CE 367 Transportation Engineering I (2, 0, 2)

STRUCTURE FOR CE367- TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING

Instructor Name: Dr. Emmanuel Dzisi
Tel:+233206656711
E-mail: emmanuel.dzisi@knust.edu.gh
Class Location:
Course a) Elements of traffic flow;
Description b) Traffic flow variables,
c) Level of service of basic roadway sections;
d) Traffic Engineering studies: Spot speeds, Volume studies, delay studies, Parking
studies, parking geometry and design.
e) Accident studies;
f) Traffic control and management systems:Traffic conflicts at intersections, Types
of intersection control, Capacity of basic, freeway sections.
Course 1. Give students an understanding of basic elements of traffic engineering
Objectives 2. Appreciation of the Traffic Engineering studies
3. Basic knowledge of Accident studies and Traffic Control systems
Course Students of Civil and Geomatic Engineering Department, KNUST (Obuasi Campus)
participants

Mode of Coursework/Project - %; Class Tests- %; Attendance- % Mid Semester Exams - %

Assessment Final Exam- %

Facilitation Lecture notes, Project work (s), Case studies, Videos

Duration 1 semester
Key Lecture notes, Traffic and Highway Engineering, 4th Edition by Nicholas J. Garber
Resources and Lester A. Hoel (2009)

Introduction to Traffic Engineering

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 Can you describe the situation that is at play in the photograph below?

Possible answer: The people in the photograph are QUEUEING to visit the limited washrooms
available
Follow up question: Why is it happening?
Possible answer: Because there are LIMITED washrooms available i.e demand >supply

>
● Essentially, waiting in a queue at a washroom is similar in some sense to waiting in a
queue in traffic.
● Thus, congestion sets in when: No. vehicles on the roadway> Capacity

Capacity refers to the maximum traffic density a road can accommodate without delay i.e. the most
cars a road can handle while (the vehicles are) still travelling at free flow.

Then again, Congestion happens mainly because everyone wants to use the road at the SAME
TIME (temporal peaking).
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 Figure 1 A chart of typical traffic flow vs time of day

● Can you explain why the chart peaks around 8am and 5pm?

In the case of driving, there can also be Spatial peaking where most people want to drive in the
same direction eg. to a place such as Central Business District, Concert site, Church, Work, etc. at
the same time.

Figure 2 Congestion in one direction, free flow in another

This suggests that Demand for the roadway is subject to Spatial and Temporal peaking.

● In Traffic studies, the number of people using the roadway, affects how long it takes to use
the roadway i.e. Vehicle density affects speed
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●

90km/h

20km/h
Figure 3 As vehicle density increases on a road, the speeds of travel decrease (Vehicles on left, Vehicle Speedometer on the
right)

Light traffic

Medium traffic

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 Heavy traffic

● Plotting the traffic situation graphically will give us a curve such as the one below

100
SPEED
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

Figure 4 Non-linear chart (Speed vs Density)

So for now, we understand

Speed= kilometers covered per hour

Density= number of cars per kilometer per lane

While individual drivers may be more interested in their speed, traffic engineers are more
interested in the Flow of traffic

In general, Flow= Density x Speed

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Therefore, Flow= Cars/ Kilometer x Kilometers/Hour

Flow= Cars per hour passing a point of a roadway.

Question: Do you think traffic flow is higher when there are fewer cars or when there are many
cars?
● Possible answer: It depends! You can have situations where density is very low and speed
is high, but flow would be very low (see image on light traffic). Then as density becomes
moderate/high, speed remains somewhat high just as in the case of medium traffic (see
image on medium traffic), so you have optimum flow. And at a point, you can also have
very high densities, with very low speeds of travel; with flow falling again.

Plotting the relationship between flow and density would result in the graph below

Plot using field data

Question: What will the relationship between speed and flow also look like?

Answer:

Plot using field data

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Traffic Stream

Traffic can also in some sense be thought of as a stream of vehicles.

● Traffic streams are made up of individual drivers and vehicles, interacting in unique ways
with each other and with elements of the roadway and general environment.
● The nature of traffic flow on highway facilities at any particular moment may be described
by a number of parameters known as traffic stream variables.
● Traffic stream variables help define the characteristics of traffic flow on highway facilities
and provide an indication of the level of usage and efficiency of the roadway system.
● The variables also provide transportation engineers and planners the basic data in the
evaluation of the effectiveness of capacity improvement measures.

Elements of Traffic Flow

Where the flow of vehicles is not interrupted by factors external to the traffic stream, the primary
elements of traffic flow are considered to be flow, density, and speed.

Below are some of the key terminologies in traffic engineering.

