Some More Thoughts After a Long Pause

I am disturbed by the inaction of the pavement, asset management, and safety communities on every level for the lack of progress on measuring this extremely important metric in an efficient, accurate and effective manner. As I presented at the RPUG in Illinois this spring, The technology is here, all we need is for the equipment providers to build it and the agencies to use it.

On another front, I believe we should migrate from Skid Resistance to Traction as the title for this metric. There is no question that Friction should not be used since the interaction between tire and pavement is dramatically more complicated than simple friction. I am suggesting Traction since it is the term utilized by the vehicle and tire manufacturers to identify the tire-pavement interface force. while most often associated with acceleration, it is also associated with braking and control.