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REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

 Highway Capacity

• Capacity of a highway is defined as the maximum hourly rate at which

persons or vehicles can reasonably be expected to traverse a point or
uniform section of a lane or roadway during a given time period under
prevailing roadway, traffic and control conditions.

• The time period normally used for expressing capacity is the hour.
Capacity is, therefore, expressed in vehicles or persons per hour.

• Sometimes, all the vehicles are brought to a common type, usually the
passenger car. The capacity is then expressed in passenger car units
(PCUs) per hour.

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Highway Capacity- Importance

1. The design of a highway facility should be such that the capacity of

highway matches the projected requirements of traffic. The design
features governed by capacity are the highway type, number of lanes,
width of lanes, intersection and weaving sections.

2. By comparing the present traffic volume with the capacity of existing

highway networks, their adequacy or deficiency can be assessed.

3. Improvements and changes in the geometric features, junction features,

traffic control devices and traffic management measures can be planned
effectively if capacity studies are considered.

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

Important Terms

Jam Density:

 It refers to extreme density associated with completely stopped traffic

flow.

Free Flow Speed:

 The mean speed of standard cars that can be accommodated under

low to moderate flow rates on a road segment under prevailing
roadway and traffic conditions [HCM, 2010].

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Free Flow Speeds may be measured for a given vehicle when the
traffic flow is such that the time gap between two consecutive vehicles
is more than 8 seconds.

Passenger Car Unit (PCU):

 It is the amount of interaction (or impedance) caused by the vehicle to

a traffic stream with respect to a standard passenger car.
 It is used to convert a heterogeneous traffic stream into a
homogeneous equivalent to express flow and density in a common
unit.

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

Undivided Road:

 A road with no median or any form of physical feature to separate the

opposing traffic streams.

Divided Road:

 A two-way road on which traffic movement is segregated direction-

wise by physical separation

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Interurban Roads/ Rural Roads:

 These roads help in achieving enhanced mobility of traffic between any

adjoining cities or towns.
 National Highways (NHs), State Highways (SHs), Major District Roads
(MDRs) and Other District Roads (ODRs) all fall under the category of
interurban roads.

Urban Roads:

 Roads that connect places within a town or city.

 Roads in urban areas should be classified into the following general
types: 1) Expressway's: (ii) Arterial streets; (iii) Sub-arterial streets;
(iv) Collector streets and (V) Local streets

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

 Passenger Car Unit (PCU)

• Different vehicle classes have a wide range of static and dynamic

characteristics.

• Therefore mixed traffic flow characteristics are very much complex when
compared to homogeneous traffic and it is difficult to estimate the traffic
volume, capacity of roadway under the mixed traffic flow, unless the
different vehicle classes are converted to one common standard vehicle
unit.

• The basic consideration behind this practice is that different types of

vehicles offer different degrees of interference/ impedance to other traffic
and it is necessary to bring all types to a common unit.

• The common unit adopted is the Passenger Car Unit (PCU)

• If the addition of one vehicle per hour in a traffic stream reduces the
average speed of the remaining vehicles by the same amount as the
addition of say, x cars per hour, then one vehicle of that type is
considered to be equivalent to x PCUs.

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The PCU of a vehicle type has been found to depend upon the size and
speed of the vehicle, type and kind of road environment (eg: rural road,
urban street, roundabout, traffic signal).

• The PCU equivalents are generally derived from observations, though

rough approximations can also be derived by theoretical considerations.

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

PCU value depends upon several factors, such as:

• Vehicle characteristics such as dimensions, power, speed, acceleration

and braking characteristics..

• Transverse and longitudinal gaps or clearance between moving vehicles.

• Composition of different vehicle classes, mean speed and speed

distribution of the mixed traffic stream, volume to capacity ratio.

• Roadway characteristics.

• Regulation and control of traffic.

• Environmental and climatic conditions.

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REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

 NEW CONCEPTS IN INDO-HCM (2017)

Capacity and Level of Service of Mid-Block Sections

 Chapters 2 to 5 of Indo HCM (2017) discuss the capacity and level of

service analysis on interurban and urban roads with varying typologies.
 The PCU value of a vehicle type is found to be sensitive to traffic and
roadway conditions. Hence, a single set of PCU could not be
recommended for all types of traffic conditions.
 A small change in either traffic volume or traffic composition may change
PCU factors substantially, especially for large size vehicles.
 Hence the PCU for a given vehicle type is estimated using Equation given
below.

