TRA 400 TRANSPORTATION

STUDIES

Week 3-4:

The Traffic Stream

OBJECTIVES OF THE LECTURE

23/02/2022
The Lecturer:
To introduce types of traffic flow and the basic
parameters describing the traffic stream and
their relationship
The Learner should be able to:
 Describe a traffic stream using the basic
parameters and derived concepts.
 Explain how the parameters and derived
concepts are measured in the field

2
 23/02/2022
 Reading tasks:
 Textbook: Traffic Engineering chapter 5

TRA 400
 TRB (2010) HCM Vol 1 - Chapter 4: Traffic Flow and
capacity concepts
 Tutorial tasks: To be issued next week
wednesday

3
1. TRAFFIC STREAM – AN OVERVIEW

23/02/2022
 A traffic stream consists of vehicles traversing
highways and/or streets

TRA 400
 It is different from a purely physical system like
water flowing in a pipeline because individual
drivers exhibit different behaviours – cannot be
exactly predicted at any point
 Transport engineers need to know the normal
range of behaviour of drivers for a given facility

4
………….TWO TYPES OF TRAFFIC STREAM

23/02/2022
 Traffic facilities are grouped in two classes
 Interrupted flow facilities: External devices like
signal controls, stop signs interrupts flow e.g. urban

TRA 400
network. The traffic flow patterns on an interrupted-
flow facility are the result not only of vehicle
interactions and the facility's geometric
characteristics but also of the traffic control used at
intersections and the frequency of access points to
the facility.
 Un-interrupted flow facilities: No external
interruption to flow, all interruptions is from within
interaction e.g. freeways. The traffic stream on
uninterrupted-flow facilities is the result of
5
individual vehicles interacting with each other and
the facility's geometric characteristics.
………………………..UN-INTERRUPTED FLOW
 The obvious example is on freeways where where
access is controlled and limited to ramp locations.

23/02/2022
 Another example is on a rural road where flow from
driveways is so low that it does not disturb the traffic

TRA 400
along the road.
 Even for roads with signalised junctions when the
spacing of the junctions exceed 3 km, uninterrupted
flow can occur .

6
………………INTERRUPTED FLOW

23/02/2022
 Occurs in networks with closely spaced
intersections
 The important aspects of flow occurs at

TRA 400
intersections
 Control at junctions is by signals or stop/yield
sign or give way rule
 At signals platoons are generated
 Coordinated signals allow platoons to move in a
green window

7
……LIST OF TRAFFIC STREAM PARAMETERS

23/02/2022
 Traffic engineers have defined parameters by which
traffic streams are described and understood, namely:
 Macroscopic parameters – the stream as a whole

TRA 400
 Volume
 Density

 Speed

 Microscopic parameters – individual veh. W.r.t. each

other
 Headway
 Spacing

8
….APPLICATION OF TRAFFIC STREAM PARAMETERS

23/02/2022
 Traffic engineers describe, analyse, evaluate and plan
facilities improvement on the basis of these
parameters and derived concepts.

TRA 400
9
2. TRAFFIC VOLUME AND FLOW

23/02/2022
 Volume: Number of vehicles/pedestrians that
pass a given point on a
roadway/lane/footpath/sidewalk during a

TRA 400
specified time interval.
 Unit: vehicles or pedestrians often expressed per
unit time
 Flow: Equivalent hourly rates of flow for volumes
observed for less than one hour

10
DAILY VOLUMES

23/02/2022
 Volumes counted for the whole day
 Used for:

TRA 400
 Highway planning (measured, projected)
 Observation of trends

 Common daily volume parameters

 AADT-The average 24-hour volume at a given
location over a full 365-day year; the number of
vehicles passing a site in a year divided by 365 days
(366 days in a leap year).
 ADT-The average 24-hour volume at a given location
over a defined time period less than one year.
11
HOURLY VOLUMES

23/02/2022
 Needed for design and operational analysis since there
is great variation of traffic during the day
 The single hour during the day with the highest traffic

TRA 400
is referred to as ‘peak hour’
 PHV Data is obtained and analysed in directions; It is
of greatest interest to traffic engineers – operational
analysis and design

12
PHV - USE

23/02/2022
 Design – Roadways and intersections are
designed to accommodate Peak Volume (PV) in
the peak direction of flow.

