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Traffic Stream Characteristics
5‐1. A volume of 1,200 veh/h is observed at an intersection approach. Find the peak rate
of flow within the hour for the following peak‐hour factors: 1.00, 0.90, 0.80, 0.70.
Plot and comment on the results.
The peak rate of flow is computed as v = V/PHF. The table below
summarized the results for the information given. A plot of the results is
also shown.
Peak Flow Rate vs. PHF
Volume Peak
Flow
PHF Rate
(veh/h) (veh/h)
1200 1.00 1200
1200 0.90 1333
1200 0.80 1500
1200 0.70 1714
Flow Rate vs. PHF
1800
1600
1400
Peak Flow Rate (veh/h)
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
0.60 0.65 0.70 0.75 0.80 0.85 0.90 0.95 1.00
PHF
Even with the same hourly volume, a small difference in PHF leads to an
enormous difference in peak flow rates. Traffic engineers must be able to
deal with this peaking characteristic on a regular basis.
1
5‐2. A traffic stream displays average vehicle headways of 2.4s at 55mi/h. Compute the
density and rate of flow for this traffic stream.
A headway can be converted to a flow rate as follows:
3600 3600
v= = = 1,500 veh / h / ln
h 2 .4
Knowing both flow rate and speed (given), the density may now be
computed as:
v 1500
D= = = 27.3 veh / h / ln
S 55
5‐3. A freeway detector records an occupancy of 0.26 for a 15‐minute period. If the
detector is 3.5 ft long, and the average vehicle has a length of 18 ft, what is the
density implied by this measurement?
Density is obtained from occupancy as follows:
5280 * O 5280 * 0.26
D= = = 63.9 veh / mi / ln
Lv + Ld 18 + 3.5
Such a high value is indicative of highly congested conditions within a
queue.
2
5‐4 The following traffic count data were taken from a permanent detector location on a
major state highway.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Month No. of Total Days in Total Monthly Total Weekday
Weekdays In Month (days) Volume (vehs) Volume (vehs)
Month (days)
Jan 22 31 200,000 170,000
Feb 20 28 210,000 171,000
Mar 22 31 215,000 185,000
Apr 22 30 205,000 180,000
May 21 31 195,000 172,000
Jun 22 30 193,000 168,000
Jul 23 31 180,000 160,000
Aug 21 31 175,000 150,000
Sep 22 30 189,000 175,000
Oct 22 31 198,000 178,000
Nov 21 30 205,000 182,000
Dec 22 31 200,000 176,000
From this data, determine (a) the AADT, (b) the ADT for each month, (c) the
AAWT, and (d) the AWT for each month. From this information, what can be
discerned about the character of the facility and the demand it serves?
The table below illustrates the computation of monthly ADT and AWT
values.
Table: ADT and AWT Computed
1 2 3 4 5 6=4/2 7=5/3
Days Weekdays Total Weekday ADT for AWT for
Month in in Volume Volume Month Month
Month Month (vehs) (vehs) (veh/day) (veh/day)
Jan 31 22 200,000 170,000 6,452 7,727
Feb 28 20 210,000 171,000 7,500 8,550
Mar 31 22 215,000 185,000 6,935 8,409
Apr 30 22 205,000 180,000 6,833 8,182
May 31 21 195,000 172,000 6,290 8,190
Jun 30 22 193,000 168,000 6,433 7,636
Jul 31 23 180,000 160,000 5,806 6,957
Aug 31 21 175,000 150,000 5,645 7,143
Sep 30 22 189,000 175,000 6,300 7,955
Oct 31 22 198,000 178,000 6,387 8,091
Nov 30 21 205,000 182,000 6,833 8,667
Dec 31 22 200,000 176,000 6,452 8,000
Total 365 260 2,365,000 2,067,000 77,868 95,507
3
The AADT is computed as the total annual volume divided by 365 days, or:
2,365,000
AADT = = 6,479 veh / day
365
The AAWT is computed as the total weekday volume divided by 260 days,
or:
2,067,000
AAWT = = 7,950 veh / day
260
Because the average weekday volume is higher than the total average
volume, it is likely that this is a commuter route. The difference is even
clearer if the average weekend traffic is computed. The total weekend
volume for the year is 2,365,000 – 2,067,000 = 298,000 vehs. There are 365‐
260 = 105 Saturdays and Sundays in the year. Then, the average weekend
traffic is computed as:
298,000
AAWET = = 2,838 veh / day
105
This is clearly NOT a recreational route, but one that serves a substantial
proportion of regular commuters.
