy (which is defined as 'a system of persons or things arranged in a graded order'). A system of road classification can impart information by (e.g.) giving each class a code, as in the earlier UK system of class A, B and C roads; or by giving each class a descriptive title or term, such as rural freeway in mountainous areas suburban local roads high-speed rural roads Engineers have been classifying roads throughout history, whether by using such general terms as highways and byways, or by specific terms such as the Royal Road used by Persian King Darius the First; Weimar Germanys Autobahns; Americas Interstate Highways; or todays UK motorways. These terms were (are) short forms for describing some of the engineering or functional characteristics of the roads. For example, the Royal Road - was restricted to Royal messengers in order to prevent them being impeded by common travellers the US Interstate Highways - were initially justified to US Congress after World War II as a national defence system, and this justification brought with it the requirement that its geometry and structure should be able to accomodate and aid the movement of large pieces of military equipment. motorways a term which conveys the information that the road is designed to take long-distance traffic at high speeds along routes where the traffic flow is not disrupted by at-grade junctions and accesses.

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4. Current practice with road classification

The following brief notes describe current practice in different countries.

animals. Roads are classified in terms of their constructional, technical and functional characteristics into the following types: A: motorways B: main inter-urban roads C: secondary inter-urban roads D: urban freeways E: urban district roads F: local roads F2: pedestrian/cycle routes (this class added in 2003) Road classes B,C and F above are further sub-divided into A state roads B regional roads C provincial roads D municipal roads (strade comunali) As an example, DL 285 describes "A: motorways" as: Inter-urban or urban roads with independent carriageways or carriageways which are separated by an insurmountable traffic barrier. Each carriageway (of a motorway) has at least two traffic lanes, and may have a paved hard strip to the left and an emergency lane or paved hard strip to the right. There are no at-grade intersections or private accesses. A motorway has fencing and emergency assistance facilities for users along its full length, is reserved for the circulation of certain types of motor vehicles and has appropriate traffic signs from over its full length. It must have suitable service areas and parking areas, both with entries/exits which have deceleration/acceleration lanes. (ref. 2)

UK

A search through UK reference works, textbooks and design guides reveals a range of terms meant to indicate the different road classes. They generally fall into one of two groups: a code system where e.g. D4M stands for dual 4-lane rural motorway; and a descriptive system, with terms such as all-purpose trunk roads. There are however cases of what seem to be a mixture of the two types, e.g. single 2-lane roads (categories 1 to 4).

INDIA

India has the following road classification:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

National Highways (NH): Roads which connect cities between different states within the country. Earlier they were 2-lane undivided carriageways but now most of them are completed/ongoing to be widened to 4-lane divided carriageway and even some of these are even being widened to 6lane divided carriageways. State Highway (SH): Roads which connect major cities within states. Mainly 2-lane undivided carriageways but some of these roads are being widened to 4-lane divided carriageways. Major District Road (MDR): Roads connecting major town/cities within a districts. Mainly 2 lane or some of these are intermediate lane (5.5m wide) also. Now these roads are being widen to 2-lane roads. Other District Road (ODR): Connecting towns within district, intermediate or single lane (3.75m) wide. Now these roads are being widened to 2-lane roads. Village Roads (VR): Road roads connecting villages within a district. Single lane roads which are being widened to 2-lane roads.

ITALY

The website of Italy's Ministry of Transport reproduces legislative decree (DL) no. 285 of the 30/04/1992. Article 2 of this decree describes the definition and classification of roads as follows: A road is defined as a facility for public use and for the circulation of pedestrians, vehicles and GTA-302

LEBANON

Generally there is no official functional road classification in Lebanon, except for what are called autostrade. This term describes is a multi-lane divided highway with full control of access. It is defined as such by law, but full control of access was never implemented in practice.

