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Traffic Studies
• Studies done for the analysis of the traffic characteristics.
CHAPTER 2 • Traffic Census: Survey done for the collecting traffic data.
OBJECTIVES:
TRAFFIC STUDIES • To collect facts on traffic & parking situations.
• To analyze: geometric design, traffic control measures,
future traffic prediction and road improvement.

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Types of Traffic Studies Traffic volume study

1. Traffic volume study • The number of the vehicles crossing a section of road per
2. Speed study; unit time at any selected period is called as traffic volume.
a. Spot speed study
• Traffic volume used as a quantity measure of traffic flow.
b. Speed and Delay study
3. Origin and Destination Study • Unit :vehicle/day, vehicle/hour etc.
4. Traffic flow characteristics • volume of different type of vehicle is usually converted
5. Traffic Capacity study into passenger car unit (PCU)
6. Parking Study
7. Accident Study
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Passenger Car Unit (PCU)
• Different type of vehicles offer different degree of
interference to other traffic & it is necessary to bring all
types to common unit.
• By using certain equivalency factor the flow is converted
to the equivalent passenger car unit.
• The flow is expressed as PCU/day or PCU/Hour.
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Objective and use of traffic volume study:
• It is the true measure of relative importance of roads, which is
important for improvement and expansion.
• Traffic volume is used in planning, traffic operation/control of
existing facilities and for planning new facilities.
• Classified volume is used for structural design of pavements.
• It is used to analyze traffic pattern and trends.
• It is used for design intersections, signal timings, channelization, and
other control devices.
• For the determination of one-way street or other regulatory measures.
• Pedestrian traffic volume is uses for planning and design of
sidewalks, cross walks, subways, and pedestrian signals.
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Passenger Car Unit (PCU)
• Nepal Standard Equivalency factor
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Types of Traffic Volume:
• Average annual traffic flow: expressed in vehicle per year.
• Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT): expressed in vehicles per day. It is
(1/365) th of the total annual traffic flow. Total number of vehicles passing
the site in a year is divided by 365 days. All vehicles are converted into
passenger car unit.
• Average Daily traffic (ADT): If the flow is not measured for all the 365
days, but only for few days (less than one year) the average flow is known as
Average Daily Traffic (ADT).
• Average Annual Weekday Traffic (AAWT): An average 24 hour traffic
volume occurring on weekdays over a full year.
• Average weekday traffic: An average 24 hour traffic volume occurring on
weekdays for some period less than one year, such as one month or one
season.
• Hourly flow: vehicle/hour, peak hour volume.
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Types of traffic counts

• Short term counts:
Methods of Traffic Counts:
– For determining traffic flow in peak hours.
– To measure saturation flow at signalized intersection 1. Manual count
• Count for full day 2. Combined Manual and Mechanical counter
– To determine hourly fluctuation of flow
– Used intersection counts 3. Automatic devices
• Count for full week: 4. Photographic Method.
– To determine hourly and daily fluctuation of flow
– For traffic survey in urban highways. 5. Moving observer method
• Continuous count:
– To determine fluctuation daily, weekly, seasonal and yearly flow.
– To determine annual traffic growth rate
– Very commonly used in developed
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Studies at selected sections. 9 CH-2 Traffic Studies 10

Methods of Traffic Counts:

1) Manual Count:
• The prescribed record sheet is provided for manual
count.
• Vehicles are counted by the method of five dash
system.
• Nos. of observers are needed to count the vehicle on
the basis of the no. of the lane and desired
information.
• Normally used for less than one day.
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Traffic count analysis sheet

2. Combined Manual and Mechanical Counter
Road Link: EW Highway, at Lahan Station:

Name of Road: Belbari Chauharwa (B-C) Surveyed by: Manoj Prajapati

Seasonal Variation Factor: 0.85 Supervised by:Firoj Shrestha
• Multiple pen recorders.
Motorized Vehicle Non Motorized
Truck Bus • The chart moves continuously at the speed of clock.

