1 s2.0 S2352146517305173 Main

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Transportation Research Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
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World Conference on Transport Research - WCTR 2016 Shanghai. 10-15 July 2016
World Conference on Transport Research - WCTR 2016 Shanghai. 10-15 July 2016
Development of Saturation Flow Model
at Signalized Intersection
Development for Heterogeneous
of Saturation Flow ModelTraffic
Subhash Chand a, Neelam Jain Gupta b*, S. Velmurugan c
at Signalized Intersection for Heterogeneous Traffic
Chand a, Engineering Safety Division,b* New Delhi, Indiac
a
Principal Scientist, Traffic
Subhash
b Neelamand Jain Gupta CSIR-CRRI,
, S. Velmurugan
Senior Scientist, Traffic Engineering and Safety Division, CSIR-CRRI, New Delhi, India
c
Senior
a Principal Scientist, Traffic Engineering and Safety Division, CSIR-CRRI, New Delhi, India
Principal Scientist, Traffic Engineering and Safety Division, CSIR-CRRI, New Delhi, India
b
Senior Scientist, Traffic Engineering and Safety Division, CSIR-CRRI, New Delhi, India
c
Senior Principal Scientist, Traffic Engineering and Safety Division, CSIR-CRRI, New Delhi, India
Abstract
Saturation
Abstract flow is a very important road traffic performance measure of the maximum rate of flow of traffic. It is used
extensively in signalized intersection control and design. Saturation flow describes the number of passenger car units (PCU) in a
dense flow flow
Saturation of traffic
is a for
verya specific
importantintersection laneperformance
road traffic group. The measure
design, the
of capacity and operation
the maximum rate of of a signalized
flow of traffic.intersection
It is used
critically
extensivelydepend on and passenger
in signalized carcontrol
intersection unit (PCU) and saturation
and design. flow.
Saturation flow describes the number of passenger car units (PCU) in a
dense flow of traffic for a specific intersection lane group. The design, the capacity and operation of a signalized intersection
In India depend
critically the traffic is composed
on and of highly
passenger car heterogeneous
unit (PCU) mixflow.
and saturation of vehicles and subsequently drivers don’t follow any lane
discipline. The intersections on urban roads in India cater to slow-moving traffic including pedestrians. To calculate the
capacity
In India we
the need to is
traffic know about the
composed of saturation flow which further
highly heterogeneous mix ofhelps to time
vehicles andthesubsequently
traffic signals. However,
drivers don’t itfollow
is revealed that
any lane
traditional methods
discipline. which areonmainly
The intersections urbandeveloped usingcater
roads in India the average
to value of observed
slow-moving queue
traffic discharge
including headwaysTotocalculate
pedestrians. estimate the
the
saturation headway might lead to underestimate saturation flow rate.
capacity we need to know about the saturation flow which further helps to time the traffic signals. However, it is revealed that
traditional methods which are mainly developed using the average value of observed queue discharge headways to estimate the
In this research
saturation headwaypaper, thelead
might effort was made to analyze
to underestimate theflow
saturation results
rate.by developing the dynamic PCU for the candidate signalized
intersections catering to mixed traffic condition in Indian cities. In this study methodology was developed to calculate the PCU
and saturation
In this researchflow in accordance
paper, for the
the effort was enumerated
made to analyzetraffic conditions.
the results by developing the dynamic PCU for the candidate signalized
intersections
© 2017 The catering Published
Authors. to mixed traffic condition
by Elsevier B.V. in Indian cities. In this study methodology was developed to calculate the PCU
Keywords:
and Signalized
saturation flow Intersection,
in accordance Passenger
for the Car Unit, Saturation
enumerated trafficFlow
conditions.
Peer-review under responsibility of WORLD CONFERENCE ON TRANSPORT RESEARCH SOCIETY.
Keywords: Signalized Intersection, Passenger Car Unit, Saturation Flow
1. Introduction
TheIntroduction
1. assessment of performance of signalised intersections often require the determination of capacity of approach
lane or lane group and the intersection clearing speed of queued vehicle during queue discharge. The evaluation of
capacity at signalized
The assessment intersectionofissignalised
of performance an important component
intersections in the
often planning,
require design, operation
the determination and management
of capacity of approachof
transportation
lane or lane groupsystem. Presently,
and the the clearing
intersection methodologies
speed of available for the
queued vehicle estimation
during of capacity
queue discharge. The of signalised
evaluation of
intersections are basedintersection
capacity at signalized on the conceptis anofimportant
saturationcomponent
flow (s). Saturation flow describes
in the planning, the number
design, operation andofmanagement
passenger car
of
units (PCU) in system.
transportation a dense flow of traffic
Presently, theformethodologies
a specific intersection
availablelane
forgroup. The design,of
the estimation thecapacity
capacity and operation
of signalised
of a signalizedareintersection
intersections critically
based on the concept depend on and passenger
of saturation car unit (PCU)
flow (s). Saturation flow and saturation
describes flow. of passenger car
the number
units (PCU) in a dense flow of traffic for a specific intersection lane group. The design, the capacity and operation
of a signalized intersection critically depend on and passenger car unit (PCU) and saturation flow.
2214-241X © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
2214-241X © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
2352-1465 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