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 PCUi : Passenger car equivalent of the subject vehicle i
 Vc : Average speed of standard cars in the traffic stream
 Vi : Average speed of subject vehicle i
 Ac : Projected rectangular area of standard car as reference vehicle
 Ai : Projected rectangular area of the vehicle type i

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

Capacity:

 It is the maximum hourly volume (vehicles per hour) at which vehicles

can reasonably be expected to traverse a point or a uniform section of a
lane or roadway under the prevailing roadway, traffic and control
conditions. Following two definitions of capacity are used.

1. Base Capacity:
o It is the maximum number of vehicles that can pass a given
point on a lane or roadway during one hour, under the most
nearly ideal roadway and traffic conditions, which can possibly
be attained.
2. Adjusted Capacity:
o It is the maximum number of vehicles that can pass a given
point on a lane or roadway during one hour under the prevailing
roadway and traffic conditions. It is obtained by adjusting the
base capacity for the roadway and traffic conditions present at
site.


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Level of Service (LOS):

It is defined as a qualitative measure, describing operational conditions

within a traffic stream and their perception by drivers/passengers.
 LOS definition generally describes these conditions in terms of factors
such as speed and travel time, freedom to manoeuvre, traffic
interruptions, comfort, convenience and safety.
 Six levels of service are recognized and these are designated from A to F,
with LOS A representing the best operating condition i.e. free flow and
the LOS F, the worst i.e. forced or breakdown flow or saturated flow.

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

 TRAFFIC FLOW AND CAPACITY

 The relationships between traffic flow, speed and density are important in
understanding notions of capacity and level of service.
 Below equation describes relationship among these three parameters for
unsaturated traffic conditions.

q = k*v

 q = traffic flow rate (vehicles per hour)

 k = density (vehicles per km)
 v = speed (km per hour)

 Figure below shows a generalized, theoretical representation of these

relationships.

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 These curves illustrate a few basic points that help in appreciation of

concept of capacity and levels of service.
 A zero flow rate occur under two different conditions.
o The first is when density is zero i.e. there is no vehicle in the traffic
stream. Speed is likely to be high by the first driver in the traffic
stream. This is called free speed, denoted by vf.
o The second is when density is so high that all vehicles happen to
stop i.e. speed is zero. The density at that point is called jam
density, denoted by kj in the figure.
 Between these two extremes, the characteristics of traffic produce a
maximizing effect.

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

 Capacity is reached when the product of density (veh/km) and speed
(km/h) results in the maximum flow rate (veh/h). This condition is shown
as speed at capacity and density at capacity. HCM of USA describes these
parameters as ‘critical speed’ and ‘critical density’.
 In Indo HCM (2017), the flow-density and speed-flow relationships have
generally been used to define LOS.
 Figure also shows that any flow rate other than capacity can be either at
low density and high speed or at high density and low speed. The former
represents unsaturated flow and the latter represents the oversaturated
flow.
 Level of Service A through E are defined to represent unsaturated flow
(low density and high speed) with maximum flow being considered as
capacity and upper boundary of LOS E.
 The right half of the flow-density curve represents LOS F i.e.
oversaturated flow conditions of traffic.
 Broadly, LOS - A to LOS - E represents the following traffic operations:

LOS A: Free Flow

LOS B: Reasonably Free Flow

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LOS D: Approaching Unstable Flow

LOS E: Unstable Flow

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

Factors affecting Capacity and Level of Service

The factors which affect the capacity and LOS can be considered under the
following two main categories:

1. Roadway factors

2. Traffic factors

Roadway factors

i. Number of lanes

ii. Lane width

iii. Shoulder widths and lateral clearances

iv. Design speed

v. Horizontal and vertical alignments

vi. Availability of exclusive turn lanes at intersections.

