Studying Traffic Capacity by N ew Methods Photographic Surveys of Automobile Travel on Ohio Roads Are Illuminating By Bruce D. Gnesysmieins Associa Menen Avaicax Society or Crvn. Eworveees Resranen Exonvers, Travvic Bunzav, Onto Stare Hroway Dreasnnt, Gnasvieie, Oso FOR ears the etandard method of taking trafic counts har been to employ observers with stop watches and tally sheets. The new method devised by Dr. Greenshields utilizes a motion fiir einer rigned. to take pictures intermittently, at frequent intervals,” Superpased on each exposure is a log record showing the exact time, data, and other de tails, Besides this sale of time, a scale of distance ir fized by markers on the road itself. Such observa. fone on 22,000 vehicles were taken in Ohio during the Fummer aj 1954 and have vince been analyzed in dex ‘NTIL recently traffic surveys have been inade- ‘uate for determining the capacity of a roadway of a given width and type. ‘The count and stop- watch system cannot be adapted to obtain complete ihe. formation, especially if numerous automobiles are mov- ing in opposite directions at a variety of speeds. The photographic method of studying and analyzing traffic problems, as here described, is comparatively new. ‘Thus far it has proved highly successful in overcoming the Aiffeulies ofthe previous estems For one thing, the eye of the camera is accurate, and the instantaneous records, or pictures, ean be miade the basis of a complete study. ‘The pictures taken by 2 1G-mm motion picture camera not only show the aumber of cars passing in a given time, but also reveal the type of cars, the paths of their movements, and their rate of travel. A few simple methods of interpretation disclose the desired information, To take the pictures, the camera should be approxi- ‘Imggely 300 ft from the roadway and if possible at right to it, thus bringing about 125 ft of the highway ia range of the Jens. "By means of a clock arrange. ment with an electric switch, the pictures are then taken automatically. For canvenience, the time interval be- tail by groups of 100 cars. Ara resul, new relations between speed, spacing, and tolal density have deca jound.” Ep to a dentiy of perhaps 600 vthieeen “hour, there were no delays duc to trafic. In coc instance the average unhampered speed was from > 4044 miles an hour on pasemente, On taorlane roads lhe maximum capacity ioas found to be about 2300 Uehicles an hour, ala speed of about 22 miles an kur Thie method of making a graphical tally, wilh see saluable potentialities ould prove a boon lvengineae in the making of tafic andioser tween pictures is arbitrarily set at 88 per min, so chosen because a vehicle traveling’? mile per hr would advance Lit in "/y5 min, White markers are placed on both sides of the road, usually 50 f€ apart longitudinally, to give a scale for the center lineof thteroad. “In the case ofa two-lane roadway, the scale can be satisfactorily shown when the films arc projected by vertical parallel lines equally spaced, which are drawn on the screen. Thus the same scale fines are used for all the films, the throw of the lantern being changed so that the Scale lines will fit films taken at different locations. For smultiple lanes or where the pictures are not taken at right angles to the road, it may become necessary to construct a scale with conversing ives. But this is always possible if enough marked points are in the field af view, In addition to the markers, each picture shows a bulle- tin board and clock in the immediate foreground, giving the time, date, location, type and width of pavement, film number, time interval between frames, and weather conditions. "Thus the pietures constitute a complete and permanent record which may be analyzed at any time or re-checked for information that may have been overlooked in the first anal a Clas Fio. 1. Sexo anp Seacrse o” Vaseuns Point of Zero Velocity Is Average of 143 Obser- ‘vations. “Fach Other Poiat Is Weighted Average ‘of 99 Observations. rom Proceedings, High way Research Board, 1992, Page 308 Crs En Fio.2, Grave Couranssox of FoRaocas Yo. Borwern tue Nusmsx op Vesuoies Passnvo 4 Given Pomnt Reproduced from Proceedings ofthe Highway Research Board, 105 RIGNING Tie Re.ArzON np Tar Tears ov Sema Page 904, une (935 Vel MESshown. In the first, at the top, the rear car appears at position 36 on the scale. In the second picture it is at position 72 and has