2 Traffic Engineering PDF

Chapter 2
TRAFFIC ENGINEERING
TRAFFIC ENGINEERING
➢ Deals with the techniques to achieve the safe and efficient movement of
people and goods.
DEFINITIONS
Traffic: the users (vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, etc.) of the road
Volume (V): the number of vehicles, pedestrians, etc. passing a point during a specified period of time,
usually expressed as veh/hour (vph), veh/day (vpd), veh/year.
Demand: the number of vehicles, pedestrians, etc. that desire to travel between locations during a
specific period of time. On peak times, the demand volume is highest.
Flow Rate (q): the equivalent hourly rate at which vehicles pass over a given point or section of a lane or
roadway during a given time interval of less than 1 hour, usually, 15 minutes.
Peak Hour Factor (PHF): the ratio of the total hourly volume to the peak flow rate within the hour.
Capacity: the maximum number of vehicles that can pass a point during a specific period of time.
Congestion: occurs when demand exceeds capacity
DEFINITIONS
Speed: the rate of motion expressed as distance per unit time, generally in kilometer/hour (kph)
Density (D): the number of vehicles, pedestrians, etc. occupying a given length of a lane or roadway at a
particular instant and is usually expressed as vehicles per kilometer (vpk or veh/km) or passenger cars per
kilometer (pc/km).
Spacing (S): the distance between successive vehicles in a traffic stream, measured from the same point on each
vehicle (example: front bumper, rear bumper, etc.)
Headway (h): the time interval between successive vehicles as they pass a point on a lane or roadway, also
measured from the same point on each vehicle. Headway can be easily measured with stopwatch observations
as vehicles pass a point on the roadway.
Delay: the amount of time the vehicle user spent on the roadway during a stop or no movement.
Volume (V)
➢ The number of vehicles, pedestrians, etc. passing a point during a specified period of time,
usually expressed as veh/hour (vph), veh/day (vpd), veh/year
Demand Volume
➢ The number of vehicles,
pedestrians, etc. that desire to
travel between locations
during a specific period of
time. On peak times, the
demand volume is highest
Volume (V)
Daily volumes (veh/day): are used to establish trends over time and for planning purposes. Daily
volumes generally are not differentiated by direction or lane but are totals for an entire facility
at the specified location.
Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT)

➢ The average 24-hour traffic volume at
a given location over a full 365-day AADT =
 Annual Traffic Volume
year 365
➢ The total number of vehicles passing
the site in a year divided by 365
Volume (V)
Average Annual Weekday Traffic (AAWT)

➢ The average 24-hour traffic volume
occurring on weekdays over a full year.
➢ Computed by dividing the total weekday
AAWT =
 Annual Weekday Volume
traffic volume for the year by 260. 260
➢ This volume is of considerable interest
where weekend traffic is light
Volume (V)
Average Daily Traffic (ADT)

➢ Average 24-hour traffic volume at a given
location for some period of time less than a
year. ADT =
 Total Volume
➢ While an AADT is for a full year, an ADT No. of Observation Days
may be measured for six months, a season,
a month, a week or as little as two days.
➢ An ADT is a valid number only for a period
over which it was measured
Volume (V)
Average Weekday Traffic (AWT)

➢ Average 24-hour traffic volume occurring
on weekdays for some period of time less AWT =
 Weekday Traffic Volume
than one year, such as for a month or a No. of Observed Weekdays
season
Volume (V)
AADT and AAWT are used for several transportation analyses:
✓ Computation of accident rates in terms of 100 million vehicles-miles

✓ Establishment of traffic volume trends
✓ Evaluation of the economic feasibility of highway projects
✓ Development of freeway and major arterial street systems
✓ Development of improvement and maintenance programs
ADT and AWT are used for several transportation analyses:
✓ Measurement of current demand

