Moving observer method for stream measurement

Determination of any of the two parameters of the traffic flow will provide the third one by the
equation .
Moving observer method is the most commonly used method to get the relationship between the
fundamental stream characteristics like average flow, average journey time and average running time.
In this method, the observer moves in the traffic stream unlike all other previous methods.
Consider a stream of vehicles moving in the north bound direction. Two different cases of motion can
be considered.

Figure 1: Illustration of moving observer method

The first case considers the traffic stream to be moving and the observer to be stationary.
If n0 is the number of vehicles overtaking the observer during a period, , then flow q is , or
(i)
The second case assumes that the stream is stationary and the observer moves with speed v0 for a time
t (so that the length l=v.t).
If npis the number of vehicles overtaken by observer over a length , then by definition, density is
, or

(ii)
or (iii)
Now consider the case when the observer is moving within the stream.
In that case m0 vehicles will overtake the observer and mp vehicles will be overtaken by the observer

This is the basic equation of moving observer method relating two unknown q, k to the observations
m, t, and v0 that are counted during the test drive.
Two equations (i.e., test under two conditions) are necessary to obtain the two unknown flow
parameters.
The two conditions as considered are –
1) the test vehicle runs with the traffic stream (parameters recorded mw, tw, and vw )and
2) the test vehicle runs against the traffic stream (parameters recorded ma, ta, and va )
(A)
(B)
The sign of equation (B) is reversed, because test vehicle moving in the opposite direction can be
considered as a case when the test vehicle is moving in the stream with negative velocity. Further, in
this case, all the vehicles will be overtaking, since it is moving with negative speed, which actually
means when the test vehicle moves in the opposite direction, the observer simply counts the number
of vehicles in the opposite direction.
Adding equation (A) and (B), it is obtained that

( )

Therefore, rewriting ma = x and mw = y

Where,
x = The number of vehicles crossed by the test car when the test car is going against the
desired direction of flow
y = The number of vehicles overtaking the test car – the number of vehicles overtaken by the
test car when the test car is going with the desired direction of flow
ta = Time taken by the test car when the car is going against the desired direction of flow
tw = Time taken by the test car when the car is going with the desired direction of flow

To obtain Space Mean Speed of the stream (vs) , it is assumed that va = vw = vs (i.e., the test car is
driven approximately at the average speed of the stream)
From Eqn. (B), i.e.

 ( )

 ( )

 ̅

 ̅

Similarly from Eqn. (A) it can be shown that, ̅

If any Delay is recorded by the test car, then

Average Running Time = Average Journey Time – Delay Time
Average Journey Speed and Average Running Speed are obtained by dividing Total length by
Average Journey Time and Average Running Time respectively.
If consecutive sections are studied then to get the characteristics of the total stretch all observations
need to be added at the beginning.
For increase accuracy and reliability, the test may be performed a number of times and the average
results are to be taken.
Example:

Section Length (L) Journey Time Delay Time Opposite Overtaking Overtaken
Km sec sec pcu pcu pcu
AB 0.5 167 15 33 8 6
BC 0.6 182 10 34 5 2
CD 0.4 138 28 3 6
AD 1.5 487 25 95 16 14

DC 0.4 145 54 12 11
CB 0.6 178 61 6 7
BA 0.5 145 45 7 2
DA 1.5 468 160 25 20

AD DA
x pcu 160 95
y pcu 2 5
ta sec 468 487
tw sec 487 468

pcu/sec 0.1696 0.1047

Flow pcu/hr 611 377

Journey Time
sec 475 420

Delay
sec 25 31
Td
Running Time
sec 450 389
Tr = Tj - Td
Journey Speed
KmpH 11.37 12.86

