Lidwala Consulting Engineers, P O Box 2930, Nelspruit, South Africa; Department of Civil Engineering, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, South Africa
Dreyer, C.M.W., Lidwala Consulting Engineers, P O Box 2930, Nelspruit, South Africa; Steyn, W.J.V.D.M., Department of Civil Engineering, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, South Africa
Deteriorating riding quality has a negative impact not only on infrastructure, but on the road user as well. Road users experience higher vehicle operating costs (VOCs), longer travel times, congestion and uncomfortable rides, to name a few. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the link between deteriorating riding quality and high vertical accelerations (a<inf>wz</inf>) and VOCs for a bi-articulated bus on an identified bus route with different responsible road authorities in rural Mpumalanga, South Africa. The link, as identified, indicated that the speed the bus travelled played a big role in the generation of a<inf>wz</inf>. Recommendations for future research are also proposed.