References 16 9

The average delay per vehicle is 9 .95 min (37,604 .2/3777 .5) . The longest wait of an y
vehicle (the longest horizontal distance between the arrival and departure curves), assumin g
a FIFO queuing discipline, will be the delay time of the 633 .33rd vehicle to arrive . Thi s
vehicle will arrive 13 .1 minutes (633 .33/48 .33) after 8 :00 A.M. and will depart at 8 :31 A .M . ,
being delayed a total of _179_min .

NOMENCLATURE FOR CHAPTER 5

D deterministic arrivals or departure s Qmax maximum length of queu e
D, total vehicle dela y s vehicle spacing
h vehicle time headwa y t time
k traffic density t average time spent in the syste m
k, traffic jam density u space-mean speed (also denoted us )
kcap traffic density at capacit y
ui spot speed of vehicle i
l roadway length
of free-flow spee d
M exponentially distributed arrivals or departure s
u~'aP speed at capacity
n number of vehicles
space-mean speed (also denoted simply as u )
ne departure channel number us

N total number of departure channel s -

1d- time-mean speed
q traffic flow -5
14 average time waiting in the queue
q c.a1, traffic flow at capacity (maximum traffi c 2 arrival rate
flow) departure rate
P
Q length of queue traffic intensit y
P
Q average length of queue

REFERENCE S
Drew, D . R . "Deterministic Aspects of Freewa y Transportation Research Board . Traffic Flow Theory : A
Operations and Control ." Highway Researc h Monograph . Special Report 165 . Washington, DC :
Record, 99, 1965 . National Research Council, 1975 .
Pipes, L . A . "Car Following Models and th e Transportation Research Board. Highway Capacity
Fundamental Diagram of Road Traffic . " Manual. Washington, DC : National Research
Transportation Research, vol . 1, no . 1, 1967 . Council, 2000 .
Poch, M ., and F . Mannering . "Negative Binomia l
Analysis of Intersection-Accident Frequencies, "
Journal of Transportation Engineering, vol . 122 ,
no . 2, March/April 1996 .


170 Chapter 5 Fundamentals of Traffic Flow and Queuing Theor y

PROBLEM S

5 .1 On a specific westbound section of highway, space-mean speed for these vehicles for this tim e
studies show that the speed-density relationship is period? (Note : Be careful with rounding. )
5.7 For Problem 5 .6, calculate the space-mean spee d
assuming you were provided with only an aerial phot o
u=u f of the circling race cars and the constant travel speed o f
each of the vehicles .
5.8 An observer has determined that the time headway s
It is known that the capacity is 3800 veh/h and the jam between successive vehicles on a section of highway ar e
density is 225 veh/mi . What is the space-mean speed o f exponentially distributed and that 60% of the headway s
the traffic at capacity, and what is the free-flow speed? between vehicles are 13 seconds or greater . If the
5.2 A section of highway has a speed-flow relationshi p observer decides to count traffic in 30-second tim e
of the form intervals, estimate the probability of the observer
counting exactly four vehicles in an interval .
q = au 2 + b u 5 .9 At a specified point on a highway, vehicles ar e
known to arrive according to a Poisson process .
It is known that at capacity (which is 2900 veh/h) th e
Vehicles are counted in 20-second intervals, and vehicl e
space-mean speed of traffic is 30 mi/h . Determine th e
counts are taken in 120 of these time intervals . It i s
speed when the flow is 1400 veh/h and the free-flo w
noted that no cars arrive in 18 of these 120 intervals .
speed .
Approximate the number of these 120 intervals in whic h
5.3 A section of highway has the following flow - exactly three cars arrive .
density relationship :
5 .10 For the data collected in Problem 5 .9, estimate the
percentage of time headways that will be 10 seconds or
q = 50k — 0 .156k2 greater and those that will be less than 6 seconds .
What is the capacity of the highway section, the spee d 5 .11 A vehicle pulls out onto a single-lane highway that
at capacity, and the density when the highway is at one - has a flow rate of 280 veh/h (Poisson distributed) . The
quarter of its capacity? driver of the vehicle does not look for oncoming traffic .
5 .4 Assume you are observing traffic in a single lane of Road conditions and vehicle speeds on the highway are
a highway at a specific location . You measure th e such that it takes 1 .5 seconds for an oncoming vehicle to
average headway and average spacing of passing stop once the brakes are applied . Assuming a standard
vehicles as 3 seconds and 150 ft, respectively . Calculate driver reaction time of 2 .5 seconds, what is the
the flow, average speed, and density of the traffi c probability that the vehicle pulling out will get in a n
stream in this lane . accident with oncoming traffic ?
5 .5 Assume you are an observer standing at a poin t 5 .12 Consider the conditions in Problem 5 .11 . How
along a three-lane roadway . All vehicles in lane 1 are short would the driver reaction times of oncomin g
traveling at 30 mi/h, all vehicles in lane 2 are travelin g vehicles have to be for the probability of an accident to
at 45 mi/h, and all vehicles in lane 3 are traveling at 6 0 equal 0 .15 ?
mi/h . There is also a constant spacing of 0 .5 mil e 5 .13 A toll booth on a turnpike is open from 8 :00 A .M .
between vehicles . If you collect spot speed data for al l to 12 midnight . Vehicles start arriving at 7 :45 A .M . at a
vehicles as they cross your observation point, for 3 0 uniform deterministic rate of six per minute until 8 :1 5
minutes, what will be the time-mean speed and space - A .M . and from then on at two per minute . If vehicles are
mean speed for this traffic stream ? processed at a uniform deterministic rate of six per
5 .6 Four race cars are traveling on a 2 .5-mile tri-ova l minute, determine when the queue will dissipate, th e
track. The four cars are traveling at constant speeds o f total delay, the maximum queue length (in vehicles), th e
195 mi/h, 190 mi/h, 185 mi/h, and 180 mi/h , longest vehicle delay under FIFO, and the longes t
respectively . Assume you are an observer standing at a vehicle delay under LIFO .
point on the track for a period of 30 minutes and ar e 5 .14 Vehicles begin to arrive at a parking lot at 6 :0 0
recording the instantaneous speed of each vehicle as i t A .M . at a rate of eight per minute . Due to an accident o n
crosses your point . What is the time-mean speed and the access highway, no vehicles arrive from 6 :20 to 6 :30