advanced 34 ft, which means that it Consscurive Views ox U.S. 25, a7 4 Point LO Maz Nonna or Deawane, at a Rare or $8 rex Mrs Bulletin Booed with Clock Appears in Lower Half af Bach Photo- graph, Vervicel 10-Ft Lines Show Distance Tvaveled is traveling $4 mites an hour. is seen that this car is 82 ft behind the one in front, meas- ‘ured from center tocenter. From the speed and time at which the cars appear the spacings may be calewlated Obviously the usual speéds atid density of trafic are a measure of the comparative ability of various types and widths of highway to facilitate trafic, “Ie is evident that roads permitting the highest available speeds will carry the maximum amount of trafic ‘A typical set of data representing frec-moving traffic on an uncongested roadway was obtained on State Route 2 (0. 8. 6) 49 miles east of Vermilion, Ohio ‘This section of new concrete highway is 30 ft wide. Pro- filometer readings showed an average of only 13 varia. tions per mile in excess of '/,in. in 10 ft. This coad is straight, and the view is unobstructed for a long distance, s0 that it provides an ideal place for high speeds. Its traffic shows the normal tendencics of travel, or what the average driver does on a smooth roadway free from interference from other vehicles. At ao time did the toad cary sufficient traffic to cause congestion. The data are given in Table I. ‘Tasus T, Stoxmpreanr Tearric Onsnavanions o U.S. 6, ‘EAsr oP VERIELION, Onto t es ee 0 0 a3 oo eo i cd 33 a fem ay BAA, TB a Averages were computed for the total 68 groups. ‘The term “mean smoothed speed’ needs explanaticn. This speed was taken from a curve so drawn on arithmetic probability paper as to give a “smoothed” value. Tt will be noted that the vehicles were studied in groups of 100 each. Tf the number passing in any particular time interval, such as 15 min, is taken as a unit for study, it may be found that there are 50 passing in one ease and 200 in another case. “Fifty vehicles are not sufficient to give a te average, and their performance should not be compared with that of the 200. By referring to the ‘From the first picture it ~table it is seen that a group'of 100 vehicles gives about the same average speed as 2 much larger group. There- foresuch groups were deemed satisfactory for comparison. On a roadway the traffic pattern shows vehicles travel- Fic. 9, Riinox Berwses Secs avo Doxsity Fis. 4, Rezariow Berweex Srsep.ano Density ese MuLe, oX Evo-Lawe Per Hota, ox Two-Laxe Hienwravs 18 Ona Hicawwavs is Ono Nunabers x the Curve Show the 300-Vehile Numbers on Curve Show the 100cVehice Grocps Observed for Groups Onsorved for Fae Point Bach Pointte No Cavey ‘at diverse speeds and spacings. To take this varia; yuo account, the 100-vehicle groups were selected wa to secure wat is mown: as a “moving ayera6t hie purpose of comparison and analysis, one sample Od cars f just as good as any other sample. Suppose Pise group of 100 vebicles numbered from 1 to 100 fast Deen observed. If the first ten cars ofthis woo which may have any speeds and any spacings, ‘Sopped and ten new ones added, the new group shone fave the same characteristics as the first, even wig the same 90 cars appear in each group, Plainly igh NS this second group are mumbered from 11, to Sars hurd group would be numbered from 21 to 120. see Avations were taken at various locations int Ohio Pee concrete, and asphalt pavements, mostly, of Omat! width, Profilometer readings showed that Cannes 1 OPERATION, WITH BATTRY Dolletin Board in Field of View Indicates Timeand Other Data in 10 ft ranged in number from Iie 492 to the mile. In every case where the surface wil rm and ‘however, the average free speed was between 42 and 1 miles per hr. Evidently 2 certain oyarmps in excess of */ in Dioramovtow ov Vawreus Srssps ‘pata from Twenty Four 100-Vehicle Groups, on 0-8 8 vcrage Smoothed Speed, 40 Miles "percentage of Trucks, GD ‘Tams 1. Composite East of Vermilion, Obfo, per Bir; wage ee Sm CURE : ou cemer : 2. as $ amount of roughness lias little effect om average speeds. Spauds of over 80 suiles per hr for passenger cars, of OP pais ber br for light trucks (net rate capacity of 21/s Tons of lesa, and of 60 miles per lr for heavy trucks were seas led, The average speed of the buses recorded was ee suis per hr On the other band, an investigation “at the apeeds on gravel zoads, in connection with @ study fh Michigan made in the