✓ Evaluation of existing traffic flow
Example 2.1: Compute the AADT and AAWT of the traffic data collected as shown below. Also
compute the AWT and ADT per month.
Month No. of Weekdays Total Days in a Total Weekday Total Monthly AWT ADT
per Month (days) Month (days) Volume (veh) Volume (veh) 350,000
Jan 22 31 350,000 425,000 = 15909.1 ≈ 15910
22
Feb 20 28 305,000 410,000
Mar 22 31 300,000 385,000
Apr 22 30 320,000 400,000
May 21 31 370,000 450,000
Jun 22 30 315,000 400,000
Jul 23 31 360,000 435,000
Aug 21 31 360,000 440,000
Sep 22 30 310,000 390,000
Oct 22 31 340,000 420,000
Nov 21 30 335,000 415,000
Dec 22 31 345,000 405,000
Volume (V)
Hourly volumes (veh/h): are used for design and operational analysis
Design Hour Volume (DHV) Directional Design Hour Volume (DDHV)

➢ The future hourly volume that is used for ➢ PH volumes estimated from projections
design; usually, the 30th highest hourly of the AADT
volume of the year
Peak hour volume DDHV = AADT  K  D
➢ The traffic volume within the peak hour
which is of greatest interest to traffic K = proportion of daily traffic occurring
engineers in design and operational during the peak hour
analysis. D = proportion of peak hour traffic travelling
➢ It is generally a directional volume – a in the peak direction of flow
volume in which the directions of flow are
separated
Volume (V)
Hourly volumes (veh/h): are used for design and operational analysis
➢ Used for the following transportation analyses:
▪ Functional classification of roads

▪ Design of geometric characteristics of highways (number of lanes)
▪ Capacity analysis
▪ Development of programs related to traffic operations
▪ Development of parking regulations
Volume (V)
Sub-hourly volumes (veh/h): are used in determining the peak flow rate
Flow rate (q) Peak Hour Factor (PHF)

➢ The equivalent hourly rate at which ➢ The ratio of total hourly volume to the peak
vehicles pass over a given point or flow rate within the hour
section of a lane or roadway during a
given time interval of less than 1 Hourly volume (V) V
PHF = =
hour; usually, 15 minutes. Peak flow rate (within the hour) 4  V15
V
Number of vehicles during observation q=
q= (veh/h) PHF
observation time
Where: V = Hourly Volume; and V15 = Maximum 15-minute
volume within the hour
Volume (V)
Example 2.2
Calculate the peak hour factor for the following recorded data.
Time Interval Volume Flow rate (q)

5:00 – 5:15 PM 950
5:15 – 5:30 PM 1150
5:30 – 5:45 PM 1250
5:45– 6:00 PM 1000
Speed
➢ One of the most important factors
considered by a traveler in selecting
alternative routes or transportation
modes because it relates to safety,
time, comfort, convenience and
economics.
“Travelers assess the value of a
transportation facility in moving people
and goods by its convenience and
economy – which is directly related to
its speed.”
Highways should be designed to

operate at a speed that satisfies
nearly all drivers
Speed
Spot Speed Time Mean Speed, ST
• The instantaneous speed of a vehicle • The arithmetic average of speeds of vehicles
as it passes a specified point along a observed passing a point on a highway way;
street or highway also referred to as the average spot speed.
• The average of a series of measures of • The individual speeds of vehicles passing a
spot speeds can be expressed in two point are recorded and averaged arithmetically
ways:
n
1. Time mean speed, ST S i