From 6 :30 A .M . on, vehicles arrive at a rate of tw o
A .M .
per minute . The parking lot attendant processe s
incoming vehicles (collects parking fees) at a rate of
four per minute throughout the day . Assuming D/D/ I
queuing, determine total vehicle delay .
5 .15 The arrival rate at a parking lot is 6 veh/min .
Vehicles start arriving at 6 :00 P .M ., and when the queu e
reaches 36 vehicles, service begins . If company policy
is that total vehicle delay should be equal to 500 veh-
min, what is the departure rate? (Assume D/D/1 queuing
and a constant service rate . )
5.16 Vehicles begin to arrive at a toll booth at 8 :50 A .M .
with an arrival rate of .l(t) = 4 .1 + 0 .01t [with t i n
minutes and 2(t) in vehicles per minute] . The toll booth
opens at 9 :00 A .M . and processes vehicles at a rate of 1 2
per minute throughout the day . Assuming D/D/ 1
queuing, when will the queue dissipate and what will b e
the total vehicle delay ?
5 .17 Vehicles begin to arrive at a toll booth at 7 :50 A .M .
with an arrival rate of ,%(t) = 5 .2 — 0 .01t (with t i n
minutes after 7 :50 A .M . and .% in vehicles per minute) .
The toll booth opens at 8 :00 A .M . and serves vehicles at
a rate of ,u(t) = 3 .3 + 2 .4t (with tin minutes after 8 :0 0
A .M . and p in vehicles per minute) . Once the service rat e
reaches 10 veh/min, it stays at that level for the rest o f
the day . If queuing is D/D/1, when will the queue that
formed at 7 :50 A .M . be cleared?
5 .18 Vehicles arrive at a freeway on-ramp meter at a
constant rate of six per minute starting at 6 :00 A .M .
Service begins at 6 :00 A .M . such that µ(t) = 2 + 0 .5t,
where ,u(t) is in veh/min and t is in minutes after 6 :00
A .M . What is the total delay and the maximum queu e
length (in vehicles)?
5 .19 Vehicles arrive at a tollbooth according to th e
function 2(t) = 5 .2 — 0 .20t, where 2(t) is in vehicles per
minute and t is in minutes . The toll booth operator
processes one vehicle every 20 seconds . Determine total
delay, maximum queue length, and the time that the
20th vehicle to arrive waits from its arrival to its
departure .
5 .20 There are 10 vehicles in a queue when an
attendant opens a toll booth . Vehicles arrive at the booth
at a rate of 4 per minute . The attendant opens the booth
and improves the service rate over time following th e
function ,u(t) = 1 .1 + 0 .301, where ,u(t) is in vehicles pe r
minute and t is in minutes . When will the queue clear,
what is the total delay, and what is the maximum queu e
length?
5 .21 Vehicles begin to arrive at a parking lot at 6 :0 0
A.M . with an arrival rate function (in vehicles per
Problems 17 1
minute) of 2(t) = 1 .2 + 0 .3t, where t is in minutes . At
6 :10 A .M . the parking lot opens and processes vehicle s
at a rate of 12 per minute . What is the total delay an d
the maximum queue length ?
5 .22 At a parking lot, vehicles arrive according to a
Poisson process and are processed (parking fe e
collected) at a uniform deterministic rate at a singl e
station . The mean arrival rate is 4 veh/min and th e
processing rate is 5 veh/min . Determine the average
length of queue, the average time spent in the system ,
and the average waiting time in the queue .
5 .23 Consider the parking lot and conditions describe d
in Problem 5 .22 . If the rate at which vehicles are
processed became exponentially distributed (instead o f
deterministic) with a mean processing rate of 5 veh/min ,
what would be the average length of queue, the averag e
time spent in the system, and the average waiting tim e
in the queue'?
5 .24 Vehicles arrive at a toll booth with a mean arriva l
rate of 2 veh/min (the time between arrivals i s
exponentially distributed) . The toll booth operato r
