HCM reference

[minilover36]

I am putting together which books to bring to my PE Transportation exam on Friday and the HCM is three binders. while studying i really didnt use it much because i have print outs of the extracts. Is there any need to bring this to the exam? trying to downsize. thanks!

 

[ptatohed]

I'll assume you are taking the Transpo depth. (If you are not, there is no need to use the HCM at all). To answer your question, I would say yes, the HCM is important enough to bring the whole thing in addition to your extracts. But, with that said, if you haven't been using the full HCM during your studies, it probably won't prove useful on exam day. But, I'd still bring Vols 1-3 anyway just to have them nearby. Good luck.

 

[minilover36]

okay thanks! ill spend some time going through it and familiarizing myself with it! ive been using print outs from test masters that have a lot of good info and im using the cerm. so hopefully im not missing anything!

 

[ptatohed]

okay thanks! ill spend some time going through it and familiarizing myself with it! ive been using print outs from test masters that have a lot of good info and im using the cerm. so hopefully im not missing anything!

It sounds like you'll be fine. Good luck!

 

[odu_engineer]

I took transpo depth last cycle and passed. Did not use HCM at all. Green book is the most important!

 

[PSU09Vet]

I took transpo depth last cycle and passed. Did not use HCM at all. Green book is the most important!

I think I used HCM this time for one problem. I looked in it for more than one problem, but only used it once. I actually relied on the CERM more (thank god someone lent it to me last minute). The HCM is garbage to understand and follow IMHO. Not very well laid out at all, though I'm more accustomed to the format of my textbooks. I agree, the Green book is an absolute must (obviously) for the Transportation pm.

 

[John QPE]

Not worth buying?

 

[JMT]

Not worth buying?

I used the HCM to answer 3-4 questions in the afternoon and the Greenbook was my bible in the afternoon.

I would wait to buy the HCM and see what the new NCEES sample test questions look like when they are released. The one they sold for the October 2013 Exam weighted heavily on some types of questions that were barely mentioned in the Exam; it also referenced the 'old' references, but that didn't really matter. The NCEES website now has a note saying "Study materials that are being revised to cover a new exam specification are available 6 months before the applicable exam administration."

And as a sidebar, it also says "Titles in our Sample Questions and Solutions series include questions that have been used on past exams and questions written just for study materials to give you extra practice." I never noticed it said they use actual past questions for the sample questions.

 

[MWC PE]

I tell people this a lot when talking about the Transpo PE.

The HCM is geared primarily toward computer applications, except for the very basic concepts. For the most part I believe that most of the book is too complicated to expect someone to do by hand in six minutes. Learn the basic concepts of traffic volumes and what not but don't worry about most of the book. If all you can get is the previous edition of the HCM or a CERM that ought to be okay and its not worth it to buy the newest HCM if all you are using it for is the test.

 

[NinjaPanther]

...If all you can get is the previous edition of the HCM or a CERM that ought to be okay and its not worth it to buy the newest HCM if all you are using it for is the test.

While having the latest HCM probably won't be the difference between passing and failing, there are some pretty substantial changes in the HCM2010. The free flow speed calcs for roadway LOS are completely different from the HCM2000, for example.

 

[Road Guy]

Knowing how to use the worksheets is helpful. They have links to formulas and actual formulas on them to save you time instead of flipping through the book