2. Space mean speed, SS ST = i =1
n
• Radar and laser devices are widely Where: Si = observed speed of the ith vehicle; n =
used by traffic engineers and number of vehicles observed
enforcement officers to measure spot
speeds
Speed
Spot Speed Space Mean Speed, SS
• The instantaneous speed of a vehicle • The arithmetic mean of speeds of vehicles
as it passes a specified point along a occupying a relatively long section of street or
street or highway highway at a given instant
• The average of a series of measures of • It is the average of vehicle speeds weighted
spot speeds can be expressed in two according to how long they remain on the
ways: section of the road
nL L L n
1. Time mean speed, ST SS = = = SS = n
n
1 n 1
2. Space mean speed, SS
t i 
n i =1
ti
ta

i =1 S i
i =1
• Radar and laser devices are widely Where: L = length of segment; ti = observed time
used by traffic engineers and of the ith vehicle to traveling the distance L; ti =
enforcement officers to measure spot average travel time over L; and n = number of
speeds vehicles observed
Speed
Spot Speed
• Time mean speed is the arithmetic mean of
• The instantaneous speed of a vehicle
the spot speeds while the space mean speed is
as it passes a specified point along a
its harmonic mean
street or highway
• Time mean speed is always greater than
• The average of a series of measures of
space mean speed except in the situation
spot speeds can be expressed in two
where all vehicles travel at the same speed
ways:
1. Time mean speed, ST

2. Space mean speed, SS
• Radar and laser devices are widely

used by traffic engineers and
enforcement officers to measure spot
speeds
Speed
Spot Speed Variance of the space distribution of speeds, σS2
• The instantaneous speed of a vehicle • Space mean speed and time mean speed are not
as it passes a specified point along a equal and their variance is taken as follows:
street or highway
• The average of a series of measures of  S2
spot speeds can be expressed in two ST = SS +
SS
ways:
Where: σS2 = variance of the space distribution of
1. Time mean speed, S speeds
T
2. Space mean speed, SS Free-Flow Speed
• The average speed of vehicles on a given
• Radar and laser devices are widely facility, measured under low-volume
used by traffic engineers and conditions, when drivers tend to drive at their
enforcement officers to measure spot desired speed and are not constrained by
speeds control delay
Speed
Average Running Speed Overall Speed
• A traffic stream measure based on the • The total distance travelled divided by the
observation of vehicle travel times running time required including delays
traversing a section of highway of
known length.
• The length of the segment divided by
the average running time of vehicles
to traverse the segment.
• Running time includes only time that
vehicles are in motion
• Average running speed and overall speed are speeds over a relatively long
section of street or highway between an origin and a destination
• Both are used in travel time studies to compare the quality of service
between alternative routes
Example 2.3
Determine the space mean of the following vehicles traversing a distance of 1.5 km.
Vehicle Travel Time Travel Time (sec)

1 00:01:30
2 00:01:35
3 00:01:05
4 00:01:15
5 00:01:45
Example 2.4
On a spot speed study, three vehicles passed with recorded speeds of 65, 73, and 82
kph. Compute the time mean speed, space mean speed and the variance of the speed
distribution.
DENSITY
➢ The number of vehicles, pedestrians, etc. occupying a given length of a lane or roadway at
a particular instant and is usually expressed as vehicles per kilometer (vpk or veh/km) or
passenger cars per kilometer (pc/km).
Where:
q
D= D = density (veh/km);
S
S = average travel speed (km/h) and;
q = flow rate (veh/h)
Spacing
➢ The distance between successive vehicles in a traffic stream, measured from the same point
on each vehicle (i.e. from front bumper, rear axle, etc.)
➢ A distance, measured in meters
➢ Spacing of vehicles in a traffic lane can generally be observed from aerial photographs.
➢ The average vehicle spacing in a traffic stream is directly related to the density of the traffic
stream, as computed as:
1000
D (veh/km) =
Spacing, s (m/veh)
Headway
➢ The time interval between successive vehicles as they pass a point on a lane or roadway,
also measure from the same point on each vehicle
➢ Can be easily measured with stopwatch observations as vehicles pass a point on the
roadway
➢ The relationship between average spacing and average headway in a traffic stream
depends on speed
Spacing, s (m/veh)
Headway, h (s/veh) =
Speed, S (m/s)
➢ Flow rate is related to the average headway of the traffic stream