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Road surface condition

Traffic factors

Traffic conditions that influence capacities and service levels include:

i. Vehicle Type

ii. Directional and Lane Distribution

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

VEHICLE TYPES

The typical vehicle types witnessed on Indian roads is given in Table below:

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 The average dimensions of the vehicle types considered in Indo HCM

(2017) has been derived by considering the vehicle brands that are
typically witnessed on the Indian roads across varying vehicle types/
modes.
 Further, the vehicle types presented is a generic representation, which
has been appropriately combined depending on the type of road
facility.

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

 TRACE KTU

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

 TRACE KTU

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

 Capacity and LOS analysis

Single lane, Intermediate lane and two lane interurban roads

Two Lane Roads

 These roads possess carriageway of 7.0 m width, which is utilized by

two-way traffic.
 The traffic in each direction travels on a single lane. Therefore, lane
changing and overtaking manoeuvres are influenced by traffic in the
opposite direction and making such manoeuvres is only possible when
no vehicle is coming from opposite direction.
 These roads may be provided with earthen shoulders and/or paved
shoulders of 1.5 m width.

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Intermediate Lane Roads

 These roads have carriageway of width 5.5 m - 6.0 m and hence can
be referred to as substandard two lane roads where the traffic
movement is similar to that on a two-lane road.
 It may be noted that considerable proportion of SHs, MDRs and some
selected ODRs fall under this category.
 These roads are generally provided with earthen shoulders.

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

Single Lane Roads

 These are roads with carriageway of 3.75 m width.

 Unlike two lane and intermediate lane roads, which provide separate
lanes for each direction of traffic, these roads have a single lane
carriageway for traffic movement in both directions of travel.
 The speeds of vehicles on single lane roads are generally low due to
the influence of opposing traffic volumes.
 The single lane roads are generally used as feeder roads carrying low
traffic volume.
 Most of the single lane roads are normally widened to either
intermediate or two lane roads well before traffic volume approach the
capacity.

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REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

BASE CONDITIONS FOR CAPACITY ESTIMATION

The basic parameters of traffic flow, namely speed, volume and density are
used to estimate the capacity of road. For the identification of base section,
predefined conditions followed for bidirectional carriageways covering
varying road typologies are as follows:

 The carriageway width should be 7.0 m with a minimum of 1.0 m soft

shoulder to facilitate two-way traffic movement in the case of two lane
bidirectional roads. Similarly, in the case of intermediate lane road,
being a road with restricted carriageway width, the carriageway width
should be 5.5 m with a minimum of 1.0 m soft shoulder to facilitate
two-way traffic movement at reduced speeds. In the case of single
lane roads, the carriageway width should be 3.75 m with soft shoulder
of 1.0 m.
 The section should be straight and level.

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The section should not be influenced by interruptions such as
intersections, steep gradients and curvatures as well as any other
adjoining roads.
 There must not be any physical barrier on at least 500 m section such
as speed breakers, rumble strips, as it may affect the traffic stream.
 Section must be free from any form of roadside friction activities.
 Section should be free from any form of work activity for at least 1 km
on either side.
 No incidents or crashes at the time of observation for at least 1 km on
either side.

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

METHODOLOGY

 Collection of traffic volume count on road sections based on the vehicle

types using videography or any other appropriate method.
 Determination of Passenger Car Units (dynamic) and Stream
Equivalency Factor.
 Estimation of capacity under base conditions (base capacity)
 Application of adjustment factors for the prevailing site conditions.
 LOS is determined based on the parameter called Number of Followers
as Percent of Capacity (NFPC) in the case of two lane and intermediate
lane roads whereas it is derived based on volume - capacity ratio in
the case of single lane roads.

The overall methodology is presented in the form of a flow chart

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REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

FRAMEWORK FOR CAPACITY ESTIMATION
The following steps are involved in the estimation of capacity of a single
lane, intermediate lane and two-lane two-way roads.
Step-1: Input Data
 Table below presents the information that must be collected before
carrying out roadway capacity analysis.

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 Videography method is recommended for the collection of speed and
traffic volume data.
Step-2: Estimation of Speed
 Spot speed is calculated either by direct timing procedure or from
captured video.
 Space Mean Speed is considered for the development of speed - flow
curves:
 Free Flow Speed (FFS) of standard cars / small cars can be measured
with the help of laser speed gun or by any other method for any given
road section.
 For the estimation of FFS, standard cars with headway 8 seconds or
more are considered and the minimum sample size recommended is
100.

