Hierarchy of roads and levels of services

1. Classification of urban roads

a. Express ways
i. for motor traffic with full or partial control of access
ii. provided with grade separation at intersections
iii. to provide for movement of heavy volumes at high speeds
iv. free flow conditions
v. connect major points of traffic generation
vi. to serve trips of medium and long lengths between res, ind,
comm., CBD areas
vii. Parking, loading, unloading pedestrians are prohibited.
b. arterial streets
i. thorough traffic usually on continuous route
ii. between CBD to resi, sub urbans
iii. generally spaced at less than 1.5 kms in CBDs 8 kms in
developed urban fringes
iv. parking, loading etc are regulated
v. pedestrians only at intersections
c. sub-arterial streets
i. access to adjoining areas
ii. parking, loading etc are regulated
iii. generally spaced at less than 05 kms in CBDs, 3-5 kms in
developed urban fringes
d. collector streets
i. collection and distribution of traffic
ii. in resi, ind, neighborhoods
iii. few parking restrictions except during peak hours
e. local streets
i. access to resi, business, etc
ii. Allows loading, pedestrians, parking etc.
2. classification of rural roads
a. national highways
i. connects ports, foreign highways, capital of states
b. state highways
i. connects national headquarters and important cities
ii. same standard as national highways
c. district roads
i. serves areas of production and marketing
ii. Capable of taking traffic into the heart of rural areas.
d. village roads
i. connects villages with nearest national , state or railways

Intersection and parking areas

1. intersection – the general area where 2 or more ways join or across

2. Half of the fatal and serious road accidents in built up areas occur at
junctions.
3. principles in a good design
a. The number of intersections should be kept a minimum. If necessary
some minor roads may be connected with each other before joining
the major road.
b. Hazardous movements by drivers are eliminated by various
techniques such as channelizing and staggering.
c. The design should permit the driver to discern quickly either from
the layout or traffic signs
d. Layout should follow natural vehicle paths
e. Number of conflict points should be minimized.
f. Vehicles that are forced to wait in order to cross a traffic stream
should be provided with adequate space at the junctions.
4. At grade junction – where all roads join or cross at the same level.
5. Grade separated junctions – crossing manoeuvres at different levels
6. It is desirable that the intersection roads meet at or nearly at right angles.
 7. Visibility at intersections – any obstructions should be clear of the
minimum visibility triangle for a height of 1.2 Mts above the road way.
8. for rural roads

Design speed of major road min. visibility distance along a major road
In K.P.H
100 220
80 180
65 145
50 110

9. for urban roads

type of road visibility distance along a major road

all purpose primary distributor 120 – 150
district or local distributor 90
access road 60
Parking
Parking space requirement standards

S.NO. Land use Parking space standard

1. Residential
1. Detached,semi-datached row houses:
Plot area up to 100 sq.m
Plot area from 101 to 200 sq.m
Plot area from 201 to 300 sq.m
Plot area from 301 to 500 sq.m
Plot area from 501 to 1000 sq.m
Plot area 1001 sq.m and above
2. Flats
3. Special, costly developed area.
4. Multi-storeyed group housing
schemes.
2. Offices

3. Industrial premises

4. Shops and markets

5. Restaurants

6. Theatres and cinemas

7. Hotels and motels

1.Five and four-star hotels
2. Three-star hotels
3. Two-star hotels
4. Motels
8. Hospitals
 1. max parking area required for a car 3m x 6m (individual)
2.5m x 5m (community)
2. Space reqt. for commercial vehicle 3.75m x 7.5m
3. for bicycle 1.4m – 1.8m

On street parking methods

Parallel parking N=L/5.9

L
X

y
30 ºangle N=L-1.25/5

1.25

N= number of parking spaces

45 º angle N=L-1.25/3.54
60 º angle N=L-2.16/2.89
Right angle N=L/2.5

1. off street parking

a. surface car parks
b. multi storey car parks
c. roof parks
d. mechanical car parks
e. under ground car parks

