Chapter 2:

HIGHWAY
DEVELOPMENT &
PLANNING
2.1 Difference of Traffic Management &
Traffic Engineering
2.2 Surveys in Transportation Studies and the
Significant Data Needed: Geodetic Survey,
Origin-Destination Survey & Vehicle
Count Survey
Importance of Highway Development and Planning

 Economic Growth
 Job Creation
 Safety
 Reduced Congestion
 Accessibility
 Environmental Impact
 Emergency Response
 Quality of Life
 International Trade
Difference of Traffic Management &
Traffic Engineering

• Traffic Management refers to the systematic control and

regulation of traffic flow on roadways and transportation
networks.
• Traffic management encompasses a range of strategies and
measures aimed at minimizing congestion, reducing travel
times, enhancing safety, and improving the overall quality of
transportation systems.
 Key Components and Functions of Traffic Management

• Traffic Control Devices: Installation and maintenance of traffic

signals, signs, road markings, and other infrastructure to guide
and inform road users.
• Traffic Signals: Operation of traffic signal systems to allocate
right-of-way at intersections and manage traffic flow efficiently.
• Traffic Enforcement: Implementation of rules and regulations
through law enforcement agencies to ensure compliance with
traffic laws.
• Real-Time Monitoring: Continuous monitoring of traffic
conditions through cameras, sensors, and data analysis to
respond to changing situations promptly.
• Traffic Incident Management: Coordination of responses to
accidents, breakdowns, and other incidents to minimize
disruptions and ensure the safety of all road users.
• Traffic Flow Optimization: Adjusting traffic signal timings, lane
configurations, and other parameters to optimize traffic flow and
reduce congestion during peak hours.
• Public Transportation Integration: Integrating public
transportation systems, such as buses and trains, with road
networks to promote the use of sustainable modes of transport.
• Traffic Engineering is the science of managing traffic flow on
roads and highways.
• It involves studying traffic patterns and developing strategies to
improve safety and efficiency.
• By understanding how traffic flows, engineers can identify
bottlenecks and develop solutions to reduce congestion.
Key Aspects and Roles of Traffic Engineering

• Roadway Design: Traffic engineers design roadways and

intersections, taking into consideration factors such as traffic
volume, vehicle types, road geometry, and safety
requirements. They aim to create road layouts that minimize
congestion, reduce accidents, and maximize traffic flow.

• Traffic Control Devices: Traffic engineers determine the

placement and design of traffic control devices, including traffic
signals, stop signs, yield signs, and road markings. These
devices help regulate traffic flow and ensure safe interactions
between different road users.
• Traffic Capacity Analysis: Traffic engineers analyze traffic data
and conduct capacity studies to determine the maximum volume
of traffic a road or intersection can handle efficiently. This
information informs decisions about widening roads or
implementing additional lanes.

• Intersection Design: Intersection design is a critical aspect of

traffic engineering. Engineers optimize the design of intersections
to minimize conflict points, reduce congestion, and improve
safety.
• Safety Measures: They implement safety measures such as
pedestrian crossings, bike lanes, and safety barriers to protect
vulnerable road users and reduce the likelihood of accidents.

• Transportation Modeling: Using advanced modeling techniques,

traffic engineers simulate traffic behavior and evaluate the impact
of proposed changes or developments on transportation networks.

• Compliance with Regulations: Traffic engineers ensure that

transportation projects comply with local, state, and federal
regulations and safety standards.
Key Differences Between Traffic Management and
Traffic Engineering
1. Focus and Timing:

• Traffic Management primarily focuses on real-time control and

regulation of existing traffic conditions. It deals with day-to-day
operations and responds to immediate issues such as congestion,
accidents, and road closures.

• Traffic Engineering, on the other hand, focuses on the long-term

planning, design, and construction of transportation infrastructure. It
involves strategic decision-making and aims to create and maintain
safe, efficient, and sustainable transportation systems over time.
2. Methods and Tools:

• Traffic Management employs tools and methods like traffic signals,

signs, lane markings, and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
to manage and control traffic in real-time.

• Traffic Engineering involves the design and layout of roadways,

intersections, and traffic control devices, as well as the
implementation of long-term planning strategies. It may include
tasks like road widening, intersection redesign, and the
development of transportation models.
3. Goals:

• Traffic Management aims to minimize congestion, reduce travel

times, enhance safety, and improve the flow of traffic on existing
roadways. Its objectives are focused on short-term improvements
and real-time adjustments.