processes vehicles (collects tolls) at a unifor m
deterministic rate of one every 20 seconds . What is th e
average length of queue, the average time spent in th e
system, and the average waiting time in the queue ?
5 .25 A business owner decides to pass out fre e
transistor radios (along with a promotional brochure) a t
a booth in a parking lot. The owner begins giving the
radios away at 9 :15 A .M . and continues until 10 :00 A .M .
Vehicles start arriving for the radios at 8 :45 A .M . at a
uniform deterministic rate of 4 per minute and continue
to arrive at this rate until 9 :15 A .M . From 9 :15 to 10 :0 0
A .M . the arrival rate becomes 8 per minute . The radio s
and brochures are distributed at a uniform deterministic
rate of 11 cars per minute over the 45-minute time
period . Determine total delay, maximum queue length ,
and longest vehicle delay assuming FIFO and LIFO .
5 .26 Consider the conditions described in Problem
5 .25 . Suppose the owner decides to accelerate the radio -
brochure distribution rate (in veh/min) so that the queu e
that forms will be cleared by 9 :45 A .M . What would thi s
new distribution rate be ?
5 .27 A ferryboat queuing lane holds 30 vehicles . If
vehicles are processed (tolls collected) at a unifor m
deterministic rate of 4 vehicles per minute an d
processing begins when the lane reaches capacity, what
is the uniform deterministic arrival rate if the vehicl e
queue is cleared 30 minutes after vehicles begin t o
arrive?
172 Chapter 5 Fundamentals of Traffic Flow and Queuing Theor y
5.28 At a toll booth, vehicles arrive and are processe d
(tolls collected) at uniform deterministic rates 2 and ,u,
respectively . The arrival rate is 2 veh/min . Processin g
begins 13 minutes after the arrival of the first vehicle ,
and the queue dissipates t minutes after the arrival of the
first vehicle . Letting the number of vehicles that must
actually wait in a queue be x, develop an expression for
determining processing rates in terms of x .
5 .29 Vehicles arrive at a recreational park booth at a
uniform deterministic rate of 4 veh/min . If uniform
deterministic processing of vehicles (collecting of fees )
begins 30 minutes after the first arrival and the tota l
delay is 3600 veh-min, how long after the arrival of th e
first vehicle will it take for the queue to be cleared ?
5 .30 Trucks begin to arrive at a truck weigh station
(with a single scale) at 6 :00 A .M . at a deterministic but
time-varying rate of 2(t) = 4 .3 — 0 .22t [2(t) is in veh/min
and t is in minutes] . The departure rate is a constant 2
vehlmin (time to weigh a truck is 30 seconds) . When
will the queue that forms be cleared, what will be the
total delay, and what will be the maximum queu e
length ?
5 .31 Vehicles begin to arrive at a remote parking lo t
after the start of a major sporting event. They are
arriving at a deterministic but time-varying rate of 2.(t) =
3 .3 — 0 .1 t [2(t) is in vehlmin and t is in minutes] . Th e
parking lot attendant processes vehicles (assigns space s
and collects fees) at a deterministic rate at a singl e
station . A queue exceeding four vehicles will back u p
onto a congested street, and is to be avoided . How man y
vehicles per minute must the attendant process to ensur e
that the queue does not exceed four vehicles ?
5 .32 A truck weighing station has a single scale . Th e
time between truck arrivals at the station i s
exponentially distributed with a mean arrival rate of 1 . 5
veh/min . The time it takes vehicles to be weighed i s
exponentially distributed with a mean rate of 2 veh/min.
When more than 5 trucks are in the system, the queu e
backs up onto the highway and interferes with through