10.1016/j.trpro.2017.05.216
2 Subhash Chand, Neelam Jain Gupta, S. Velmurugan/ Transportation Research Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000
Subhash Chand et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 25 (2017) 1662–1671 1663
Since the publication of HCM-1965, a number of studies have been taken up all over the world to determine PCU
values for different types of vehicles in varying roadway and traffic conditions. Key methods on estimation of PCU
values include Walker’s method, Headway method, multiple linear regression method, Simulation method, Density
method (used by HCM [8]) and the method proposed by Chandra [6]. Out of the available methods, the one
proposed by Chandra [6] is the most suitable for mixed traffic condition prevailing in India by Chandra [6].
According to Chandra, dynamic PCU value for different vehicles under mixed traffic situation is directly
proportional to the speed ratio and inversely proportional to the space occupancy ratio with respect to the standard
design vehicle that is car Chandra [6].
PCUi = (Speed ratio of the car to the ith vehicle)/ (Space ratio of the car to the ith vehicle)
PCUi =(Vc/Vi) / (Ac/Ai)
Where,
PCUi is the passenger car unit value of the ith vehicle

Vc/ Vi is the speed ratio of the car to the ith vehicle
Ac/ Ai is the space ratio of the car to the ith vehicle
The variable of speed ratio in the equation is a function of roadway and traffic conditions. Any change in these
conditions will affect the speed of vehicles, which is duly reflected by the changes in the speed ratio. The speed of
any vehicle type will be true representation of overall interaction of vehicle type due to presence of other vehicles of
its own category and of other type. The second variable of space ratio represents pavement occupancy and indicates
manoeuvrability of a vehicle with respect to car is constant for a particular class of vehicle.
1.1 Traffic scenario in India
India is a vast developing country and a home to around 1.3 billion people with wide range of income gap. The
roads of India are a perfect example of the prevailing economic disparity and vehicles like motorcycle, auto
rickshaw (motorized three wheelers), bus, truck, SUV (sports utility vehicle), moped, bicycle, manual carts can be
seen sharing the same road space. Table 1 shows the composition of different types of vehicles in India.
Table1: Vehicle size and sales characteristics

Vehicle Type Domestic Length (m) Width(m)
Market Share
Passenger vehicles 13.78 3.65 1.50

