The influence of road unevenness on fuel consumption for typical conditions on UK roads is examined as part of research into aspects of road-user costs. As part of research into the economic consequences of deterioration in road surface condition, the effect of unevenness on fuel consumption has been examined as one aspect of road-user costs. Experiments are described involving both indirect and direct measurements of fuel consumed by test vehicles for a range of levels of surface unevenness. Measures of unevenness, in the form of road profile variance, were obtained using the TRRL High- Speed Monitor. The results from the experiments show a trend of increasing fuel consumption as road unevenness increases. Relationships between increases in unevenness and additional fuel costs have been obtained for different categories of road. The study concludes that the magnitude of the costs on a given road will depend on both the level of unevenness and on the density of traffic using the road.
Abstract