Car/Jeep/Taxi

Utility/Pick up

Auto Rikshaw
Total

Motor Cycle
Power triller

Animal cart

Rikshaw
Start Time

Tractor
3-Axle

2-Axle

Bicycle
Large

Micro
Mini

Mini
• Different pens records the occurrence of different events
06:00 - 18:00
a b

24 19 77 81 16 19
a b a b a b a b a

96 83 41 40 112 108 90 82 16 16 42 59 52 52
b a b a b a b a b a b a

4 1 625 594 18 8 38 38 857 888

b a b a b a b a

2108
b (a+b)

2088 4196
on the chart.
18:00 - 06:00 585
41 40 46 39 10 3 103 60 12 5 16 13 17 21 8 5 6 7 31 31 3 0 87 134 11 2 7 9 187 169 538 1123
Sub-Total 65 59 123 120 26 22 199 143 53 45 128 121 107 103 24 21 48 66 83 83 7 1 712 728 29 10 45 47 1044 1057 2693 2626 5321

Total (a+b) 124 243 48 342 98 249 210 45 114 166 8 1440 39 92 2101 5319
Composition,
2.3 4.6 0.9 6.4 1.8 4.7 3.9 0.8 2.1 3.1 0.2 27.1 0.7 1.7 39.5 100
%

PCU Factors 4 3 1.5 3 2.5 1.5 1 1 0.75 1.5 1.5 1.5 8 1 0.5

PCU, ADT 496 729 72 1026 245 374 210 45 86 249 12 2160 312 92 1051 7158
AADT, PCU 422 620 61 872 208 317 179 38 73 212 10 1836 265 78 893 6084
Note:
Diection a: East to west
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3. Automatic Devices
a. Pneumatic tube (Road Tube)
- Consists of a detector/impulse/simulation
a. Pneumatic tube (Road Tube) • Flexible tube with one end selected is clamped to the load
b. Electric contact surface at right angles to the pavement.
c. Co-axial cable • Other end connected to a diagram actuated switch.
d. Photo-electric
e. Radar
f. Infra-red
g. Magnetic Field

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Pneumatic tube Recorder

b.Electric contact: A pair of steel strip is contained in a
rubber pad which is buried beneath the road surface.
c. Co-axial cable: A co-axial cable is clamped across the
road surface, with the capability of generating signals
with passage of axles.
d. Photo-electric: A source of light is installed on the one
side of the road, which emits a beam of light across the
road.

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e. Radar: A radar may detect the vehicle moving at a speed.
f. Infra-red :Infra-red sensors can detect the heat radiated
from a vehicle.
g. Magnetic Field :Magnetic field is provided by a wire coil
which is buried beneath the road surface.
4. Video Photographic Method:
• Its analysis can be done at office by replaying the cassette.
5. Moving observer Method:
• The volume as well as speed can be measured by
travelling in a car against and with the traffic flow, noting
down the journey time, the number of vehicles overtaking
the test vehicles.

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Presentation and analysis of traffic Presentation and analysis of traffic

volume data
• Data collected during the traffic volume study are sorted out
and are presented in any of the following forms depending
upon requirements:
– Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT): It is 1/365th of the
total annual traffic flow. It is expressed in terms of PCU &
used for future development of the road.
– Trend Chart: It shows the volume trends over the period of
years. By extrapolating the data we can estimate the future
volume prediction.
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volume data
– Variation Chart: For the presentation of hourly, daily,
weekly variations such charts are prepared.
– Traffic flow at intersection shown by thick lines: The
thicknesses of the lines are made as per the traffic volume.
– Traffic Flow Maps : Graphical representation of traffic
volume along the routes of the road network.
• 30th highest hourly volume: It is the hourly volume that will
be exceeded only 29 times in a year & all other hourly
volumes of the year will be less than this value. There will be
congestion only 29 hours in a year and is taken as hourly
volume for design purpose.
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Trend chart Hourly Variation

4500
yearly trend of AADT (Trend Chart) Hourly variation of traffic flow
4000

1000
3500
900

800
3000
700

2500 600

500
2000 400

300
1500
200

100
1000
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
500

0
1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

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Traffic flow map

Traffic flow at Intersection

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Poisson’s Probability distribution. Probability having n vehicles arriving in time t is

• Known as counting distribution in traffic

engineering.
• Most widely used situation of Poisson’s
distribution is the arrival pattern of vehicles,
which is random phenomenon.
• t – Duration of the time interval over which vehicles are
counted, second;
• n – Vehicles number;
• λ – Average flow rate in vehicle per unit time veh/sec.
• Empirically, the Poisson distribution arrival time is most
realistic in lightly congested traffic conditions.
• As traffic flows become heavily congested, this model is not
appropriate

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• Solution: 360 veh/h=0.1 veh/sec.