Commercial Vehicles 2.98 10.10 2.45
Three Wheelers 4.06 2.60 1.25
Two Wheelers 79.17 1.85 0.70
*Association of Indian Automobiles Association (2014-15)
As presented in Table 1, the two-wheeler vehicle is predominant and significantly smaller in size than other types
of vehicles.
1664 Subhash Chand et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 25 (2017) 1662–1671
Author name / Transportation Research Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000 3
1.2 Problems of mixed traffic
Heterogeneous or mixed traffic systems operate very differently, compared to homogeneous traffic systems. The
traffic in mixed flow is comprised of fast moving and slow moving vehicles or motorized and non-motorized
vehicles. The vehicles also vary in size, manoeuvrability, control, and static and dynamic characteristics. Traffic is
not segregated by vehicle type and therefore, all vehicles travel in the same right of way. Smaller size vehicles often
squeeze through any available gap between large size vehicles and move in a haphazard manner.
In a mixed traffic condition, the interaction of various classes of vehicles along a road creates many problems to the
traffic engineers and planners due to the wide variation in their physical and operating characteristics. The non
uniformity in the static and dynamic characteristics of the vehicles is normally taken into account by converting all
vehicles in terms of a common unit known as Passenger Car Unit (PCU). Most of the existing analytical approaches
based on the field data have the limitation of an underlying assumption of homogeneity, which is a long way from
the high variations of driver vehicle characteristics in mixed traffic condition. This paper focuses on the
determination of the dynamic PCU values for different vehicle categories at signalised intersections under mixed
traffic conditions and saturation flow by adopting a suitable methodology considering the dynamics of the traffic
system. In this paper, efforts have been made to calculate the dynamic PCU of different vehicle types based on its
clearance time and the area occupied by the individual vehicle assuming that performance of signalized intersection
depend on space and time occupancy of the vehicles in the traffic stream at the signalized intersection area.
2. Literature Review
Researchers who have worked in the area of heterogeneous traffic condition defined PCU in different forms. PCU
value depends on the factors such as vehicle characteristics, roadway characteristics, environmental conditions,
climatic conditions, control conditions etc. In India, many researchers/ organisations have worked out the PCU
values at urban as well as for rural roads and intersections. Indian Roads Congress Special Publications (IRC SP: 41
[9]) design of at-grade signalized intersections in rural and urban areas, had recommended PCU values for two
wheeler as 0.3, three wheeler as 0.4 and bus / truck as 2.8 for conversion of different vehicle types into equivalent
PCUs.
Dynamic PCU model concept developed by Chandra and Sikdar [7] considered the intersection clearing speed of
each category of vehicles. Arasan and Jagadeesh [3] estimated the PCU for different categories of vehicles using the
multiple linear regression procedure, where the saturated green time was regressed against the number of each
category of vehicles crossing the stop line, during the green time, assuming a linear relationship between the
variables. PCU values obtained were for bus in the range of 2.11 to 2.83, for two wheeler 0.30 to 0.38 and for three
wheeler 0.58 to 0.64. Vien et al. [15] had developed a statistical approach of headway ratio method for finding the
PCU values of different vehicles at signalised intersections with respect to Malaysian traffic conditions. Rahman et
al. [14] presented a procedure for estimating PCE of rickshaws and auto rickshaws at signalised intersections and