5.5. A lane on a freeway displays the following characteristics: (a) the average headway
between vehicles is 2.8 s, and (b) the average spacing between vehicles is 235 ft.
What is the rate of flow for the lane? What is the average speed (in mi/h)?
Headway and Spacing can be converted to the macroscopic measures of
flow rate and density, as follows:
2600 3600
v= = = 1,286 veh / h / ln
h 2 .8
5280 5280
D= = = 22.5 veh / mi / ln
d 235
Speed is then computed as:
v 1286
S= = = 57.2 mi / h
D 22.5
4
5.6 The following counts were taken on a major arterial during the evening peak period:
Time Period Volume (vehs)
4:00 – 4:15 PM 450
4:15 – 4:30 PM 465
4:30 – 4:45 PM 490
4:45 – 5:00 PM 500
5:00 – 5:15 PM 503
5:15 – 5:30 PM 506
5:30 – 5:45 PM 460
5:45 – 6:00 PM 445
From this data, determine:
a) The peak hour.
b) The peak hour volume.
c) The peak flow rate within the peak hour.
d) The peak hour factor (PHF).
The determination of the peak hour is illustrated in the table that follows.
Note that the determination is made to the nearest 15 minutes by
computing all overlapping hourly volumes for each possible combination of
four consecutive 15‐minute periods between 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM.
Table: Finding the Peak Hour
Time Vol Hourly
Period (vehs) Vol
(vehs)
4:00-4:15 450 NA
4:15-4:30 465 NA
4:30-4:45 490 NA
4:45-5:00 500 1905
5:00-5:15 503 1958
5:15-5:30 506 1999
5:30-5:45 460 1969
5:45-6:00 445 1914
5
a) The highest hourly volume (within the study period) occurs between
4:30 and 5:30 PM.
b) The hourly volume is the volume for this hour, or 1,999 vehs/h.
c) The highest flow rate is the 15‐minute interval within the peak hour
with the highest 15‐minute volume. This is the period between 5:15
and 5:30 PM. The flow rate within this period is 506/0.25 = 2,024 veh/h.
d) The peak hour factor is 1999/2024 = 0.988.
5.7. A peak‐hour volume of 1,200 veh/h is observed on a freeway lane. What is the peak
flow rate within this hour if the PHF is 0.87?
The peak flow rate is found as:
V 1200
v= = = 1,379 veh / h
PHF 0.87
5.8. The flow rate on an arterial lane is 1,300 vehs/h. If the average speed in the same
lane is 35 mi/h, what is the density?
The density is found as:
v 1300
D= = = 37.1 veh / mi / ln
S 35
5.9. The AADT for a section of suburban arterial is 50,000 vehs/day. Assuming that
this is an urban radial facility, what range of directional design hour volumes
would be expected?
From textbook Table 5‐2, Page 109, for an urban radial facility, K factors
range from 0.07 to 0.12. D factors range from 0.55 to 0.60. Then:
DDHV = AADT * K * D
DDHVlow = 50,000 * 0.07 * 0.55 = 1,925 veh / h
DDHVhigh = 50,000 * 0.12 * 0.60 = 3,600 veh / h
6
This is a very broad range, and highlights the danger in using such
generalized factors for estimating demand.
5.10. The following travel times were measured for vehicles traversing a 1,000‐ft segment
of an arterial:
Vehicle Travel Time (s)
1 20.6
2 21.7
3 19.8
4 20.3
5 22.5
6 18.5
7 19.0
8 21.4
Determine the time mean speed (TMS) and space mean speed (SMS) for these
vehicles.
The TMS is computed as the arithmetic average of individual vehicle
speeds. The SMS is a speed computed using the average travel time of the
individual vehicles. These computations are shown in the table below.
Table: TMS and SMS Computed
Veh Travel Travel Travel Travel
No. Time Distance Speed Speed
(s) (ft) (ft/s) (mi/h)
1 20.6 1000 48.54 33.02
2 21.7 1000 46.08 31.35
3 19.8 1000 50.51 34.36
4 20.3 1000 49.26 33.51
5 22.5 1000 44.44 30.23
6 18.5 1000 54.05 36.77
7 19.0 1000 52.63 35.80
8 21.4 1000 46.73 31.79
Total 163.8 392.3 266.8
7
The TMS is now merely the average of the vehicle speeds, or 266.8/8 = 33.35
mi/h.
The SMS is based upon the average travel speed, or 163.8/8 = 20.475 s/veh.
Then:
1,000 48.84
SMS = = 48.84 ft / s = = 33.22 mi / h
20.465 1.47