Traffic safety and traffic laws

1. Traffic regulations deals with control of vehicles, drivers and road users.
 2. Control of vehicles deals with registration, weight, size, design,
construction, and maintenance.
3. Driver regulations deal with licensing, operation of vehicles.
4. Road user regulations deal with rules of pedestrians, cyclists, motor
cyclists.
5. Speed limits in urban areas – Indian conditions

Different categories of road and Speed limits in KPH

streets Group I Group II
Light and med. Vehicles Heavy vehicles
Major roads of arterial/sub arterial 50 40
mostly in open and thinly built up
areas
Roads with moderate traffic suited 40 30
in semi built up areas
Congested roads in built up areas 30 20

6. Uniform vehicle code U.K

Act I – uniform motor vehicle administration, registration certificate of title and
anti – theft act.
Act II – uniform motor vehicle operators and chauffeurs license act.
Act III – uniform motor vehicle civil liability act.
Act IV – uniform motor vehicle safety responsibility act.
Act V – uniform act regulating traffic on high ways.

7. U.K the road traffic act 1972

Part I – principle road safety provisions
Part II – construction and use of vehicles and equipment
Part III – licensing of drivers of vehicles
Part IV – licensing of drivers of heavy goods vehicles
Part V – driving instructions
Part VI – third party liabilities
Part VII – miscellaneous and general.
 8. India, motor vehicles act 1939.

Chapter I – preliminary
Chapter II – licensing of drivers of motor vehicles
Chapter III – licensing of conductors of stage carriages
Chapter IV – control of transport vehicles
Chapter V – construction, equipment and maintenance of motor vehicles.
Chapter VI – control of traffic
Chapter VII – motor vehicles temporary leaving or visiting India
Chapter VIII – insurance f motor vehicles against third party riska
Chapter IX – offences, penalties and procedures.
Chapter X – miscellaneous
Principles of traffic engineering and transportation planning
1. Traffic engineering
Deals with the planning and geometric design of streets, highways
and abutting lands, and with traffic operation thereon, as their use is related to
the safe, convenient and economic transportation of persons and goods.
2. functions of traffic engineering
a. collection, analysis, and interpretation of data pertaining to
traffic
i. OD survey
ii. Volume counts
iii. Speed, delay and travel time measurements
iv. Accident statistics
v. Parking characteristics
vi. Pedestrian behavior and use of streets
vii. Capacity studies
viii. Economic loss caused by inferior traffic facilities
b. Traffic and transportation planning
i. To ensure a safe, orderly and fully integrated transport
system.
ii. Related to land use
 iii. Selection and implementation of alternative solutions
c. Traffic design
i. Geometric design of high ways and streets
ii. Intersection design
iii. Schemes for grade separated interchanges
iv. Design of off street and on street parking
v. Design of terminals
d. Measures for operation of traffic
i. Legislation and enforcement measures – drivers , road users
ii. Management measures – one way streets, turnings at
junctions, tidal flow,
iii. Measures for parking
iv. Traffic control devices
e. Administration
i. Programs intended to safe and efficient traffic
ii. Education, legislation and enforcement measures
3. transportation planning
To under stand the nature of the problems of traffic and formulate
proposals for the safe and efficient movement of goods and people from one
place to another.
4. stages of transport planning
a. survey and analysis of existing conditions
b. forecast, analysis of future conditions and plan synthesis
c. evaluation
d. program adaptation and implementation
e. continuing study

Methods of conducting surveys

Speed, journey time and delay surveys

Vehicle volume counts, classification and occupancy
Origin and destination survey
Parking surveys
Speed, journey time and delay surveys
Speed is the rate of movement of traffic.
Spot speed is the instantaneous speed of a vehicle at a specified location.
Running sped is the average speed maintained by a vehicle over a given course
while the vehicle is in the motion.
Running speed = length of course = length of course
Running time journey time – delay

Journey speed is known as over all travel speed including all delays incurred en-
route.
Journey speed = distance
Total journey time (including delays)

Methods of measuring spot speeds

a) Those that require observation of the time taken by a vehicle to cover a
known distance.
b) Radar speed meter which automatically records the instantaneous speed .
c) Photographic method.
The long base methods used are
i. Direct timing procedure
ii. Enoscope
iii. Pressure contact tubes