TRA 400
 Operational analysis e.g. for imposition of control
measures, safety or capacity must address
conditions existing during peak hour.
 Sub-hourly flows are also relevant

13
ESTIMATION OF PHV FOR DESIGN
 Estimated from projected AADT

23/02/2022
 DDHV = AADT X K X D
DDHV = directional design hourly volume - vph

TRA 400
AADT = average annual daily traffic – vpd
D = proportion of peak traffic travelling in peak direction –
decimal
K = proportion of daily traffic occuring during the peak hour –
decimal. About 0.07 to 0.12 for urban, 0.12 to 0.15
suburban, 0.15 to 0.25 for rural

14
EXAMPLE

23/02/2022
 Consider a suburban highway with projected
AADT IN 20 YRS at 30,000 vpd

TRA 400
 It is known that D = 70% and K = 15%

 DDHV = 30,000 x 0.15 x 0.70 = 3,150 vph

 Use this volume to consider the type and size of

facility!
 Proposals? Single carriageway multilane or dual
carriageway of freeway?

15
SUB HOURLY VOLUMES AND RATES OF
FLOW

23/02/2022
 Variation of flow within the PH is of interest
since a facility designed for the PHV may fail due
to short term peaks within the hour.

TRA 400
 Volumes observed for periods less than one hour
are generally expressed in equivalent hourly
rates of flow.
 E.g. 500 veh counted in 15 minutes would be
expressed as 2000 vph.

16
SUB HOURLY VOLUMES AND RATES OF FLOW…
Time interval Vol. for Rate of Flow

23/02/2022
interval vph
7:00 – 7:15 am 1000 4000

TRA 400
7:15 – 7:30 am 1100 4400
7:30 – 7:45 am 1200 4800
9:45 - 8:00 am 900 3600
7:00 – 8:00 am 4200 vph = Hourly volume

17
SUB HOURLY VOLUMES AND RATES OF FLOW…
 A facility designed for 4200 vph will fail during 7:15 –

23/02/2022
7:45 am intervals.
 Maximum rate of flow within the peak hour must be
considered in the design of many facilities.

TRA 400
 HCM recommends a period of 15 minutes for most
design and operational analyses.
 Shorter intervals are used in research but for practice
minimum interval is 15 minutes

18
PEAK HOUR FACTOR PHF

23/02/2022
 The relationship between the maximum rate of
flow within the hour and the hourly volume is
defined by the peak hour factor (PHF):

TRA 400
PHF = hourly
volume/maximum rate of
flow
PHF = V/4xV15

19
EXAMPLE

23/02/2022
 For the sample volumes given above:
 PHF = 4200/1200x4 = 0.875

TRA 400
 Normal range of values is 0.70 to 0.98

 When all the volumes during the 15 minute

intervals are equal the PHF is 1.0

20
APPLICATION

23/02/2022
 When the PHF is known it is used to convert the
hourly volume to peak flow rate for use in design
and operational analyses – v =PHV/PHF

TRA 400
 Exercise: PHV = 2000 vph, 15% trucks, (given 1
truck is equivalent to 3 pcu, PHF = 0.97.
Compute peak flow rate in pcu. (Note: What is
the basis of truck passenger car equivalence?)
 One of the factors influencing the PHF is the
development density: facilities in highly
developed urban centres exhibit PHF close to
one.
21
23/02/2022 TRA 400
22
3. SPEED AND TRAVEL TIME

23/02/2022
 The second macroscopic parameter used to
describe traffic stream.