Definitions

i. Flow or Rate of flow (q)- Flow is the equivalent hourly rate at which vehicles pass a point
on a highway during a time period less than 1 hour. It can be determined by:

q= n x 3600/ T in veh/h
where
n = the number of vehicles passing a point in the roadway in T sec
q = the equivalent hourly flow

ii. Density (k)- Density sometimes referred to as concentration is the number of vehicles
traveling over a unit length of highway at an instant in time. The unit length is usually 1
kilometer (km); and the unit of density is vehicles per km (veh/km).

iii. Speed (u)- Speed is considered as the distance traveled by a vehicle during a unit of time.
It can be expressed in miles per hour (mi/h) , kilometers per hour (km/h), or feet per second
(ft/sec).

● Since vehicles in a stream have different speeds which keep changing as the
highway is traversed, it is usual to characterize the stream flow by an average speed
value. Average or mean speeds commonly used are the time mean speed (Ut ) and
the space mean speed (Us ).

● The time mean speed is the arithmetic average of the speeds of the individual
vehicles as they pass a point (spot speed) on a highway during an interval of time.

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 ● The time mean speed is found by:

𝑈𝑡 = ⅀ N i=1 Ui
Where;
n = number of vehicles passing a point on the highway
Ui= speed of the ith vehicle (m/sec)

● Space mean speed is however considered the average speed computed on the basis
of the mean time taken by the vehicles to move over a given section of roadway.
Space mean speed (us) is thus obtained by dividing the total distance traveled by
two or more vehicles on a section of highway by the total time required by these
vehicles to travel that distance. This is the speed that is involved in flow-density
relationships. The space mean speed is found by

us= (n)/(∑ (1/𝑢 )

us= (nL)/(∑ 𝑡)

where us = space mean speed (ft /sec)

n = number of vehicles
i = the time it takes the ith vehicle to travel across a section of highway (sec)
ui = speed of the ith vehicle (ft /sec)
L = length of section of highway (ft)

● The time mean speed is always higher than the space mean speed. The difference
between these speeds tends to decrease as the absolute values of speeds increase. It
has been shown from field data that the relationship between time mean speed and
space mean speed can be given as
ut = us + α/us
● Consider the case of N vehicles travelling on a road along a section of length L with
individual spot speeds of Ui . By definition, Ut is given as

𝑈𝑡 = ⅀ N i=1 Ui
● For this length of roadway section, the travel time of each individual vehicle
assuming constant speed is
ti =

● The average travel time Ta for the N vehicles is, therefore

Ta = ⅀ N i=1

● But Us= , hence, Us is given by

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 𝑁
Us= 1
⅀
𝑈𝑖

Additional terms

iv. Spacing (s)- This is the distance between successive vehicles measured from the front
bumper of the leading vehicle to the front bumper of the following vehicle.

v. Clearance/gap- Clearance is the interval or distance between successive vehicles measured

from the rear bumper of the leading vehicle to the front bumper of the following vehicle.
The time measure (in seconds) of this interval is called gap.

Gap= Clearance/ Speed

vi. Headway- The time in seconds between successive vehicles as they pass a point on a
roadway.

The relationship between headway (h) measured in seconds and the rate of flow (q) in
veh/hr is given as;

q= 3600/ h in veh/h

In traffic flow measurements, the standard time interval usually used is a 15-minute period
since it is the time interval at which stable flow can reasonably be expected to exist.
vii. (qmax)- Capacity refers to the maximum number of vehicles per unit time that a particular
transportation facility can accommodate (veh/h). In other words, capacity is the maximum
rate of traffic flow that a highway is capable of supporting.

viii. Volume- Volume is defined as the number of vehicles that pass a point on a highway, or
given lane or direction of a highway, during a specified time interval
● It is expressed as: Number of vehicles/ Time interval
● This can further be expressed as vehicles per hour or vph

*It is important to note that, Volume and Flow are very different.

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● Volume is the actual number of vehicles passing a point during a given time interval, while
Flow represents the number of vehicles passing a point during a time interval less than 1 hour,
but expressed as an equivalent hourly rate.

● A volume of 200 vehicles observed in a 10 minute period implies a rate of flow of (200x60)/10
= 1200 veh/hr. In this instance, 1200 vehicles do not really pass the point of observation
during the study hour, but they do pass the point at that rate for 10 minutes.

Traffic Flow Theory- Traffic flow theory involves the development of mathematical relationships
among the primary elements of a traffic stream: flow, density, and speed. These relationships help
the traffic engineer in planning, designing, and evaluating the effectiveness of implementing traffic
engineering measures on a highway system.

● Traffic flow theory is used in design to determine adequate lane lengths for storing left-turn
vehicles on separate left-turn lanes, the average delay at intersections and freeway ramp
merging areas, and changes in the level of freeway performance due to the installation of
improved vehicular control devices on ramps.

● Another important application of traffic flow theory is simulation where mathematical

algorithms are used to study the complex interrelationships that exist among the elements of
a traffic stream or network and to estimate the effect of changes in traffic flow on factors such
as crashes, travel time, air pollution, and fuel consumption. Methods ranging from physical
to empirical have been used in studies related to the description and quantification of traffic
flow.

