MUGLA SITKI KOCMAN UNIVERSITY

CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

CE 3507 TRAFFIC ENGINEERING
MID-TERM EXAM
ÇAĞDAŞ ESMER
150701019

Q.1) Please explain how can the traffic be controlled, even if the roadways of all
directions are main artery?
Traffic control can be achieved by using the ‘’Traffic Control Devices’’. Traffic control devices are
markers, signs and signal devices used to inform, guide and control traffic, including pedestrians,
motor vehicle drivers and bicyclists. These devices are usually placed adjacent, over or along
the highways, roads, traffic facilities and other public areas that require traffic control.

Traffic control devices can be categorized and investigate as the followings:

-Traffic signs

-Variable Message Signs

-High-level warning devices

-Channelizing devices

-Road surface markings

-Traffic lights

-Rumble strips

For the second part of the question we can use traffic control devices with different mechanism to
solve main artery problem.

The mechanism can be classsifed such as:

-Color

-Shape

-Pattern

-Legend

Q.2) Explain the formula of traffic flow from the point of roadway capacity.

Traffic flow is used to detect problems and alert operators, so that the cause of the congestion can
be determined, and measures can be taken to minimize delays. The fundamental traffic flow
characteristics are flow,speed and density. We define flow as the number of vehicles passing a
point in a given time period. Speed is a vehicle's rate of motion. We define traffic density as the
number of vehicles occupying a unit length of roadway at an instant in time

The relationship between lane flow (Q, vehicles per hour), maximum speed (V, kilometers per
hour) and density (K, vehicles per kilometer) is;

Q=KV

Observation on limited access facilities suggests that up to a maximum flow, speed does not
decline while density increases. However, above a critical threshold, increased density reduces
speed. Additionally, beyond a further threshold, increased density reduces flow as well.

Therefore, speeds and lane flows at bottlenecks can be kept high during peak periods by managing
traffic density using devices that limit the rate at which vehicles can enter the highway. Ramp
meters, signals on entrance ramps that control the rate at which vehicles are allowed to enter the
mainline facility, provide this function

Q.3) On a certain roadway section, there is a congestion problem that caused delay and
increased the commute time. Please explain how can be analysed this roadway section to
getting the data for the purpose of solving the traffic problem at the mentioned location?
The qualitative classification of traffic is usually done in the form of a six-letter A-F service level
(LOS) scale defined in the Road Capacity Handbook, a US document used worldwide (or used as a
basis for national guidelines).

These levels are used by transport engineers as an acronym and to describe ordinary public traffic
levels. Although this system generally uses delay as the basis for its measurements, specific
measurements and statistical methods vary depending on the site being identified.

For example, the percentage of time spent on the LOS following a slower moving vehicle for a rural
two-lane road, while the LOS in an urban intersection includes metrics such as the number of
drivers forced through multiple signal loops.

Traffic congestion occurs in time and space, so it is a spatio-temporal process.

Therefore, another classification scheme of traffic congestion relates to some common spatio-
temporal properties of traffic congestion contained in the measured traffic data.

The common spatial-temporal empirical features of traffic congestion are qualitatively the same
for different highways in different countries, measured over the years of traffic observations.

Common features of traffic congestion are weather conditions, road conditions and road
infrastructure, vehicle technology, driver characteristics, daytime etc. It depends.

Examples of common features of traffic jam are the properties [J] and [S], respectively, for the
wide moving jamming and synchronous flow traffic stages, which are found in Kerner's three-
phase traffic theory.

The common features of traffic congestion can be reconstructed in space and time using ASDA and
FOTO models.
Q.4) What are the methods that used to make sense of traffic congestion? Explain them in
detail from the point of the driver that fully stopped in the dense traffic.
Traffic congestion occurs when a traffic volume or modal split creates more space demand than
available road capacity; this point is often called saturation.

There are several specific situations that cause or aggravate the blockage; many of them reduce
the capacity of a road at a particular point or length, or increase the number of vehicles required
for a given volume of people or goods.

Traffic research cannot fully predict under what conditions a "traffic jam" (as opposed to heavy,
but smoothly flowing traffic) can occur suddenly.

It has been found that individual events (such as accidents or a single car that previously braked
heavily in a smooth flow) can cause ripple effects (a gradual failure) and cause a continuous traffic
jam when otherwise normal flow could occur. continued for a while.

There are two theories that cause traffic jams

Mathematical theories

Trafik Some traffic engineers have tried to apply the fluid dynamics rules to traffic flow by analogy
with the flow of fluid in a pipe.

* Traffic jam simulations and real-time observations have shown that in busy but free-flowing
traffic, jams can occur spontaneously, triggered by minor events ("butterfly effects"), such as a
sudden steering maneuver by a single driver. Traffic scientists liken such a situation to a sudden
freezing of supercooled liquid.

Economic theories

* Congested roads can be seen as an example of the tragedy of common areas.

* As roads in most places are free of charge at the point of use, there is little financial incentive for
drivers not to overuse them until the traffic becomes congested and demand is limited by the
opportunity cost.