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NETHERLANDS The Netherlands has a simple and direct way of classifying roads which is called "sustainable safety". It differentiates between roads within the built environment and outside (e.g. city limits) and introduces 3 sub-classes or road types for each: 1. Flow roads (within limits: 70, 50 km/h; outside 100, 120 km/h) 2. Area Access Roads (within: 50 km/h; outside 80 km/h) 3. Home Access Roads (within: 30 km/h; outside 60 km/h) There are specific recommendations or norms for design for each road type (e.g. bicycles on separate infrastructure or mixing of traffic types, width etc.). Designers have much more freedom designing class 3 roads (lay-out, materials, traffic calming measures) than class 1 and 2 roads. This type of classification had been discussed for some years in the Netherlands before it was officially implemented in 1997. Since then only small changes have been made (e.g. by distinguishing 2 types of class 3 roads, where one has more capacity and one is more for pedestrians, playing children and cyclists) (ref. 1) Notes The speeds listed above almost cover the full range of speeds (or speed limits) seen on European roads. These increase in steps of 10 km/h from ~ 0 to 130 km/h. (The argument that design recommendations can be closely specified for each road type/speed limit is discussed in the discussion paper on "design speed") In terms of highway geometrics it can be argued that there is no difference between urban and rural roads (see the discussion paper on "urban and rural roads") Perhaps "flow roads outside city limits" could also include for design speeds well below 100 km/hr, in the sense that in extensive rural areas with low population high-speed roads could be disproportionately expensive SLOVENIA Roads in Slovenia fall within 2 main groups. State Roads are the responsibility of the central governSlovenia state roads A . Motorways HC - expressways G1 major roads I G2 major roads II R1 - regional class I R2 - regional class II R3 - regional class III Local roads LC - local roads JP - public paths

Global Transport Atlas Series 3 - Discussion Papers

ment, which funds, designs, builds and maintains them. Local Roads are the responsibility of the municipalities, which also fund, design, build and maintain them. There are also some some 10 defined road classes. However despite the term class in their names (see table), they represent more a level in Slovenias road hierarchy than in a classification system. An exception perhaps is the two groups which explain the roads administrative and financial background.

GERMANY Germany has a system of codes in which for example E(V) is a local access road inside a built-up area with adjacent residential buildings. There is also another system of codes, in this case representing a series of standard cross-sections. Each is directly linked to design speeds, ranges of traffic flow and geometrical features. For example RQ 35.5 = a dual 6-lane carriageway with verges and hard shoulders, and with an overall cross-sectional width of 35.5 metres. Germany has some advanced ideas on road networks. The country's traffic research organisation, the FGSV, recently introduced its new document, the "Richtlinien fr Integrierte Netzgestaltung" (RIN 2008) ~ Guideline on integrated network planning. The document presents guidelines for the development of integrated transport networks covering the full range of scales (from continental to village), and the full range of land-based modes of transport. It emphasizes that this should be done on the basis of the integration of spatial planning, transport planning and environmental planning. The principle behind the guidelines is that the goals of spatial and transport network planning should be achieved together with the lowest possible costs and minimum negative effects for the general public.

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USA In the US roadways are classified in general by Municipal Planning Organizations (MPO). Here the reference is to the functional classification of roadways. There are three basic categories that are again subdivided: 1. Arterial - Primary routes for goods movement from one city to another, 2. Collector roadways that funnel local traffic to the arterial system, and 3. Local - local low volume street system. For more details see the ewgateway.org page on functional classification.

Global Transport Atlas Series 3 - Discussion Papers

ADMINISTRATIVE Roads are also classified in terms of their relation to the public administration. Practice varies between countries, but the features which can be covered by an administrative classification of a road include: who owns the road (state, region, district) who is responsible for designing the new road who is responsible for maintaining the existing road who pays for the construction who pays for the maintenance Notes There are plans are to prepare a separate discussion paper to describe more extensively how countries deal with road classification.