• Example:
• A roadway has an average hourly volume of 360
• P(1) = 0.271
vehicles/hour. Assuming the arrival of vehicles in Poisson
distributed, estimate the probability of having 0, 1, 2, 4, • P(2) = 0.271
and 5 or more vehicles arriving over a 20 sec time interval • P(3) = 0.18
• P(4) = 0.09
• For five or more vehicles P(>=5) = 1-P(n<5)
= 1-0.135-0.271-0.271-0.18-0.09=0.053.
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• Spot speed
2. Speed Study
– an instantaneous speed of a vehicle at a specific location.
• Speed is factor influencing traffic flow on existing road. i.e.55-60 km/hr.
• Speed studies are essential for: – For determination of spot speed fixed distance is given.
– From first point to end point time is recorded. From this
– Traffic operation like sign location and timings,
the spot speed is calculated.
establishing speed zones etc.
• Running speed
– Geometric design of elements like curvatures, super
– the average speed of vehicles along a given section or road
elevation, stopping sight distance etc. excluding delays at controlled intersections.

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• Journey speed • There are two types of average speed

• Average speed:
– average spot speed of several vehicles passing a
specific section
• Application of average speed:
– For the traffic control & regulation in geometric design,
accident studies etc.
– effect of traffic flow constraints like bridge & intersection.
– Average speed is affected by physical characteristics of road
like pavement width, curve, sight distance and grade
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• Space mean speed : Average speed of vehicles over a
certain road length at any time. It is the harmonic mean of
speeds observed at a point. It is calculated using the
average travel time and length of the roadway.
n - Number of individual vehicle observation;
L- Length of the road section; m
ti - observed travel time in sec for the i th vehicle to travel L m.
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• Time mean speed(spot speed): Average speed at a point • Numerical :

over a period of time. It is the arithmetic mean of the 1. Three vehicles are travelling 1km distance;
speeds observed at a point. It represents speed distribution – Vehicle A: 1.2 min
of vehicles at a point. – Vehicle B: 1.5 min
– Vehicle C: 1.7 min
What is the average speed of three vehicles?

Vi observed instantaneous speed of the i th vehicle

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• Numerical: Types of speed studies

2. Three cars with speed 20 kmph, 40 kmph and 60 kmph
travelling length of 2km. Determine the time mean speed a. Spot speed study
& space mean speed. b. Speed and delay study

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a. Spot speed study • Spot speed are affected by

– Physical features of the road like pavement width,
Uses of Spot Speed study curve radius, sight distance, gradient etc.
• Geometric Design – Environmental conditions like weather.
• Regulation & control of traffic operation – Traffic condition, driver, vehicle etc.
• Analyzing the causes of accidents
• Determining the problems of congestion in the road
section
• Capacity study

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Methods of Spot speed measurement: General consideration for the site selection
for spot speed measurement:
–Direct timing method • Location selection should be according to the specific
purpose;
–Enoscope method
• Minimum influence to the traffic flow and their speed by
–Pressure contact tube method the survey team and equipments;
–Radar speed-meter • Generally straight, level and open section should be
–Photographic method selected.

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Direct timing procedure Enoscope method

• Simple method • It is a simple device consisting of L-shaped mirror box,
• Two reference points are marked on the pavement at a suitable open at both ends. It has a mirror set fixed at 45 degree to
distance apart and an observer starts and stops an accurate stopwatch the arms of the instrument as in figure
as a vehicle crosses these two marks.
• One observer stands at the first reference point and gives signal to
the observer standing at last reference point (with stopwatch).
• From the known distance and measured time intervals spot speed is
calculated;
• Large effects may occur due to the parallax effect;
• Reaction of individual observer may affect the result.
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• An enoscope is placed in such a way that the image of the Pressure contact tubes
vehicle is seen by the observer, when the vehicle crosses
the section where the enoscopes is fixed, and at this • In this method detectors are used to indicate the time of
instant the stop watch is stopped. entering and leaving the base length by the vehicle.