Running
Speed
KmpH 12 13.88
Representation of Spot Speed Observations:
 Time Mean Speed = Arithmetic Mean of Spot Speed
 Space Mean Speed = Harmonic Mean of Spot Speed
 Design Speed = 98 percentile speed value (for SH/NH/Expressway)
= 95 percentile speed value (for less important roadways)
 Maximum Allowable Speed = 85 percentile speed value
 Minimum Allowable Speed = 15 percentile speed value
 Representative Speed for Accident Study = Modal Speed
Example:
Speed Frequency Mid-Value Cumulative Remarks
Percent c.f. fv f/v
Range ‘f’ ‘v’ Frequency
10 – 15 9 12.5 9 1.8 112.5 0.72
15 – 20 11 17.5 20 4 192.5 0.628571
20 – 25 28 22.5 48 9.6 630 1.244444
15 Percentile
25 – 30 47 27.5 95 19 1292.5 1.709091
Class
30 – 35 67 32.5 162 32.4 2177.5 2.061538
35 – 40 76 37.5 238 47.6 2850 2.026667 Modal Class
40 – 45 74 42.5 312 62.4 3145 1.741176
45 – 50 65 47.5 377 75.4 3087.5 1.368421
85 Percentile
50 – 55 57 52.5 434 86.8 2992.5 1.085714
Class
55 – 60 37 57.5 471 94.2 2127.5 0.643478
95 & 98
60 – 65 22 62.5 493 98.6 1375 0.352
Percentile Class
65 – 70 7 67.5 500 100 472.5 0.103704
Total 500 20455 13.6848
‘x’ percentile Class is the Class whose Percentage Cumulative Frequency is just more than ‘x’
Modal Class is the Class which has maximum frequency.

∑
Time Mean Speed = A.M. = ∑
= 40.91 KmpH

∑
Space Mean Speed = H.M. = = 36.54 KmpH
∑ ⁄

Modal Speed = = = 39.09 KmpH

lm = Lower Limit of Modal Class = 30;

fm = Frequency of Modal Class = 76;
f-1 = Frequency of the class previous to Modal Class = 67;
f1 = Frequency of the class next to Modal Class = 74;
i = Width of Modal Class = 5
 ( ∑ )
Percentile Speed (x percentile) =

Where,
Lx = Lower Limit of x Percentile Class;
fx = Frequency of x Percentile Class;
Fx = Cumulative Frequency of the class prior to x Percentile class;
∑ = Total Frequency;
ix = Width of x Percentile Class
( ∑ ) ( )
Allowable Minimum Speed (15 percentile) = =

= 27.87 KmpH
L15 = Lower Limit of 15 Percentile Class = 25;
f15 = Frequency of 15 Percentile Class = 47;
F15 = Cumulative Frequency of the class prior to 15 Percentile class = 48;
∑ = Total Frequency = 500;
i15 = Width of 15 Percentile Class = 5

( ∑ ) ( )
Allowable Minimum Speed (15 percentile) = =

= 54.21 KmpH
L15 = Lower Limit of 15 Percentile Class = 50;
f15 = Frequency of 15 Percentile Class = 57;
F15 = Cumulative Frequency of the class prior to 15 Percentile class = 377;
∑ = Total Frequency = 500;
i15 = Width of 15 Percentile Class = 5
Similarly
Design Speed = 95 Percentile Speed or 98 Percentile Speed = 60.91 or 64.32 KmpH
 Delay Studies

Definition: Delay is unwanted and unplanned stoppages during journey of a vehicle.

Based upon the factors responsible for delay, it is of two types –
 Fixed Delay: The factors responsible for this kind of delay are always present in the system
and the quantum of delay can be mathematically predicted. e.g. – Signals

 Operational Delay: The factors responsible for this kind of delay may or may not always
present in the system and they are generated due to disturbance in the stream either from
internal factors (e.g. – Merging of streams, high traffic density, effect of stoppage of vehicles
along narrow roads etc.) or external factors (e.g. – parking operation, pedestrian crossing,
unsignalised intersection etc.). The quantum of this type of delay is random and cannot be
deterministically calculated. e.g. – Signals

o Based upon the location of the source Operational Delay is either Internal or External.
Important: Planned Stoppages of Public Mass Transport is not a Delay.