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

  The operating speed at the section is estimated by calculating the 85th
percentile of the FFS.
Step-3: Estimation of Passenger Car Units (PCU)
 Traffic on Indian roads is heterogeneous in nature with a wide
variation in static and dynamic characteristics. Hence, one vehicle type
cannot be considered equal to the other type.
 The only way for accounting for this non-uniformity in traffic stream is
to convert all vehicles into a common unit.
 The common unit for this purpose is PCU. Dynamic PCU is estimated
using the equation

Step-4: Capacity Determination

 Capacity is estimated from speed flow model using the traffic flow
theory proposed by Greenshield.
 Traffic flow is described and measured using three interrelated
variables namely space mean speed (V), volume or rate of flow (Q)
and density (K).

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Speed - volume relationship is parabolic having maximum volume at a
value of density equal to half the jam density.
Step-5: Adjustment Factors
 The effect of factors such as width of carriageway, shoulder condition,
road geometry and pavement condition (roughness) is considered
through the development of different adjustment factors.
Step-6: LOS Estimation
 The traffic performance is expressed in terms of Level of Service
(LOS).
 Universally, LOS is a lettering scheme ranging from A to F. LOS ‘A’
represents highest quality of service and LOS ‘F’ represents congested
flow where traffic demand exceeds capacity.
 LOS is defined in terms of number of followers as proportion of
capacity (NFPC) which is followed in case of two lane and intermediate
lane road sections.

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

BASE CAPACITY

1. Two Lane Roads

 The base capacity of two-lane road at the operating speed of 80 km/h
is around 3100 PCUs/hour.

2. Intermediate Lane Roads

 The base capacity of intermediate lane road at the operating speed of
75 Km/hour is around 2150 PCU/hour.

3. Single Lane Roads

 The base capacity of single lane road at the operating speed of 50
km/hour is around 800 PCUs/hour.

ADJUSTMENT FACTORS
Capacity of a road is affected by various factors such as carriageway width,
shoulder width and condition, directional split, road geometry (curvature and
gradient), and pavement condition (roughness). Adjustment factors to be
applied on the base capacity are given below:

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1. Adjustment Factor for Carriageway Width
 The base capacity of Two Lane and Intermediate Lane roads
corresponding to an operating speed of 80 Km/hour and 75 Km/hour is
3100 PCU/hour and 2150 PCU/hour respectively.
 On the other hand, single lane roads are designed for lower speed and
capacity of these roads at an operating speed of 50 Km/hour is 800
PCU/hour.
 Based on the studies conducted on test sections possessing varying
road widths, the base values have been adjusted for the variation in
width of carriageway and is given below.

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

2. Adjustment Factor for Paved Shoulder
 The presence of shoulders on two lane roads creates a sense of
openness to the drivers and allows the traffic flow to utilize the full
benefit of the road width.
 When the shoulder is not paved, vehicles tend to travel towards the
centre line that may affect the capacity.
 If the shoulder is paved, it acts like an extension of the carriageway
and allows the crossing vehicles to utilize the extra width available.
 The adjustment factors derived for different widths of paved shoulders
are given in Table below.

3. Adjustment Factor for Directional Split

 The capacity decreases as the directional split moves away from an
even split of 50:50.
 The effect of directional split is observed to be linear.
 The adjustment factors for different directional splits are given in Table
below.
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4. Adjustment Factor for Road Geometry
 In the case of hill roads, geometric parameters such as lane width,
shoulder width, horizontal and vertical alignment are important
parameters, which have direct influence on operating speeds.
 With increase in the magnitude of gradient, operating speed of
vehicles decreases. This implies that the capacity value and
operational speeds of different vehicle types are significantly
influenced by the road geometry.
5. Adjustment Factor for Riding Quality
 The surface condition of road is an important factor that influences the
travel speed of the traffic stream.
 As the roughness of road increases, operating speed and capacity of
road decreases.

