PRINCIPLES OF TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING (LECTURE)

TRAFFIC FLOW FUNDAMENTALS

A. TRAFFIC D. SPEED
 imagine the development of traffic along the  rate of motion in distance per unit time.
expressway.  When describing traffic stream, two
 In the early morning, drivers can freely types of speed are used:
choose their own speeds because there are o Time Mean Speed
only very few vehicles on the road.
 spot speed,
 As traffic density increases, the drivers are
constrained to adjust their speeds.  the arithmetic mean of the speeds of
 Traffic condition becomes very unstable vehicles passing a point within a given
when the capacity of the highway has already interval of time.
been reached, after which a stop and go
condition will be experienced if the situation
worsens

B. TYPES OF FLOW

 Flow occurring at long sections of road

where vehicles are not required to stop
by any cause external to the traffic
stream is called uninterrupted flow
o Uninterrupted flow can be described
using any of the following major traffic
variables:
 Flow rate or volume
 Speed
 Density or concentration
 On the other hand, flow occurring at
intersections or driveways where vehicles
are required to stop by any cause outside
the traffic stream - such as traffic signs
(STOP or YIELD), traffic signal lights,
etc. - is called interrupted flow
o Space Mean Speed
 used to describe the rate of movement
of a traffic stream within a given
section of road.
 speed based on the average travel time
of vehicles in the stream within the
section.
 also called the harmonic mean speed
 If n vehicles are observed at an instant
of time t, the space mean speed is
computed as follows:

C. FLOW RATE OR VOLUME

 Number of vehicles passing a point

during a specific period of time
E. DENSITY
 Often referred to as volume when  Number of vehicles in a given length
measured over an hour. of a road at an instant point in time
 May be expressed as:  If n vehicles are found within the
N section L, density k is computed as:
q=
T n
k=
q=K μs L
  Among these variable, density proves intervals of 8 sec, 9 sec, 10 sec, 11 sec,
to be the most difficult or expensive to and 13 sec. respectively. The speeds of
observe. the vehicles were 80kph, 76kph, 70 kph,
60kph and 50 kph respectively.
E.1 SAMPLE PROBLEMS a. Compute the time mean speed.
1) Let us suppose a 15-minute count of
ui=
∑i
vehicles bound for Manila was conducted
n
at a particular location on Quezon
Avenue. A summary is shown in the 80+76+70+60+ 50
ui = = 67.2 kph
table below 5
b. Compute the space mean speed if the
distance travel by the vehicles is
250m
Total number of vehicles: 420+300+16+28 = nd nd =
u s= u s=
764 vehicles ∑t ∑t
N 5(250)
q= = 24.51 m/s
T 8+9+10+11+13
c. If the density of traffic is 20 vehicles
q=K μs = 764 x 4 = 3056 vehicles / hr per km, compute the rate of flow of
traffic in vehicles/ hr.
2) Data on traffic passing thru an
intersection indicates that vehicles moved 24.51 m/s x 3.6 = 88.24 kph
at a space mean speed of 40 mph where
the density is 22 vehicles per hour per q=K μs = 20 x 88.24 = 1764.8 vehicles / hr
mile. Compute the rate of flow in
5) Two sets of students are collecting traffic
vehicles per hour
data at two sections A and B of a
Density in vehicles/hour/mile (K) = 22 highway 200m apart. Observation at A
space mean speed = 40 mph shows that 5 vehicles passes that section
at intervals of 8.18s, 9.09s, 10.23s,
q=K μs = 22 x 40 = 80 vehicles / hr 11.68s, and 13.64s respectively. If the
speed of the vehicles were 80,72,64,56
3) The speed of 25 cars was observed. 10
and 48 kph respectively.
cars were noted to travel at 35 kph, 8 cars
a. Compute the density of traffic in
at 40 kph, 2 cars at 50 kph, and 5 cars at
vehicles per km
45 kph. Assuming that each car was
traveling at constant speed, determine the n 5 1000 m
time mean speed. K= = x = 25
L 200 m 1 km
n vehicles/hr
∑ ¿ 1 ui b. Compute the time mean speed in kph
i
ui =
n n

(10 x 35)(8 X 40)(2 X 50)(5 x 45)

∑ ¿ 1 ui
ui = = ui = i
25 n
39.8 kph
80+72+64+56 +48
4) In an observation post shows that 5 ui = = 64 kph
5
vehicles passes through the post at
 c. Compute the space mean speed in
kph
nd nd =
u s= u s=
∑t ∑t
5(200)
8.18+9.09+10.23+11.68+13.64
= 64.18 kph
6) From the data of a highway traffic
observation team, shows the distances
each vehicle have traveled every 3 secs.
On a portion of the highway

a. Compute the density of traffic in

vehicles per km.
n 4 1000 m
K= = x =
L 88+86+ 83+832 1 km
4720 vehicles / hr
b. Compute the flow of traffic
n
q=
t
q=K μs = 4720 x 101.7 kph = 4800.24
vehicles/hr
c. Compute the space mean speed in
kph.
nd nd =
u s= u s=
∑t ∑t
88+86+ 83+82
= 28.25 m/s
4 (3)
28.25 m/s x 3.6 = 101.7 kph