summer of 1933, gave an avet- fe speed of 82 miles per ht, showing that a Joose oF ua stable surface causes loss in speed. ENGINEER? tribution of vehicle speeds for di shown in Table 1 highway, at different speeds is important ‘Green his own car and the ear al wa for May 2935 ” “The study likewise fumished information on the dis iFerent densities, as HOW SPEED AND SPACING ARE RELATED In securing the maximum theoretical capacity of a The minioum spacing at which vehicles travel Tt may be reasoned, that a driver maintalus a space be jogically no doubt, ead sufficient to permit Hirorwayé TRavere Pitot PRoTSCTED ON SCRELS Roy" Study by FERA Students at Denison Universtiy. Note a safe stop should the other meet with disaster, Whether Be not he does this can be found out only by observation, such as is possible by the photographic method: ‘In the investigation of speed and spacing of vehicles, an attempt was made to take pictures only of groups of Baie that seemed to be moving at controlled speeds and (orexclude all observations where the relative velocity GF the front vehicle differed by more than 5 ft per see from that of the one following. It is evident that on a Heavily traveled highway the tendency of traffic is to fmove in crowds, and that the leading vehicle controls {he speed of the entire group. At lighter densities, it fs harder to determine whether the speeds are affected bby congestion, ‘Sharevations secured from 6,000 pictures of spacing for cach twomile variation in speed, averaged and plotted on rectangular cross-section paper in Fig 1, seem Pie fairly well represented by the straight-line equation, S=a+1iV. TT where S equals the spacing of vehicles from. center to Minter, in feet, and V equals the velocity, in. miles per Sous" The lower curve in Fig. 1 xepresents data taken winee speeds were slow and in city traffic,, This indi- ANE dint different driving conditions may affect spacing, Va an effort to rationalize Equation 1, it may be as: sumed that the first term, 21, 15 the spacing in feet at Sich vebicles come to a stop. Tt has been observed THeOhicles waiting for traffic lights to change are spaced at approximately this distance, Tf the speed, V, is expressed in feet per se cof miles per hour, the cocficient of Vin Equation 1 bee care p45 instead of 1.1. It is.interesting to note that {hinds about the average time in seconds that it takes a SESE fo bring his brakes into operation when the occar CENT rises, In other words, it is the average brake- Sertion time, ‘The equation means then that the varia: Tk in the average minimum spacing between vehicles scone in place4 NYRR NEN BR UT My AY 5 Tove Lose ay Vamos Dur ro Repucen Sram ‘on a Comoesteo Two-Lawe HloRwaY Calculation ofthe maximum number of cars that could 0 over a highway. all traveling at the same speed and With the average minimum spacing, gives the theoretical muaximuio capscity shown by the tipper curve in Fig. For instance, if all cars mere moving at 40 iniles per br, the number that could pass on one lane in one hous out be approximately 3,200. This is never realized except for very short periods of time. ‘The curve does prove, however, that inereased average speeds mean increased highway’ capacity, ant thet the reason highway’ do not have a greater capacity is that in any traffic stream of any extent there are always enough slow-moving ve Incles to decelerate all the others. Other previously de- rived curves, also stowa in Fig , indicate the consider- Able variation that may exist between « theoretically de rived measirement and one based on actual observations What seems to be the proper method of measuring, highway congestion or the retardation of vehicles due to heavy trate fs t0 take aetial measurements of the speeds at different densities, A “comparatively. large amount of such data was collected in Ohio during the summer of 103 by the Traffe Buea of the Ohio State Highway Department. This stady, based om the ob- servation of over 29,000 vehicles, was analyzed in 1,180 groups of 100 vehicles cach, The reaalts show that as the density in vehiles per hour on's two-lane highway Jncreases beyond 400 to 800 vehicles per how, the aver- age speeds of all vehicles decrease, This deasity is what may be termed the “ireemoving” or "working" capac: ity of the highway, Ta other words, 400 to. 600" ve. picles per hour marks the beginning of congestion Ti Fig, 5, arrived at by