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

LEVEL OF SERVICE
 The traffic performance of a highway is expressed in terms of Level of
Service (LOS).
 Analysis of LOS on two-lane roads is necessary for their design and up
gradation.
 LOS can describe the quality of traffic flow on a roadway as perceived
by the road users.
 LOS serves as an important input to major decisions that are
performed at various phases of highway life.
 Universally, LOS is a lettering scheme ranging from A to F.
 LOS A represents the highest quality of service where motorists are
able to travel at their desired speeds and LOS F represents congested
flow where traffic demand exceeds capacity.

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REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

 TRACE KTU

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

 Capacity and LOS analysis of Urban roads

 Two lane undivided and four to ten lanes divided urban roads in India for
the given roadway, traffic and environmental conditions.

Undivided Roads:
• 7.5 m road width i.e. Two-lane Undivided Road
Divided Roads:
• 7.5 m road width i.e. Four-lane Divided Road
• 11 m road width i.e. Six-lane Divided Road
• 14.5 m road width i.e. Eight-lane Divided Road
• 18.0 m road width i.e. Ten-lane Divided Road

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF BASE ROAD SECTION

 Urban road segments selected for traffic flow recording should be:
i. Part of a straight urban road segment located in plain terrain
ii. Free from roadside frictions like the presence of bus stops, on-

iii.
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street parking, pedestrian crossing/ pedestrian movement on the
road, access to adjacent properties/side roads etc.
Located at a distance of 500 meters from the upstream intersection
and to ensure that vehicles are in cruising mode.
 The urban road section satisfying the above conditions is treated as base
road section.

METHODOLOGY
 The capacity of an urban road segment depends on the available road
width, presence of shoulder/kerb, presence of median, presence of access
roads, parking on roadside, presence of bus bay etc.
 The road available and presence/absence of median is considered for
classification of urban roads and the establishment of capacity.
 Based on the road typology like divided road or undivided road, road
width and presence of side friction and the category of friction, the
capacity values are to be used by the analyst from Indo-HCM 2017.
 PCU values for different vehicle types normally observed in Indian cities /
urban centers are given in Indo-HCM 2017 in the form of range of values
and the median value.

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

 The analyst can directly use the above PCU values or alternatively use the
Stream Equivalency method while establishing speed - flow relationship
to determine capacity.
 Suitable adjustment factors are applied if side frictions are prevailing at
the considered road segments.
 Further, a relationship between lane capacity and operating speed has
been established by considering the varying widths of divided roads
together.
 Based on the above relationship, the analyst need to collect data of only
the free speeds of cars for the multi-lane urban road sections considered
during its analysis to derive the capacity of any road segment.

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 The overall methodology to be adopted to determine the hourly flow in

PCUs, base capacity of varying types of urban road sections,
application of adjustment factors and Level of Service is illustrated in
Figure above.

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

BASE CAPACITY

 Two-lane Undivided Roads

o The suggested capacity of Two-lane undivided roads is 2400
PCUs/hour.
 Divided Roads
o Capacity of divided roads of Four-lane, Six-lane, Eight-lane and
Ten-lane divided roads is given in table below.

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LEVEL OF SERVICE OF URBAN ROADS
In general, it is an established fact that the term ‘capacity’ and ‘LOS’
will have a close relationship.
 Capacity refers to the quantitative measure of road section and LOS
represents the qualitative measure of the road section.
 For a given road facility, capacity can be constant whereas actual flow
will be a varying parameter depending on the time of the day.
 The objective of LOS is to relate the traffic service quality to a given
flow rate of traffic.
 It is a term that designates a range of operating conditions on a
particular type of facility.
 Speed has been considered as the principal factor affecting the LOS of
an urban road segment under ideal conditions.
 Data on free flow speed of vehicles for selected road sections can be
collected through videography or through any other techniques like
pneumatic tube or infrared methods.

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

LOS of Two lane Undivided Urban Roads based on Stream speed, V/C
Ratio and FFS

LOS of Multilane Divided Urban Roads based on Stream Speed, V/C

Ratio and FFS

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REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

 Typical Illustration of LOS of Urban Roads
LOS Description Illustration
Represents a condition of free flow. Individual
drivers are virtually unaffected by the presence of
others in the traffic stream. Freedom to select
A
desired speeds and to maneuver within the traffic
stream is high. The general level of comfort and
convenience provided to the road users is excellent

Represents a zone of stable flow, with the drivers

still having reasonable freedom to select their
desired speed and maneuver within the traffic

B stream. The level of comfort and convenience

provided is somewhat less than the Level of Service
A, because the presence of other vehicles in the
traffic stream begins to affect individual behaviour.