suggested that the PCE values for rickshaws and auto rickshaws varies from 0.75 to 1.0 and 0.35 to 1.0 respectively
depending on the proportion of vehicles in mixed traffic flow. Patil et al. [11] studied the influence of area type in
the PCU values and estimated that the PCU for two wheeler ranges from 0.09 to 1.23, three wheeler from 0.23 to
6.14 and that of bus from 1.02 to 3.78.
Arasan and Krishnamurthy [4] conducted a study on the effect of traffic volume and road width on PCU values of
vehicles using microscopic simulation at mid block sections of urban roads. The results showed that the PCU value
of a vehicle significantly changes with change in traffic volume. Arasan and Koshy [1] incorporated the concept of
area occupancy and showed the appropriateness of the concept in heterogeneous traffic condition for urban roads.
Arasan and Arkatkar [2] used the simulation model, HETEROSIM, to derive the PCU values for different types of
vehicles in urban roads. The results showed that the PCU value of a vehicle significantly changes with change in
traffic volume and width of roadway. Radhakrishnan and Mathew [12] in their study have proposed an optimisation
technique for the computation of dynamic PCU values. PCU values obtained were 0.34 for two wheeler, 1.88 for
three wheeler and 3.90 for heavy vehicles considering eight intersection approaches and 0.24 for two wheeler, 0.6
for three wheeler and 2.26 for heavy vehicles considering eleven intersection approaches. Arasan and Arkatkar [2]
quantified the vehicular interaction in terms of PCU for an intercity road in India. Joshi and Vagadia [10], Praveen
and Arasan [12] have derived the vehicle equivalency factors for urban roads in India. It was found that under
heterogeneous traffic conditions, for a given roadway and traffic composition, the PCU value of vehicles vary
significantly with change in traffic volume. Hence it is desirable to consider PCU as a dynamic quantity instead of
assigning fixed PCU values for the different vehicle categories of road traffic. Most of the research works, already
done determined the PCU values of vehicles on midblock sections.
Based on the above referenced literature, it is evident that only few works have been accomplished towards the
determination of the PCU values of vehicles pertaining to the signalised intersections under the heterogeneous
traffic conditions prevailing in the developing economies like India. Therefore, there is an urgent to establish a
dynamic PCU model at signalised intersection by considering various factors during saturation and non- saturation
traffic flow conditions prevailing on Indian urban roads. Accordingly, this task was undertaken under the CSIR
sponsored Supra Institutional Network Project (SINP) Project titled, “Development of Indian Highway Capacity
Manual for Indian Traffic Conditions”.
3. Field Study and Data Collection
Four numbers of signalized intersections having four approach arms meeting at right angles were selected in the
present study. In the above candidate intersections, two approach arms was selected for the conduct of traffic
studies. Each of the approach arms possessed different widths ranging from 6.4 m to 15.9 m. Intersections selected
in this study are located on level gradient on all approaches and least interference is caused to the entering or exiting
traffic due to pedestrians, bus stops, parked vehicles, etc. (Figure 1). All the approaches of the intersections function
nearing / over saturated conditions for major part of the green interval at almost each phase during peak hour as
traffic flow is very heavy. Eventually, the traffic does not follow any lane discipline and consists of more than 12
vehicle types varying in speed and size. The candidate signalized intersections considered include:
1- Stadium Chowk, Noida,
2- NTPC Chowk, Noida
3- DTC Depot Chowk, Dwarka, New Delhi
4- Deepali Chowk, Dwarka, New Delhi
Stadium Chowk, Noida NTPC Chowk, Noida