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5. Suggestions for a road classification system

A system of road classification should tell people something about a roads physical characteristics, cross-section and its use. It should therefore cover some or all of the following characteristics of the road: capacity function types of user speed location number of traffic lanes direction (one-way or two-way roads) number of carriageways (single, dual) administration These terms may repeat the sense of others: for example, the function of motorways is to allow traffic to travel at high speeds (so 'speed' would be something of a duplicated characteristic); and the number of traffic lanes is an indication of the roads capacity. One possible road classification system, based on codes, could be reasonably based on as few as 4 characteristics. The first field mainly affects the roads position in the network road hierarchy, and its engineering design values (such as lane width); the other three mainly affect its cross-section: number of carriageways (single, dual) number of traffic lanes (which is related to the roads capacity) design speed (which is related to the roads function, its engineering geometrics and the speed limit), and direction (one-way or two-way roads)

(e.g.) to a dual-carriageway motorway as a D2M, but this doesnt indicate the design speed. An alternative code would include design speed, as shown in the following table.

Road classification - short descriptions code

Perhaps a road classification system could be developed based on a "short descriptions" code. For example the UK has an incomplete system which refers
Table 5: Elements of a short descriptions code dual/single carriageway number of traffic lanes in each carriageway 2 3 design speed other features example

D/S D

120 130

toll road motorway

D2-120-T D3-130-M

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Summary
The roads within an area or country constitute a physical road network. They also represent several different types of network - for example vehicle type networks (cycle networks, goods vehicle networks). For the same area, the roads in these "type" networks will vary from type to type. Further, the roads in one area will represent several different type networks Road networks are often referred in terms of a road hierarchy. Often a hierarchy groups roads in an area into sub-classes based on their function, with (for example) roads intended for longer-distance traffic being the upper class, and access roads the lower class. This can give decision-makers the mistaken impression that (for example) upper class roads are the most important. Use of road hierarchies should therefore be avoided. All roads are not the same. Some are designed for high speed, some for low speed; some are designed to carry cycle traffic, others prohibit cycle traffic; some are intended to carry long-distance traffic, others not; some are owned by states, others by administrative districts. To help understand this diversity, engineers use methods to "classify" roads. These road classifications vary from country to country. There is no need for road classification to vary from country to country. It should be possible to introduce a common system of classification. Amongst other aspects, a common system of road classification should include the road speed.

References and sources 1. Details for the Netherlands were suggested by Marco Van Burgsteden. 2. Details taken from the website of Italy's Ministry of Transport and translated by the knol author. Thanks to Marco de Mitri (www.marcodemitri.it) for the suggestions. 3. Notes on India kindly provided by Engineer Deepak Dutt Sharma

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Cover notes and Disclaimer

This is a research document. The best efforts have been made to make sure the figures are correct. However no liability can be taken for any of the details, information or analysis in this document. The layout, look and feel of this document is copyright. The photos are generally copyright of REB. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/

GTA documents series Global Transport Atlas is a project with two aims. One is
to encourage people around the world to share examples of how they actually use transport in their daily lives. The other is to compare and improve the design of transport infrastructure. There are the following GTA document series: Series 1 - global transport notes A collection of papers on transport infrastructure and vehicles from various countries, prepared by various authors and contributors. Typical size 2 to 3 pages. Series 3 - discussion papers

History and Change log

The text is taken from a google knol which was last edited on January 31st 2009. Version 302.02-b (August 2012) - this version and version number, with modified layout and minor modifications to the content.

Papers with arguments and ideas on different aspects of modern transport and transport infrastructure. Series 7 - Dimensions of vehicles Transport infrastructure has to be defined with an idea of the size and types of vehicle which will use it. This series looks into the dimensions of different types of vehicle at different periods of time. Papers include technical discussion notes and example dimensions. Typical size 20 pages and more.

About the contributor

Robert Bartlett, Germany - is an experienced transportation and urban development studies engineer with over 25 years of professional experience. Current engineering work: includes technical research in highway design standards and applications in areas such as urban planning and highway engineering. Interests include applied GIS.

Contact
We welcome comments on this paper, and also on new developments in other countries in this field. Email: global.transport.atlas@gmail.com Web: http://globaltransportatlas.weebly.com/index.html

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