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Radar speed meter Photographic and video camera method

• This automatic device works on the Doppler principle
that the speed of a moving body is proportional to the
change in frequency between the radio wave transmitted
to the moving body and the radio wave received back. It
directly measures speed.
• Time-lapse camera photography has been used to
determine the speed of the vehicles. In this method,
photographs are taken
• By projecting the film on the screen, the passage of any
vehicle can be traced with reference to time.
• Video camera also can be used to measure the speed of
the vehicle

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Presentation and analysis of spot speed data Grouping of data and presentation
• Large amount of data could be presented by arranging
i. Tabular presentation them in a frequency table.
ii. Graphical presentation • First data should be grouped into suitable class interval.
iii. 15th percentile speed • Size of class interval:
iv. Arithmetic mean or average spot speed
• Tabular presentation:
– grouping of spot speeds into speed ranges to facilitate easy • Where, i is the class interval, N is the number of
computation. observations.

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Presentation and analysis of spot speed data Presentation and analysis of spot speed data
• Graphical presentation:
– Histogram and cumulative frequency curves • 15th percentile speed: 15% of vehicles move below this
– Modal speed: peak of the frequency curve. (Mode of the speed. It is used for determining minimum speed limit for
distribution) major highways. i.e. Lower speed limit.
– Median Speed: 50th percentile speed • Arithmetic mean or average spot speed: Summation of
– 98th percentile speed: below this speed 98% of vehicles
move, and it is taken as design speed for the geometric all variable speed divided by the number of observations.
design.
– 85th percentile speed: 85% of the vehicles move below this
speed. It is used to establish upper speed limit for traffic
management. It is taken as limit of safe speed in the road.

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Histogram: The cumulative percentage frequency diagram:

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Numerical Example Numerical Example

1. Spot speed studies were carried out at a certain stretch of a highway and 2. The table below gives the consolidated data of spot speed studies on a
the data collected are given below. section of a road. Determine
(i) The upper and lower values or speed limits for regulation of mixed
Class 26- 30- 34- 38- 42- 46- 50- 54- 58- 62- traffic flow,
Limit 29.9 33.9 37.9 41.9 45.9 49.9 53.9 57.9 61.9 65.9 (ii) The design speed for checking the geometric design elements of the
Freq. highway,
9 74 79 75 66 33 17 6 1 3
(iii) Most preferred speed at which maximum proportion of vehicles
travels.
• Determine:
(i) Upper speed limit, (ii) Lower speed limit, (iii) Speed to check Speed
design elements, (iv) Modal speed range, 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 60-70 70-80 80-90
(v) Median speed kmph
No. of
2 11 30 105 233 216 68 24 3
obs
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Speed and Delay Study Uses of Speed and delay study

• Speed & delay studies give the running speed, overall
speed, fluctuations in speed & the delay between two
stations of a road spaced far apart.
• Find out journey during economic study.
• Evaluate congestions, capacity, service level &
improvement needs.
• Delay study at intersections for traffic control devices.
• Traffic planning studies for the determination of travel
time.

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Methods for speed & Delay study 1. Floating car Method

• A number of test runs are made along the study section.
1. Floating car Method: (Moving observer • Group of observers record the various details
method/riding check method) • First observer: (with two stop watches)
2. License plate or vehicle number method – To record the time at various control points like intersections,
3. Interview technique signals, stop sign, bridges, etc.
– To find the duration of individual delays and total journey time
4. Elevated observation
• Second observer:
5. Photographic technique
– To record the time, location & cause of these delays (tabular
form/voice recording)

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Floating car Method Floating car Method