DTC Depot Chowk, Dwarka Deepali Chowk, Dwarka

Figure 1: View of Selected Intersections
3.1 Data Collection
The traffic data has been collected at all selected signalised intersections through Videography method. Following
guidelines were followed while selecting the intersections for data collection.
• No bus stop in the approach length up to 100 m.
• No parking in the approach, upstream or downstream up to 100 m.
• No separate phase for the pedestrians.
• Should be well channelized intersection preferably with exclusive / free left turning provision.
• Roads should cross at 90 degree.
• Flat Gradient.
• Care to be exercised to record the traffic data for a minimum of 2 to 4 hours during peak period from a
suitable height with an aim to cover the entire intersection. More than one camera may be used if suitable
vantage point is not available.
Traffic data collected at the selected intersection had encompass the various parameters like field traffic flow
patterns (i.e. traffic volume) of different turning movements, traffic composition, and speed / clearance time of
different vehicles at each phase of the signal at different approaches of the signalized intersections. In this regard,
enumeration of the turning movement data was accomplished by deploying a portable digital video camera mounted
at a height of 6 m at the opposite island or median or at a vantage point at the corner of the intersection so as to
cover the designated approach. The camera was so positioned so as capture view of the approach road from its
corresponding exit line i.e. line joining ends of channelizing islands of both the Straight Traffic (SH) and Right
Turning (RT) movements up to about 10 m inside the Stop Line on the subject approach as shown in Figure 1.
Traffic flow were recorded using the above video camera setup on a typical working day covering the morning and
evening period from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon and from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm respectively. In addition, the signal timing
for each phase of each approach was noted manually for all the intersections. Roadway condition and operational
data for different approaches of all the selected intersections are given in Table 2.
Table 2: Roadway condition and operational data
Cycle
Width Green Amber Red
Intersection Traffic Approach From time
(m) time Time Time
(s)
Spice mall ( NB ) 9.0 127 30 3 94
Stadium Chowk Noida Mor (SB ) 6.4 127 25 3 99
( Noida ) DND ( EB ) 10.3 127 30 3 94
Chora Mor ( WB ) 9.8 127 30 3 94
NTPC Chowk GIP ( EB ) 11.0 187 60 3 124
( Noida ) Ghaziabad ( WB ) 11.0 187 60 3 124
Dabri Ext. (WB) 11.5 140 30 4 106
DTC Depot Chowk,
Dwarka sector 10 (EB) 10.5 140 30 4 106
Dwarka
Madhu Vihar (SB) 10.7 140 45 4 91
( New Delhi )
Palam Vihar (NB) 10.0 140 30 4 106
Madhuban Chowk (WB) 15.9 302 115 4 183
Deepali Chowk, Peeragarhi (EB) 13.4 302 115 4 183
Dwarka Rohini (SB) 9.4 302 55 4 243
(New Delhi) Rani Bagh (NB) 8.4 302 55 4 243
The recorded traffic data was retrieved in the laboratory for each turning movement during each green phase of
approach categorized into six vehicle types namely, Small car (up to 1400), Big Car (beyond 1400 cc), motorized
Two-Wheeler, Three-Wheeler, Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) and Heavy Commercial Vehicle (HCVs –
included Buses and all normal Goods Vehicles).
4. Study Methodology
In this study, various factors like classified Traffic counts, width of road, composition of traffic, cycle length, green
phase etc. are measured so that their impact on the saturation flow is studied. Under mixed traffic condition, the
required space for the vehicular movement is reflected more based on the area of the vehicle rather than by length of
the vehicle alone. Thus the area occupancy of vehicle was used as the key parameter in the analysis, which
incorporated the effect of all the vehicular interactions caused by the surrounding environment. To determine
dynamic PCUs for signalised intersections in Indian conditions, modified area occupancy and clearing time concept
is introduced.
In order to address the variability in flow due to heterogeneous traffic dynamic PCU value was calculated for every
5 seconds interval of each green phase. Since at the beginning of the green time, actual headway would be relatively
longer than the saturated headway which include the driver reaction time and time necessary for acceleration, the
data for the initial five seconds was ignored by considering the data as start-up lost time.
Vehicle count was made at every five second interval during each green phase of each signal cycle on individual
approaches of the intersection. Also clearance time was recorded at every five second interval in each green time on
sample basis during signal cycles at all the approaches covering different vehicle types. The clearance time was
recorded as the time difference when the front bumper of the vehicle entered the intersection and the rear bumper of
the vehicle left the intersection. Based on the sample data, the average clearance time for each vehicle types in each
cycle was determined. Passenger Car Unit (PCUs) recommended by IRC: SP-41 as shown in Table 3 were used for
the calculation of PCU flow rates. An attempt was made in the present study to calculate dynamic PCU in the case
of Saturation flow.
Table 3: PCU as per IRC: SP-41
Vehicle Type Small Car Big Car 2W 3W LCV HCV

PCU 1.0 1.0 0.5 0.8 1.5 2.3
The areas of different vehicle types were considered on an average scale by accounting for the range of vehicle
brands cutting across varying vehicle sizes under each vehicle type. Table 4 presents a summary of the areas of
different vehicle types deduced deploying the above analogy.
Table 4 Vehicle Dimensions of Different Vehicle Types
Projected Physical
Average Dimension (m)
S. No. Vehicle Category Rectangular Area Rectangular Area
(m²) Ratio, Ai/Ac
Length (m) Width (m)
1. Small Car 3.72 1.44 5.36 1.00
2. Big Car 4.58 1.77 8.11 1.33
3. Two Wheeler 1.87 0.64 1.20 0.21
4. Two Axle / Multi Axle Truck 7.5 2.35 17.63 3.06
5. Bus 10.1 2.43 24.54 3.06
6. Three Wheeler 3.2 1.4 4.48 0.78
7. LCV 6.1 2.1 12.81 1.39
An important part of the study is to calculate dynamic PCU for each signal cycle. It is calculated by taking time
occupancy of Car to Vehicle to Space ratio of Car to Vehicle at the intersection shown in following formula by
Chandra (2003). Here standard car is taken as the reference vehicle.
Vc ´ Ai Ai ´ ti
PCU i = =
Ai ´ Vc Ac ´ tc ….Eq.1
PCUi = Passenger Car Unit of vehicle type i