plotting the density, D, or the number of eehicles passing in one hove, against recorded Speeds, i given the average speed corresponding to any density. Por example, at a. density of 1,600 vehieles per hove the speed i equal to 33 miles per hr. ‘Then, as the speed contines go decrease de to cromding, the density snereases proportionally up to. approximately 2.200 vehicles per hw, waich represents the maxima carrying capacity of the road. If crowding continues, both speed and density decrease nil ata speed of 108 miles per br the density is agein 1,000 vehicles per bour. For a short time a roadway may Become so packed with Yehiles that all mest stop. The density then is 2e70, If the speed is plotted agaiast average spacing, the curve ia Fig 4 is obtained. This spacing may be ex pressed as D!, the amber of vehicles per mule of pave nent, The spacings may be secured from observation, FU oy eS ut D' is also the result of dividing the density, D, by the average speed. For example, if the density, D, is 400 vehicles per hour, and the average speed is 40 miles per har, then the number of vehicles per mile is 10. That is, Di = 400 + 40 = 10, The curve for D’ in Fig. 4, drawn from the same data as Fig. 3, is a straight line Since a straight line is fxed by twro poimts, it ig theoreti- cally necessary to have data for only two traffic condi- tions. Owing to the fluctuations in traffic movements, however, conclusions should be drawn from ample data, Although the curves in Figs, 3 and 4 would not hold for other localities, they may form the basis of estimates, eonomically speaking, congestion is costly. The time loss, in vehicle-hours ‘for each hour on a mile of pavement, resulting from the speed drop shown in Fig. 3, 1s plotted in Fig. 5. At a density of 400 vehicles per hour, corresponding to the free speed of about 42 males, per hr, there is no time Joss. ‘The great waste is shown to dccur as congestion takes, place, especially in aggra- vated form ‘Since time has an economic value, as proved by the fact that people are willing to pay for the saving of it, it becomes the obligation of highway commissioners to study traffic congestion. By so doing they may deter- mine when a roadway should be widened to mect the Beads of the public in reference to economy i time as well as to safet PURTHBR APPLICATIONS FEASIDLE ‘Use of the photographic method js reasonable in cos, with the price of Teaming on 50-4 rolls about $3 cach [roll wit ts 2.000 single frames i sulicient to record fhe movements of about 00 tars, ‘More. sam be te Corded ifthe tafe ip dease enough fer sore than one car to appear in each frame or pecture. an expensive camera isnot necesary but its Gestabi, fr the better the camera, the better the pictures ‘Accident prevestion hag not been mentioned, but at traf movements have some relation Co accents, ‘The fainimuan spocing maintained by drivers does net allow ime for stopping should the car ahead come to a sudden balt. Slowsoviag eats cause not only congestion but also accidents when faster Vehics aUcmat to. pas, Peshaps on busy highways everyone should be requied to travel at te same speed ‘This brief report has shown that much valuable in- formation about trafte behavior may be gained by the Proper approach, "Other phases of the subject immedi Btely present themeelves for investigation. How do carves: horizontal and vertical afectsprecs? Wa the sight distance and the ceatanve on fe npposte ane required for pastingacaranead? Without dou further fesearch fs ot only desirable bue ncwessary if how! tage of trate to keep up mith the imoveae in tric problems. Highways, built to last at least 20 years, are far behind che perfection ofthe modem motor ca, yeatiy improved and guaranteed to have a speed of fom $0 100 miles pec'hr. Safe driving je sil sebject to the ‘mental perceptions and physea imitations of drivers "This study hss been Carved on under te sapervision of H. E. Nea, traf engineer and]. Darnall guperine fendeat of tthe surveys Both of the Traate Burcaty Gito State Highway Department, Part of the general substance of this article was pre- sented before the Highway Researeh Bourd-wat the 10 Sonal meeting publcued under the tide, “The Puoto- faphic: Meth ‘of Staying “Trafic Belavion” inthe Proceaiings of the orgasization, Vol. 13 (1694), page 982; fd before the December 1094 natal meting ter the le, "Studies of Trae Capsetry” to appear in Vol. 16