3600
Flow rate, q (veh/h) =
headway (s/veh)
Clearance (c) and Gap (g)
Clearance c (m), g (sec) LV
➢ The distance between the rear bumper of

the leading vehicle to the front bumper
of the following vehicle; measured in
meters
Spacing (m), headway (sec)
Gap
Lv
➢ The time interval between the departure g = h−
SS
of the first vehicle and the arrival of the
succeeding vehicle measured from the c = g  SS
rear bumper of the leading vehicle to the
front bumper of the following vehicle Where: g = mean gap (sec); Lv = mean length
(measured in seconds) of vehicles; c = mean clearance; SS = mean
speed; and h = mean headway
Speed-Flow-Density Relationship
Example 2.5
Assuming a linear speed-density relationship, the mean free speed is observed to be
95 kph near zero density and the corresponding jam density is 90 veh/km. assume that
the average length of vehicles is 6 m.
a. Draw the speed-density, speed-flow and flow-density diagrams showing critical

values
b. Compute the speed and density for a flow of 1000 veh/hr
c. Compute the average headways, spacing, clearances and gaps when the flow is
maximum
HIGHWAY CAPACITY ANALYSIS
Types of Highway Facilities
Basic Variables
Volume or Flow Rate
Speed
Density
Uninterrupted Flow Facility Interrupted Flow Facility

Uninterrupted Flow Facilities
Dual Carriageway Single Carriageway

Dual Carriageway LOS
FFS A = FFS B − A M − A L − A C − A A − A W vp =
V
PHF * N * f HV * f p
Type of Terrain
Factor 1
Level Rolling Mountainous f HV =
ET (trucks and 1.5 2.5 4.5 1 + PT ( ET − 1) + PR ( E R − 1)
buses) 1.2 2.0 4.0
ER (RVs) q vp
D = or D =
S FFS A
Example 2.6
The ideal free flow speed of a dual carriageway two-lane arterial highway is 120 kph. The
lane width is 3.6 m with right and left shoulder widths of 1.2 m each. Interchanges are spaced
approximately 5 km apart. Traffic consists of 10% trucks and 2% recreational vehicles. If
the peak hour volume is 5000 veh/h and assuming a level terrain, PHF of 0.9 and commuter
traffic,
(a)What is the level of service?
(b)How many lanes are required to improve the level of service one level better?
Example 2.6
Single Carriageway LOS
Class 1 Class 2
✓ Major inter-town routes, arterials and daily commuter ✓ Access and local routes
LOS routes ✓ Major routes through mountainous or difficult
✓ Roads on which drivers expect to travel at relatively terrain
high speeds ✓ Drivers do not necessarily expect to travel at
high speed
A • Expect FFS (desired speed) • Speed: 80-90 kph
• Average speed: 90 kph • Drivers delay: ≤ 40% of travel time
• Drivers delay: ≤ 35% of travel time
• Max. two-way service flow rate: 490 pc/h
B • Average speed: 80 kph • Speed: <80 kph
• Drivers delay: ≤ 50% of travel time • Drivers delay: ≤ 55% of travel time
C • Average speed: 70 kph • Speed: <70 kph
• Drivers delay: ≤ 65% of travel time • Drivers delay: ≤ 70% of travel time
Class 1 Class 2
✓ Major inter-town routes, arterials and daily commuter ✓ Access and local routes
LOS routes ✓ Major routes through mountainous or difficult
✓ Roads on which drivers expect to travel at relatively terrain
high speeds ✓ Drivers do not necessarily expect to travel at
high speed
D • Unstable traffic flow • Speed: <60 kph
• Drivers delay: 75-80% of travel time • Drivers delay: ≤ 85% of travel time
E • Speed: 40-60 kph • Drivers delay: > 85% of travel time
• Drivers delay: up to 80% of travel time
• Max. two-way service flow rate: 3200 pc/h (capacity)
F • Demand > capacity • Demand > capacity
FFSA = FFSB − f LS − f A
Vf
FFSA = S FM + 0.0125
f HV
1
f HV =
1 + PT ( ET − 1) + PR ( E R − 1)
Vf
FFSA = S FM + 0.0125
f HV
FFSA = FFSB − f LS − f A 1
f HV =
1 + PT ( ET − 1) + PR ( E R − 1)
V
Always check capacity: vp =
PHF  f G  f HV
One-way flow capacity: 1700 pc/h
Two-way flow capacity: 3200 pc/h