Ai = Area of ith vehicle
Ac = Area of passenger car
Vi = Average clearing speed of vehicle type i in m/s
Vc = Average clearing speed of car in m/s
tc = Average clearing time of car in sec
ti = Average clearing time of vehicle type i in sec
These dynamic PCU values are used to get the total flow rate of vehicles as follows:
Xn = PCUi * Zi ….Eq.2
Where, Zi is vehicle count
The saturation period has been evaluated by considering the maximum tolerance level of 2:
-2=<Xn-X2<=2
Here Xn represents the PCU flow at nth 5 second interval and X2 represents the PCU flow at 2nd 5 second interval i.e.
the interval between 5 seconds to 10 seconds and so on till the end of the green phase time. The above interval class
was selected due to the following scenarios commonly witnessed on the Indian roads:
• Non - adherence to the lane based movement on the Indian roads.

• The lead vehicles in the queue seldom follow the practice of stopping behind the zebra crossing.
• Due to the tendency exhibited by the two wheeler riders to squeeze through the available space by driving
their vehicles in between the lanes of the queue and thereby become the leaders of the pack in the queue.
• Vehicles invariably tend to start the crossing manoeuvre at the intersection when there are still some
seconds left at the red interval.
By considering the successive 5 second interval of the green time, the intervals wherein the saturation had occurred
by qualifying the tolerance of 2 vehicles was duly accounted for. For this saturation period for which the saturation
flow had actually taken place, the dynamic PCU flow can be deduced.
Saturation flow was estimated in PCU/hr using the dynamic PCU values obtained at each 5 second time interval.
The following conventional procedure was adopted to determine the saturation flow value for each approach. The
number of vehicle types that were converted into dynamic passenger car unit (Xn) for the saturation period and then
divided by saturated green time (T sec) to calculate the saturation flow. Thus the saturation flow rate in PCU/hr is
obtained as:
S = ∑ Xn * 3600/T ….Eq.3
5. Analysis of Data
Data analysis of various traffic characteristics such as traffic volume, traffic composition, peak hour traffic volume,
peak hour factor and traffic composition etc. was done for each turning movement, each approach and intersection
as a whole for all the candidate intersection. There were no specific lanes designated / ear marked for Right Turning
(RT) or Straight Through (ST) vehicles. The recorded films were replayed in the laboratory on a large screen in
order to retrieve the required data information for the study.
Classified average saturation flow for the combined through (TH) and Right Turning (RT) movements of different
approaches of the selected intersections were converted into Passenger car unit (PCU) by multiplying the respective
dynamic PCU factors estimated in this study with the number of vehicles of the category in order to derive average
saturation flow in PCU per hour green. Also, similar procedure was used to calculate saturation flow in PCU per
hour green by using PCU values from IRC SP-41 for comparison purpose. The data size consists of 20 cycles for
any arm of the intersection during the peak hour duration. Saturation intervals and the saturation flows for those
time interval were the average of all the saturation flow for a particular arm to get the average saturation flow for the
respective arm. The data was analyzed by applying dynamic PCU values based on the average clearance time of the
cycle then calculated saturation flow period with tolerance of two vehicles. Further the saturation flow for this
saturation period was calculated for each approach of each intersection. The data for all the four intersections were
compiled and presented in Table 5 for different approaches.
Table 5: Clearing Time and Dynamic PCU at Various Signalised Intersection

