TRAFFIC FLOW FUNDAMENTALS

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 Types of Flow
• Uninterrupted Flow – flow occurring at long
sections of road where vehicles are not
required to stop by any cause external to the
traffic stream
• Interrupted Flow – flow occurring at
intersections or driveways where vehicles are
required to stop by any cause outside the
traffic such as traffic signs (STOP or YIELD),
traffic signal lights, etc.

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 Speed
• Time Mean Speed, ut
– also termed as spot mean speed. It is the average
of all vehicles passing a point over a duration of
time
– simple average of spot speeds

𝑛 Where:
1
𝑣𝑡 = ෍ 𝑢𝑖 ui = spot speed of ith vehicle
𝑛 n = number of observations
𝑖=1

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 Speed
• For traffic studies,

ui
Dx
Where:
∆𝑥 ti = time it takes for vehicle i
𝑢𝑖 = × 3.6
𝑡𝑖 to traverse the trap length
Dx = trap length, in meters
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 Speed
For speeds represented in the form of frequency
table,

σ𝑛𝑖=1 𝑞𝑖 𝑢𝑖
𝑢𝑡 = 𝑛
σ𝑖=1 𝑞𝑖

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 Speed
• Space Mean Speed, us
– also termed as harmonic speed. Also averages
spot speeds, but spatial weightage is given instead
of temporal

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 Speed
Based on average travel time,
𝐿 Flow
𝑡𝑖 =
𝑢𝑖
1
σ 𝑡𝑖 𝐿 σ 𝑢𝑖
𝑡ҧ = = L
𝑛 𝑛

𝐿 𝑛
𝑢𝑠 = or 𝑢𝑠 =
𝑡ҧ σ𝑛𝑖=1
1
𝑢𝑖
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 Density
• Also termed as Concentration
• Number of vehicles per unit length of roadway

L
𝑛 Where:
𝑘= n = vehicle count
𝐿
L = trap length
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 Fundamental Relation of Traffic Flow

Using Density formula, number of vehicles n = k∙L

Using Volume formula, number of vehicles n = q∙t
Using Space mean speed formula, us = L/t

;n=n

∴ 𝑞 = 𝑘𝑢𝑠
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 Other Traffic Flow Variables
• Headway – time interval between passage of
consecutive vehicles at a specified point on
the road 1
ℎ𝑡 =
𝑞
• Spacing – distance between 2 vehicles
measured from the front bumper of a vehicle
to another
1
𝑠=
𝑘
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 Other Traffic Flow Variables
• Time Occupancy

σ𝑛𝑖=1 𝑡𝑖
𝑂𝑡 = × 100%
𝑇

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 Example
Let us suppose a 15-minute count of vehicles bound for
Manila was conducted at a particular location on
Quezon Avenue. A summary is shown in the table
below. Estimate the flow rate in vehicles per hour.

Type 15-minute count

Car/van 420
Jeepney 300
Bus 16
Truck 28
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 Solution
Total number of vehicles counted in 15 minutes
= σ𝑛
= 420 + 300 + 16 + 28
= 764

Total number of vehicles counted in 15 minutes

60 𝑚𝑖𝑛
= 764 𝑣𝑒ℎ ÷ 15𝑚𝑖𝑛 ×
1 ℎ𝑟
= 3,056 vehicles per hour
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 Example
The speeds of 25 cars were observed. 10 cars
were noted to travel at 35 kph, 8 cars at 40 kph,
2 cars at 50 kph, and 5 cars at 45 kph. Assuming
that each car was traveling at constant speed,
determine the a) time mean speed ut and b)
space mean speed us.

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 Solution
a) Time mean speed, ut

σ𝑛𝑖=1 𝑞𝑖 𝑢𝑖
𝑢𝑡 = 𝑛
σ𝑖=1 𝑞𝑖

ut = 10x35+8x40+2x50+5x45
25

ut = 39.8 kph
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 Solution
a) Space mean speed, us
𝑛
𝑢𝑠 =
𝑛 1
σ𝑖=1
𝑢𝑖
25
𝑢𝑠 =
10 8 2 5
+ + +
35 40 50 45

us = 39.26 kph ; ut>us

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 Example
During morning peak hour, the average headway of
Balic-Balic jeepneys traveling Figueras-Earnshaw
Street is estimated at 5 minutes. If the passenger
demand during the period is 240, determine
whether there is a need to increase the number of
jeepney units (or shorten the headway) for this
route. Assume that passenger demand is evenly
distributed within that period and the average
load/occupancy is 14 passengers per jeepney.
(Note: this assumption may not necessarily be true
due to fluctuation of passenger demand and
variability of passenger accuracy).
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 Solution
1
Number of jeepneys per hour, q =
ℎ𝑡
1 𝑗𝑒𝑒𝑝
= 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠 1 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 = 12
5 × ℎ𝑟
𝑣𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒 60 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠

With an average load of 14 passengers per jeepney,

the total number of passengers that can take a ride is

𝑗𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠
12 x 14 = 168 passengers/hr
ℎ𝑟 𝑗𝑒𝑒𝑝
Demand (240) > Actual (168) \ there is a
need to increase number of jeepneys
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 Example
During heavy traffic congestion, it was observed
that the average spacing of vehicles in queue in
the innermost lane in EDSA is 6.5 m. Determine
the jam density or density of stopped vehicles.

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 Solution
The jam density is

1
kj = 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 1 𝑘𝑚
6.5 ×
𝑣𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒 1,000 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠

kj = 153.85 vehicles/km

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