Vf
FFSA = S FM + 0.0125
f HV
FFS A = FSS B − f LS − f A 1
f HV =
1 + PT ( ET − 1) + PR ( E R − 1)
V
Always check capacity: vp =
ATS = FFS A − 0.0125 v p − f np
Always check capacity:

V
vp =
PHF  f G  f HV Two-way flow capacity: 3200 pc/h
1
f HV =
1 + PT ( ET − 1) + PR ( E R − 1)

V
vp =
PHF  f G  f HV Two-way flow capacity: 3200 pc/h
1
f HV =
1 + PT ( ET − 1) + PR ( E R − 1)
−0.000879 v p
PTSFB = 100(1 − e )
PTSF = PTSFB + f d / np

FFS A = FSS B − f LS − f A FFSA = S FM + 0.0125
Vf
f HV Two-way flow capacity: 3200 pc/h
1
f HV =
1 + PT2( ET − 1) + PR ( E R − 1)
Class
V −0.000879 v p
vp = PTSFB = 100(1 − e )
LOS F: Demand > Capacity
ATS = FFS A − 0.0125 v p − f np PTSF = PTSFB + f d / np
Example 2.7
Determine the peak hour Level of Service for a Class 1 two-lane single carriageway
highway having the following data:
• 1600 veh/h (two-way volume) • 100 kph Base FFS

• 14% Trucks/Buses; 4% RVs • Terrain: Rolling
• PHF = 0.95 • 1.2-m shoulder width
• 5 access points per km • 60/40 Directional Split
• 50% No Passing Zone • 3.5-m lane width
Example 2.7
Example 2.8
Determine the peak hour Level of Service for a Class 2 two-lane single carriageway
highway having the following data:
• 1050 veh/h (two-way volume) • 90 kph Base FFS

• 5% Trucks/Buses; 7% RVs • Terrain: Rolling
• PHF = 0.75 • 0.6-m shoulder width
• 10 access points per km • 70/30 Directional Split
• 60% No Passing Zone • 3.0-m lane width
Example 2.8

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Chapter 2

Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT)

Average Annual Weekday Traffic (AAWT)

Average Daily Traffic (ADT)

Average Weekday Traffic (AWT)

✓ Computation of accident rates in terms of 100 million vehicles-miles

ADT and AWT are used for several transportation analyses:

✓ Measurement of current demand

Design Hour Volume (DHV) Directional Design Hour Volume (DDHV)

➢ Used for the following transportation analyses:

▪ Functional classification of roads

Flow rate (q) Peak Hour Factor (PHF)

Time Interval Volume Flow rate (q)

Highways should be designed to

1. Time mean speed, ST S i

1. Time mean speed, ST

• Radar and laser devices are widely

Vehicle Travel Time Travel Time (sec)

➢ Flow rate is related to the average headway of the traffic stream

➢ The distance between the rear bumper of

a. Draw the speed-density, speed-flow and flow-density diagrams showing critical

Volume or Flow Rate

Uninterrupted Flow Facility Interrupted Flow Facility

Dual Carriageway Single Carriageway

(a)What is the level of service?

Two-way flow capacity: 3200 pc/h

Always check capacity:

One-way flow capacity: 1700 pc/h

Always check capacity:

One-way flow capacity: 1700 pc/h

Always check capacity:

One-way flow capacity: 1700 pc/h

• 1600 veh/h (two-way volume) • 100 kph Base FFS

• 1050 veh/h (two-way volume) • 90 kph Base FFS

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