traffic . What is the probability that the number of trucks
in the system will exceed 5 ?
5 .33 Consider the convenience store described i n
Example 5 .12 . The owner is concerned about customer s
not finding an available parking space when they arriv e
during the busiest hour . How many spaces must b e
provided for there to be less than a 1% chance of a n
arriving customer not finding an open parking space ?
5 .34 Vehicles arrive at a toll bridge at a rate of 43 0
veh/h (the time between arrivals is exponentiall y
distributed) . Two toll booths are open and each can
process arrivals (collect tolls) at a mean rate of 1 0
seconds per vehicle (the processing time is als o
exponentially distributed) . What is the total time spen t
in the system by all vehicles in a 1-hour period?
5 .35 Vehicles leave an airport parking facility (arrive a t
parking fee collection booths) at a rate of 500 veh/h (th e
time between arrivals is exponentially distributed) . Th e
parking facility has a policy that the average time a
patron spends in a queue waiting to pay for parking i s
not to exceed 5 seconds . If the time required to pay fo r
parking is exponentially distributed with a mean of 1 5
seconds, what is the smallest number of payment
processing booths that must be open to keep the averag e
time spent in a queue below 5 seconds ?
Multiple Choice Problem s
5 .36 Five minivans and three trucks are traveling on a
3 .0 mile circular track and complete a full lap in 98 .0 ,
108 .0, 113 .0, 108 .0, 102 .0, 101 .0, 85 .0, and 95 seconds ,
respectively. Assuming all the vehicles are traveling a t
constant speeds, what is the time-mean speed of th e
minivans? Pay attention to rounding .
a) 102 .332 mi/h
b) 107 .417 mi/h
c) 102 .079 mi/h
d) 102 .400 mi/h
5 .37 Vehicles arrive at an intersection at a rate of 40 0
veh/h, and according to a Poisson distribution . What i s
the probability that more than five vehicles will arrive i n
a one-minute interval?
a) 0 .794 4
b) 0 .656 0
c) 0 .654 7
d) 0 .155 2
5.38 In studying of traffic flow at a highway toll boot h
over a course of 60 minutes, it is determined that th e
arrival and departure rates are deterministic, but no t
uniform . The arrival rate is found to vary according t o
the function /l(t) = 1 .8 + 0 .25t 0 .0030t2 . The departure
rate function is ,u(t) = 1 .4 + 0 .11t . In both of thes e
functions, t is in minutes after the beginning of th e
observation and .1.(t) and ,u(t) are in vehicles per minute .
At what time does the maximum queue length occur ?
a) 49 .4 mi n
b) 2 .7 mi n
c) 19 .4 mi n
d) 60 .0 min
 Problems 17 3

5 .39 A theme park has a single entrance gate where 5 .41 A toll road with three toll booths has an arriva l
visitors must stop and pay for parking . The average rate of 850 veh/h and drivers take an average of 1 5
arrival rate during the peak hour is 200 veh/h and i s seconds to pay their tolls . If the arrival and departur e
Poisson distributed . It takes, on average, 15 seconds per times are determined to be exponentially distributed ,
vehicle to pay for parking. What is the average waitin g how would the probability of waiting in a queue chang e
time for this queuing system? if a fourth toll both were opened ?
a) 4 .167 min/veh a) 0 .08 8
b) 1 .50 min/veh b) 0 .53 4
c) 1 .25 min/veh c) 0 .31 3
d) 0 .625 min/veh d) 0 .847

5 .40 At an impaired driver checkpoint, the tim e

required to conduct the impairment test varie s
depending on the compliance of the driver, but takes 3 0
seconds on average . If an average of 60 vehicles pe r
hour arrive at the checkpoint, determine the average
time spent in the system .
a) 0 .017 min/veh
b) 0 .75 min/veh
c) 0 .5 min/veh
d) 1 min/ve h