TRA 400
 For a given distance speed and travel time are
inversely related.
 Motorists relate easily with this parameter:
 Used in the description of level of service - ATS for
links

23
SPEED AND TRAVEL TIME …
 Speed = Distance/time.
 In a traffic stream we observe a distribution of

23/02/2022
individual vehicle speeds.
 Average values are used to characterize the Traffic Stream:

TRA 400
 Time mean Speed: The average speed of all vehicles
passing through a point on a roadway over a specified
time period. - A point measure
 Space mean speed : average speed of all vehicles
occupying a given section of a roadway over a specified
time. A space measure!

24
SPEED AND TRAVEL TIME …

23/02/2022
TRA 400
25
23/02/2022 TRA 400
26
TRAVEL TIME AND RUNNING TIME

23/02/2022
 Travel Time – include delays
 Running time – exclude stopped delays

TRA 400
 Average travel speed – based on travel time

 Average running speed – based on average

running time
 Exercise: What information can a traffic engineer
get by comparing the two?

27
4. DENSITY

23/02/2022
 Number of vehicles occupying a given length of a
roadway or lane
 Units: Vehicles per Km

TRA 400
 May be computed from speed and volume thus D = V/S
where S is the space mean speed
 Density is the indicator of traffic demand and Quality
(spacing – freedom of movement – psychological
comfort)

28
5. TRAFFIC FLOW DESCRIBED

23/02/2022
 Basic Equation of Flow: D=V/S or V=DxS for
stable traffic conditions

TRA 400
 Graph of Flow vs Density, Flow vs Speed and
Density vs speed describes the relationship as a
two dimensional plot

29
 23/02/2022 TRA 400
30
GRAPHS
THE FLOW/DENSITY GRAPH

23/02/2022
 Volume cannot be used to describe the quality of
traffic stream since two radically different
operating conditions have the same volume.

TRA 400
 Speed and density do describe quality of the
traffic stream.
 Speed and density are also discernible to the
driver while volume is not.

31
SPEED – FLOW GRAPH
 Free flow speed – zero density, maximum safe speed
on a road section (design speed)

23/02/2022
 Zero flow - density too high flow stops - jam density

 Capacity – maximum rate of flow, peak of the flow-

TRA 400
density and flow-speed graphs.
 Critical density and critical speed are the speed and
flow at which capacity occurs

32
SPEED – FLOW GRAPH

23/02/2022
 At capacity there are no usable gaps in the
stream and any interruption cannot be easily
dissipated = Unstable flow.

TRA 400
 Forced flow conditions = speed is less than
critical speed, density exceeds critical density
 Forced flow condition = LoS F

 At/near capacity LoS = E

33
6. SPACING AND TIME HEADWAY

23/02/2022
 Microscopic measures apply to individual
vehicles within the traffic stream

TRA 400
 Spacing: distance between successive vehicles in
a traffic lane measured from a common reference
point
 Headway: Time between successive vehicles as
they pass a point along a lane. Use a common
reference point.

34
APPLICATIONS:

23/02/2022
 Allows various vehicle types in a traffic stream to
be isolated e.g. by observing pairs of PC or HGV.

TRA 400
 Data volume obtained in a short time is high.

35
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MICRO
AND MACROSCOPIC PARAMETERS

23/02/2022
 Average values of spacing and headway are
related to the macroscopic parameters:

TRA 400
 D(ensity) = 1000/d(average)

 V(olume) = 3600/h(average)

 S(peed) = d/h (mean values)

 Where d= average spacing in m and h is average

headway in secs

36
CLASS EXERCISE: IMPACT OF PHF ON DESIGN

A volume of 900 vph is observed at an intersection

23/02/2022
approach. Plot peak rate of flow within the hour as
PHF varies from 1.0 to 0.75.
 Discuss implications to junction and signal design:

TRA 400
 When only two lanes are available show implications on signal
design
 When there is fixed time allocated to the approach show

implications on geometric design or congestion

37
CLASS EXERCISE: TRAVEL TIME

23/02/2022
 What information can a traffic engineer get by
comparing average running speed with average
travel time? For example if (s)he compares the

TRA 400
average travel speed and running speed between
Kristwick and Polytechnic along Chipembere
Highway!
 How can such information be used?

38
 23/02/2022
Thank you for

TRA 400
your active
participation
39