Modeling riding quality with spectral analysis methods

Highway engineers have been interested in developing objective criteria for designing and maintaining highways based on roadway riding quality for many years. This paper describes a model which provides a measure of riding quality based on power spectral estimates from roadway profile. A combination of spectral analysis and multiple regression analysis techniques is used for obtaining this model. The paper also presents a brief discussion of previous modeling methods for obtaining highway riding quality and provides comments on the possible extension of highway riding quality modeling methods to the problems of developing high speed mass transit systems.