Relating spacing and density

● If vehicles on the average maintain a spacing “s” and if at a given instant of time N vehicles
occupy a length L of the roadway then, L = Ns

● Hence,

k= =

where s must have units consistent with the parameter k, e.g. s is expressed in kilometers
and k in veh/km (for easy cancellation of units).

● If s is measured in meters the above relationship becomes

k=

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 Relationships between Flow, speed and Density

● Traffic flow can be characterized adequately by the variables, u, k and q. The relationship
between the three variables is given by the following expression;

𝑞 = 𝑢k.

Figure 5 Figures showing relationships between q,u,k

● The figures express the relationship between any pair of the variables.
● The most critical points on these curves are free flow speed (uf), jam concentration (kj )
and capacity (qm).
● At free-flow conditions, the concentration of vehicles on the roadway is so low that drivers
can travel at their maximum desired speeds and execute lane change manoeuvres without
any interference from other vehicles.
● The free-flow speed is the maximum permissible speed associated with free-flow condition.

● The jam concentration (kj ) corresponds to the conditions of a traffic jam situation where
maximum packing of stationary vehicles per unit length of roadway occurs.

● On a q-k curve, there are two flow conditions at which q=0;

Free flow condition (when k=0)
Jam condition (when k0).

● On a u-k curve, free flow condition occurs at k=0 while the jam condition occurs at u=0.

● On a q-k plot (also u-q plot), the maximum flow or capacity occurs at intermediate values
of speed and concentration (km).This means that up to this intermediate condition, increasing
speeds lead to increasing flow; beyond this point, increasing speeds result in decreasing flow.

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● Flow exhibits a decline at the high-speed end because of the need for drivers to keep
increasingly longer spacing for safe driving.

● A trade-off exists between speed and flow; higher speeds are attained only by sacrificing the
throughput capability of the highway.

● On a q-k curve, a ray drawn from the origin to any point on the curve has a slope
representing the corresponding space mean speed.

Categories of Traffic Flow

● Traffic flow on transportation facilities may be categorized as either interrupted flow or
uninterrupted flow.

● An interrupted flow is any traffic flow that is called periodically to slow down significantly or
stop completely due to the presence of fixed elements such as toll booths, stop and yield signs,
traffic signals, speed humps and other types of traffic control devices, irrespective of how much
traffic exists on the road.

● Uninterrupted flows are flows whose stream conditions are devoid of the influence of fixed
elements or any traffic control devices to the extent that any changes in the flow conditions
are purely the result of interactions among vehicles and the geometric characteristics of the
roadway (such as length and degree of curve, gradients, sight distance, etc.).

● Traffic on freeways is considered to be uninterrupted flow.

● Even if congestion on such roadways brings vehicular flow almost to a halt, flow is still
considered as uninterrupted because the reason for the congestion and slow-down is
internal to the traffic stream and not due to external factors.

Overview of Techniques used in collecting data on travel times (for your reading)

Several data collection techniques can be used to measure or collect travel times. These techniques
are designed to collect travel times and average speeds on designated roadway segments or links.
Because these techniques differ from point-based speed measurement, the resulting travel time and
speed data are much different than spot speeds. A general overview of the various techniques is
provided in the following paragraphs:

● Test vehicle techniques (often referred to as “floating car”) are the most common travel time
collection methods and consist of a vehicle(s) that is specifically dispatched to drive with the
traffic stream for the express purpose of data collection. Data collection personnel within the
test vehicle control the speed of the vehicle according to set driving guidelines. A passenger
in the test vehicle can manually record travel times at designated checkpoints using a
clipboard and stopwatch, or computer instrumentation may be used to record vehicle speed,
travel times or distances at preset checkpoints or intervals. Alternatively, a GPS receiver
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 coupled with a portable computer can be used to record the test vehicle’s position and speed
at time intervals as frequent as every second.

● License plate matching techniques consist of collecting vehicle license plate characters and
arrival times at various checkpoints, matching the license plates between consecutive
checkpoints, and computing travel times from the difference between arrival times. License
plate matching for travel times can be performed in a number of different ways. There are
several manual methods, and as well digital methods. A video and character recognition-based
method is an example of a digital method. Here, the technology collects license plate images
using video, and relies on character recognition software to recognize and automatically
transcribe the license plate number for subsequent computer matching.

● ITS probe vehicle techniques utilize passive instrumented vehicles in the traffic stream and
remote sensing devices to collect travel times. The ITS probe vehicles can be personal, public
transit, or commercial vehicles and often are not driving for the express purpose of collecting
travel times. ITS probe vehicles also typically report travel time data to a transportation
management center (TMC) in real-time. Probe vehicles may be equipped with several
different types of electronic transponders or receivers. A signpost-based system, typically
used by transit agencies for tracking bus locations, relies on transponders attached to roadside
signposts. Ground-based radio navigation systems use triangulation techniques to locate radio
transponders on vehicles.

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