Methods for measuring running speed and journey speed

a) Moving observer method
b) Registration number method
c) Elevated observer method

Vehicle volume counts, classification and occupancy

If traffic flow data are available over the past number of years, the rate at
which traffic flow has increased in the past can be easily determined.
Extrapolating the past trend into the future, a reasonable indication of the future
rate of growth of traffic is made possible. Traffic fore casting is an important step
in the transportation planning process.
Types of counts
i. Average annual flow, expressed in vehicles per year.
ii. Annual average daily traffic (AADT), expressed I vehicles per day.
iii. Hourly flow, expressed in vehicles per hour.
Methods for traffic counts
a) Manual methods
b) Combination of manual and mechanical methods
c) Automatic devices
d) Moving observer method
e) Photographic methods
Vehicle occupancy surveys
Vehicle occupancy surveys are easy to conduct for cars and motorized two-
wheelers. The observers can note the number of occupants of every one of such
vehicles by standing by the road side.
For buses, the occupancy can be determined by examining the ticket sales.
Origin and destination survey
In a transportation study, it is often necessary to know the exact origin and
destination of the trips. Information yielded by the O-D survey includes land use
of the zones of the origin and destination, household characteristics of the trip
making family, time, purpose of the trip and mode of travel.
Uses of the study
i. To determine the amount of by-passable traffic that enters a town, and
thus establishes the need for a bypass.
ii. To develop trip generation and trip distribution models in transport
planning process.
iii. To determine the extent to which the present road system is adequate
and to plan for new facilities.
iv. To assess the adequacy of parking and to plan for future.

Survey methods
a) Home interview survey
 i. Full interview technique
ii. Home questionnaire technique
b) Road side interview survey
c) Post card questionnaire survey
d) Registration number plate survey
e) Tags on vehicles.

Parking surveys
Parking is one of the serious problems that confront the urban planner and
the traffic engineer. Before any measure for the betterment of the conditions can
be formulated, basic data pertaining to the availability of parking space, extent of
its usage and parking demand are essential.
Parking accumulation: the total number of vehicles parked in an area at specified
moment.
Parking volume: the number of vehicles parked in a particular area over a given
period of time.
Parking load: the area under the parking accumulation curve during a specified
period.
Parking duration: the length of time spent in a parking space.
Parking index: percentage of the theoretically available number of parking bays
actually occupied by parked vehicles.
Parking index = no of bays occupied x 100
Theoretical number of bays available

Parking turnover: rate of the usage of the available parking space.

Types of parking surveys
i. Parking space inventory
ii. Parking usage survey by petrol
iii. Questionnaire type parking usage survey
iv. Cordon survey
v. Photographic method
 Modes of transportation

1. transport modes
a. railways
surface
underground
elevated
b. road transport
c. air transport
d. water transport
coastal shipping
international shipping
inland water transport
e. pipe lines
f. rope ways
2. speed

S no mode Normal speed India km/hr remarks

1 railway 50-80 Depends on guage
and number of tracks
2 Road transport Depends on
Cara 50-80 pavement width,
Buses and trucks 30-60 terrain
2 wheelers 25-50
cycles 8-15
auto rickshaw 15-30
bullock cart 3-5
4 Air transport
Boeing 747 1000
Boeing 707 950
Feeder aircraft 300-400
5 Water transport
Ocean liners 35-55
 Coastal ships 15-35
Inland water 10-25
barges
6 Pipe lines 5-10
7 Rope ways 5-10

3. safety

Rail transport If adequate measures are taken at signals, it s safe. If

accidents take place loss is heavy
Road transport Unsafe, when crossing, overtaking
Air transport Safety, because o high standards. Accidents because of
fog, birds, storms, etc
Water transport Safe, because of strict standards and construction and
maintenance
Pipelines , rope ways Safe

4. Adequacy

Rail transport Can meet seasonal fluctuations in traffic,

Road transport Unsafe, when crossing, overtaking
Air transport Safety, because o high standards. Accidents because of
fog, birds, storms, etc
Water transport Safe, because of strict standards and construction and
maintenance
Pipelines , rope ways Safe