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This also is a zone of stable flow but marks the
beginning of the range of flow in which the operation
of individual drivers starts getting affected by
interactions with others in the traffic stream. The

C selection of speed is now affected by the presence of

others, and maneuvering within the traffic stream
requires vigilance on the part of the user. The
general level of comfort and convenience starts
declining at this level.

Represents the limit of stable flow, with conditions

approaching unstable flow. Due to high density, the
D
drivers are severely restricted in their freedom to
select desired speed and maneuver within the traffic

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

 stream. The general level of comfort and
convenience is poor. Small increase in traffic flow
will usually cause operational problems at this level.

Represents operating conditions when traffic

volumes are at or close to the capacity level. The
speeds are reduced to a low, but relatively uniform
value. Freedom to maneuver within the traffic
stream is extremely difficult. Level of comfort and
E
convenience is extremely poor, and driver’s
frustration is generally high. Operations at this level
are usually unstable. Small increases in flow or
minor disturbances within the traffic stream will
cause breakdowns.

Represents zone of forced or breakdown flow. This

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condition occurs when the amount
approaching a point exceeds the amount which can
pass it. Queues form behind such
of traffic

locations.
Operations within the queue are characterized by
F
stop and go waves, which are extremely unstable.
Vehicles may progress at a reasonable speed for
several hundred meters and may then be required to
stop in a cyclic fashion. Due to high volumes, break-
down occurs, and long queues and delays result.

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

ADJUSTMENT FACTORS

 There are several factors that would have impact on traffic movement
and on capacity as compared to the base section.
 Roadside frictions are events that would have influence / impact on
traffic movement and as a result, it reduces the capacity as compared
to the base section.
 The factors considered for assessment of influence on capacity include:
o on-street parking maneuvers
o bus pull in and pull out maneuvers in bus bays as well as access
points.
o entry and exit of vehicles from access road
 The level of friction is categorized as low, medium and severe based
on the extent of resistance or speed reduction to the flow as compared
to base sections.
 The capacity of the urban road section with side friction is computed

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using the equation given below.

C = C0 * FOP * FBS * FAC

Where,

C = Actual Capacity (PCU/h)

C0= Base Capacity for ideal condition (PCU/h)

FOP = Adjustment Factor for On-street parking

FBS = Adjustment Factor for Bus stops

FAC = Adjustment Factor for access point

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

1. Adjustment Factor for On-street Parking
 On-street parking maneuvers from the road to parking space and from
parking space to road reduces the stream speed of traffic flow on the
road and hence the capacity of road.
 The reduction in stream speed and the adjustment factors evolved due
to the level of parking intensity on the study sections and the
associated parking maneuvers in comparison to the base section which
is free from on-street parking activities are given below.

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2. Adjustment Factor for Bus stops
 In urban areas, there are two types of bus stops
o kerb-side bus stops i.e. which are located on road itself
o bus stops with bus bays.
 Kerb side bus stops reduce the effective road available for movement
of other vehicles in the traffic stream.
 The stream speed gets reduced due to deceleration of buses which are
about to stop/already stopped on main carriageway resulting in
capacity reduction.

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur

  At exclusive bus bays, the pulling in/out of the buses to the bus bays
reduces the stream speed of vehicles on the main carriageway
resulting in capacity reduction of the road.
 The level of friction offered is classified as low, medium and high.
 The adjustment factors for the two types of bus stops are presented in
Table below.

3. Adjustment Factor for Access Points




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Access to adjoining property, local streets and collector streets are a
common feature observed on urban roads of India.
The vehicle that enters and exits from/to the access roads reduces the
stream speed of vehicles on the road and eventually the capacity of
many road sections.
 Adjustment factors accounting for the number of vehicles entering and
leaving the study section from/to access road are given in Table below.

REJITH S | Assistant Professor | Providence College of Engineering | Chengannur