• Third observer:
– To note the number of vehicles overtaking the test vehicle &
that overtaken by the test vehicle in each trip.
• Fourth observer:
– To note the number of vehicles travelling in the opposite
direction in each trip.
In mixed traffic flow more observers will be required to count
different classes of vehicles.
Nos. of test runs are made along the study section and group of
observers records various details.
Where,
• q- flow of vehicles(volume per min), in one direction of the stream
• x- average number of vehicles counted in the direction of the stream
when the test vehicle travelling against the stream
• y- average number of vehicles overtaking the test vehicle minus the
number of vehicles overtaken when the test vehicle travelling with
the stream
• ta - average journey time in minute when the test vehicle is travelling
against the stream
• tw - average journey time in minute when the test vehicle is travelling
with the stream

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Mean journey time of all the vehicles in the Numerical example

stream
• The following tables give the particulars collected for a
section of road 0.7km long during the course of a moving
observer study:
– Calculate the flow in PCU per hour in both directions of traffic
Mean Journey Speed =distance /average t assuming an equivalency factor of 1 per car, 3 for bus and 2 for
trucks.
– Calculate the journey speed and running speed.
Mean running Speed =distance /(average t –delay)

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Journey: North bound

South Bound Journey
Run no Journey Stopped Vehicles met with in the opposing direction Vehicles in the same
Run Journey Stopped Vehicles met with in the opposing Vehicles in the same
time(min) time(min) direction no time(min) time(min) direction direction
Car Bus Truck Overtaking Overtaken Car Bus Truck Overtakin Overtake
vehicles Vehicles
g vehicles n
1 1.01 0.04 11 0 5 1 0 Vehicles
2 0.92 0.1 13 0 0 2 1 1 1 0.05 10 0 2 1 1
3 0.77 0.08 19 2 11 1 1 2 0.87 0.07 2 0 3 1 0
4 1.03 0.14 14 2 4 1 0 3 1.2 0.11 23 1 6 2 1
5 0.84 0.08 2 0 11 0 1 4 1.18 0.12 7 0 1 2 0
6 1.06 0.13 19 1 7 2 1
5 1.06 0.09 8 0 1 1 1
6 1.02 0.1 11 0 8 2 0

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Journey: North bound

Run no Journey Stopped Vehicles met with in the opposing direction Vehicles in the same South Bound Journey
time(min) time(min) direction Run Journey Stopped Vehicles met with in the opposing Vehicles in the same
Car Bus Truck Overtaking Overtaken
no time(min) time(min) direction direction
vehicles Vehicles
Car Bus Truck Overtakin Overtake
g vehicles n
1 1.01 0.04 11 0 5 1 0 Vehicles
2 0.92 0.1 13 0 0 2 1 1 1 0.05 10 0 2 1 1
3 0.77 0.08 19 2 11 1 1 2 0.87 0.07 2 0 3 1 0
4 1.03 0.14 14 2 4 1 0 3 1.2 0.11 23 1 6 2 1
5 0.84 0.08 2 0 11 0 1 4 1.18 0.12 7 0 1 2 0
6 1.06 0.13 19 1 7 2 1 5 1.06 0.09 8 0 1 1 1
6 1.02 0.1 11 0 8 2 0
Total 5.63 0.57 78 5 38 7 4
Total 6.33 0.54 61 1 21 9 3

PCU= 78 + 5x3 +38x2=169

PCU = 61 + 1x3 +
Av 0.94 0.1 169/6=28 1.2 0.7
21x2=106
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106/6=18 1.5 0.5 68
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q- flow of vehicles in one direction of the stream ==

= 0.89min

=0.99min

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• Mean running time in north bound direction:

=average tn-Stoped time=0.89-0.1=0.79min
• So; Running speed in North bound direction=
Mean journey speed in North bound direction

Mean journey speed in South bound direction Mean running time in South bound direction
= average ts-Stoped time=0.99-0.09 =0.9min
So running speed in North bound direction=

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2.License plate/vehicle number methods
• The timing of the vehicle numbers are noted by the
observer of the selected sample. Observers are stationed at
the entrance and exit of the test sections. From the
computation travel time of each vehicle could be found
(does not give important information)
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3. Interview Technique:
• By interviewing & collecting details from the road users on
the spot.
4. Elevated observation and Photographic techniques
methods are used for specific situations like in intersection
etc.
• Observer stationed on top of an elevated building.
• Select vehicles randomly and follow their course along the
road record the entry time to the test section, duration and
nature of delay suffered and outing time of leaving.
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