Clearing Time Dynamic PCU
Green S mall Big Car Two Three LCV Truck S mall Big Two Three LCV Truck
Width Time Car Wheeler Wheeler Car Car Wheeler Wheeler
Intersection Traffic Approach From (m)
Spice mall ( NB ) 9 30 6.188 6.581 5.998 6.848 4.867 8.131 1.000 1.415 0.202 0.861 1.771 4.032
S tadium Chowk Noida M or (SB ) 6.4 25 6.906 7.434 6.337 5.470 7.759 7.045 1.000 1.441 0.191 0.607 1.574 3.237
( Noida ) DND ( EB ) 10.3 30 5.207 5.383 4.516 5.291 6.125 7.692 1.000 1.369 0.181 0.795 1.655 4.532
Chora M or ( WB ) 9.8 30 4.862 5.110 4.229 4.987 5.785 6.911 1.000 1.394 0.182 0.805 1.518 4.362
NTPC Chowk GIP ( EB ) 11 60 3.066 3.070 2.773 3.799 3.807 4.049 1.000 1.330 0.189 0.959 1.731 4.045
( Noida ) Ghaziabad ( WB ) 11 60 4.422 4.664 3.145 3.990 5.588 5.608 1.000 1.390 0.149 0.692 1.751 3.879
DTC Depot Chowk, Dabri Ext. (WB) 11.5 30 4.029 4.038 3.693 4.206 4.815 5.342 1.000 1.335 0.192 0.816 1.678 4.081
Dwarka Dwarka sector 10 (EB) 10.5 30 4.363 4.438 4.363 4.677 4.587 5.342 1.000 1.370 0.212 0.844 1.474 3.787
( New Delhi ) M adhu Vihar (SB) 10.7 45 4.117 4.481 3.476 4.453 5.091 6.403 1.000 1.449 0.177 0.847 1.446 4.647
Palam Vihar (NB) 10 30 4.237 4.571 3.786 4.435 5.089 5.803 1.000 1.455 0.187 0.822 1.757 4.337
Deepali Chowk, M adhuban Chowk (WB) 15.9 115 4.223 5.728 4.827 4.603 4.867 8.650 1.000 1.468 0.202 0.841 1.795 4.226
Dwarka Peeragarhi (EB) 13.4 115 5.183 5.260 4.515 8.402 7.759 8.000 1.000 1.408 0.156 0.886 1.523 4.226
(New Delhi) Rohini (SB) 9.4 55 5.326 6.470 4.936 6.363 8.420 7.650 1.000 1.573 0.192 0.926 2.004 3.854
Rani Bagh (NB) 8.4 55 4.833 5.072 4.828 5.470 6.085 6.020 1.000 1.337 0.178 0.951 1.566 3.875
Table 6: Saturation Flow at different approaches

