Pavement roughness is a measure of ride quality. It may be objectively measured by devices such as laser profilers and expressed in indices such as the International Roughness Index (IRI). However, the ride quality to which roughness may be related may be subjectively estimated by panel ratings which provide the perception of road users on the quality of the pavements. Considering recent research, there is a need to link these two items - that is, roughness and ride quality - for example by developing suitable models. However, the ambiguity included in the panel ratings requires special consideration. Fuzzy set theory is an approach by which such ambiguity may be taken into account in the development of such a model. This paper uses such an approach in a simplified manner and shows how subjective panel ratings can be correlated to objective technology-based measurements of roughness. A regression analysis is also used to evaluate the models developed, which is based on the data sets considered. The findings of the present work show that the application of fuzzy set theory provides an enhanced method of considering subjective data acquired from panels of road users in the development of models that link road travel quality with roughness. (a).
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