Traffic Composition Saturation Saturation Flow Saturation
Flow Rate Rate flow/hour/
(as per (as per Dynamic Lane*
Small Car Big Car Two Three LCV Truck IRC:SP-41) PCU)
Width % Wheeler Wheeler
% % %
Intersection Traffic Approach From (m) % %
Spice mall ( NB ) 9.0 26.67 21.11 44.44 6.67 0.11 1.00 4293 4987 1995
Noida Mor (SB ) 6.4 25.58 22.09 36.05 4.65 1.13 10.50 3156 3509 1974
Stadium Chowk DND ( EB ) 10.3 43.84 4.45 35.27 4.46 0.68 11.30 4986 5928 2072
( Noida ) Chora Mor ( WB ) 9.8 50.24 7.11 24.17 5.21 0.10 13.17 4840 5571 2046
NTPC Chowk GIP ( EB ) 11.0 55.28 13.25 20.70 9.32 0.83 0.62 6190 5970 1954
( Noida ) Ghaziabad ( WB ) 11.0 55.28 13.25 20.70 9.32 0.83 0.62 6235 6271 2052
DTC Depot Dabri Ext. (WB) 11.5 53.03 18.94 18.18 4.55 3.03 2.27 5820 6374 1995
Chowk, Dwarka Dwarka sector 10 (EB) 10.5 68.03 8.84 10.88 10.20 0.68 1.37 5410 5450 1869
( New Delhi ) Madhu Vihar (SB) 10.7 30.21 3.28 54.75 7.25 1.90 2.61 7206 6194 2083
Palam Vihar (NB) 10.0 34.35 8.70 42.17 7.83 3.04 3.91 6503 5723 2060
Deepali Chowk, Madhuban Chowk (WB) 15.9 30.14 13.17 38.30 11.38 1.57 5.44 8247 8923 2020
Dwarka Peeragarhi (EB) 13.4 24.28 9.54 48.12 10.28 2.00 5.78 5575 7161 1924
(New Delhi) Rohini (SB) 9.4 29.00 11.26 49.96 9.09 0.52 0.17 6329 5329 2041
Rani Bagh (NB) 8.4 40.84 18.19 31.81 8.63 0.33 0.20 3705 4507 1931
* we have considered lane width equal to 3.6 m for the calculation of Saturation flow/Hr/Lane
Table 7: Dynamic PCU values
Class of Vehicle Small Car Big Car Two Wheeler Three Wheeler LCV HCV
Dynamic PCU range 1.00 1.33 - 1.57 0.15 – 0.21 0.61 – 0.96 1.45 – 2.00 3.24 – 4.96
6. Conclusion and Recommendations
In this present study, a suitable methodology to calculate the PCU and saturation flow in accordance with the
present day traffic flow conditions was developed. The study clearly emphasize the need for the estimation of PCU
values based on actual field studies at the signalised intersections as it is found to vary considerably as compared to
PCU values provided in IRC:SP-41 in most of the cases. In most of the cases, the variation in saturation flow can be
explained by estimating PCU by clearance time, but in some cases it is not able to justify the variation of saturation
flow during different saturated green phases of the same approach. This can be attributed to the varying traffic
composition during the different green phases of signal. Thus an attempt was made in this paper to explain the
significance of PCU values and it was established from the above limited studies that the PCU values are highly
sensitive to the given geometric conditions such as approach width as well as traffic flow, composition and stream
speed. The major conclusions drawn from this study are summarized below:
• The dynamic PCU value for all categories of vehicles has got a negative correlation with the stream speed
except in the case of PCU of LCV and that of Truck/bus. It was observed that PCU values of car, two wheeler
and three wheeler decreases with increase in stream speed during green phase (Table 5). Though the stream
speed increased, the smaller vehicles like two wheeler and three wheeler exhibited the tendency to squeeze
themselves into the narrow gaps. Due to this phenomenon, the heavier vehicles possessed no freedom to move
freely, which would have a high speed differential between the vehicles. This will cause higher PCU values for
LCV and Truck/buses, when the stream speed increases.
• It was found that lower percentage of two wheeler reduce the per lane saturation flow in dynamic PCU for an
approach while higher percentage of heavy vehicle increased the saturation flow per lane. In fact, dynamic
PCU flow rate is directly related to the composition of the traffic at the approach during a green signal phase
(Table 6). It was evident from this analysis that higher percentage of two wheelers occupied narrow gaps at
saturation stage and in turn increases the saturation flow rate.
• Under mixed traffic condition, when the proportion of vehicles varied from 0 to 68%, PCU of two wheeler
varied from 0.15 to 0.21, three wheeler varied from 0.61 to 0.96, big car varied from 1.33 to 1.57, LCV varied
from 1.45 to 2.00 while that of Truck / Bus varied from 3.24 to 4.96. At the same time, the reported values of
PCUs for car, two wheeler, three wheeler, LCV and Truck are 1.0, 0.5, 0.8, 1.5 and 2.3 respectively as per
IRC:SP-41. The major variation in estimated PCU as compared to the reported values in IRC: SP-41 was
observed in the case of two wheelers and Truck / Bus (Table 7).
Acknowledgement
The authors are grateful to Director CSIR CRRI to accord his permission to publish this paper. The authors are
grateful to CSIR for sponsoring the main study titled, “Development of Indian Highway Capacity Manual
(Indo-HCM)” as the outputs of this research would be directly applicable for the main study.
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PCUi =(Vc/Vi) / (Ac/Ai)

PCUi is the passenger car unit value of the ith vehicle

1.1 Traffic scenario in India

Table1: Vehicle size and sales characteristics

Passenger vehicles 13.78 3.65 1.50

1.2 Problems of mixed traffic

3. Field Study and Data Collection

Stadium Chowk, Noida NTPC Chowk, Noida

DTC Depot Chowk, Dwarka Deepali Chowk, Dwarka

Table 2: Roadway condition and operational data

Table 3: PCU as per IRC: SP-41

Vehicle Type Small Car Big Car 2W 3W LCV HCV

Table 4 Vehicle Dimensions of Different Vehicle Types

PCUi = Passenger Car Unit of vehicle type i

Where, Zi is vehicle count

• Non - adherence to the lane based movement on the Indian roads.

Table 5: Clearing Time and Dynamic PCU at Various Signalised Intersection

Table 6: Saturation Flow at different approaches

Table 7: Dynamic PCU values

6. Conclusion and Recommendations

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