• Traffic Engineering is concerned with long-term goals, such as

creating and maintaining a transportation network that maximizes
safety, capacity, and efficiency over an extended period. It aims to
provide sustainable and well-designed infrastructure.
4. Implementation Timeframe:

• Traffic Management measures are implemented and adjusted on a

daily basis or as needed, often in real-time. Changes can occur
rapidly in response to changing traffic conditions.

• Traffic Engineering projects, such as road construction or

intersection redesign, have longer planning and implementation
timelines. They require thorough evaluation and approval
processes before construction begins.
5. Responsiveness to Changing Conditions:

• Traffic Management is highly responsive to immediate traffic

conditions and incidents. It involves monitoring and adjusting traffic
control devices in real-time to optimize traffic flow and address
disruptions.

• Traffic Engineering focuses on creating a road network that can

handle a wide range of conditions and has built-in safety features. It
is less reactive to short-term fluctuations in traffic and focuses on
overall system performance.
Surveys in Transportation Studies and the
Significant Data Needed
 Geodetic Survey
• Geodetic surveys play a crucial role in transportation studies by
providing accurate and precise spatial data essential for
planning, designing, and maintaining transportation
infrastructure.
1. Route Planning and Design:

• Significant Data Needed:

Geodetic surveys provide highly accurate elevation data, which
is critical for designing roads, railways, and bridges. This
includes detailed information about the terrain, slopes, and
existing topography.

• Application:
Engineers use this data to plan optimal routes, determine
suitable grades for roads, and design bridges that account for
variations in ground elevation.
2. Construction and Earthwork:

• Significant Data Needed:

Geodetic surveys offer precise measurements of horizontal and
vertical positions, ensuring that transportation infrastructure is
constructed to specifications.

• Application:
During construction, surveyors use geodetic data to set control
points, monitor earthwork volumes, and ensure that foundations
are built at the correct elevations.
3. Alignment Studies:

• Significant Data Needed:

Geodetic surveys help define accurate horizontal and vertical
alignments for transportation projects.

• Application:
Alignment studies use geodetic data to determine the best path for
roads, railways, and other transportation routes, considering
factors like curves, gradients, and environmental impacts.
4. Right-of-Way Determination:

• Significant Data Needed:

Geodetic surveys establish property boundaries and right-of-way
widths.

• Application:
This data ensures that transportation projects adhere to legal
boundaries and minimize land acquisition costs.
5. Monitoring Infrastructure Health:

• Significant Data Needed:

Geodetic surveys provide baseline measurements of
transportation infrastructure.

• Application:
Regular surveys can monitor infrastructure health, detecting
subsidence, settlement, or movement that may indicate
structural issues or require maintenance.
6. Geospatial Analysis:

• Significant Data Needed:

Geodetic coordinates and elevation data.

• Application:
Geospatial analysis helps transportation planners assess factors
like proximity to population centers, natural resources, and
environmental features, aiding in route selection and impact
assessments.
7. Geographic Information Systems (GIS):

• Significant Data Needed:

Geodetic data serves as the foundation for GIS databases.

• Application:
GIS tools use geodetic coordinates to manage, analyze, and
visualize transportation-related data, such as traffic patterns,
accident locations, and maintenance schedules.
8. Environmental Impact Assessment:

• Significant Data Needed:

Geodetic data for precise mapping of ecosystems, water bodies,
and sensitive areas.

• Application:
Environmental impact assessments use geodetic surveys to
evaluate how transportation projects may affect ecosystems,
water quality, and habitats.
Origin and Destination Study | Types
of OD Studies
• Origin and destination study is used to determine the travel
pattern of people present in an area or city.
• It makes use of the desire lines.
Notations in Origin and Destination Study

 O - represents the origin i.e., the place from where the journey
starts.
 D - represents the destination i.e., the place where the journey
ends.
 Desire lines - represent the path taken by an individual, the
more the people take a particular path, the more is the thickness
of the desire line and vice versa.
Origin and Destination Study Concept

 OD study is to determine the travel pattern of an area/city.

 We can find out the origin (start point of travel) and destination
(endpoint of travel) for each person in the city.
 This will help in the analysis of the travel pattern observed in the
city.
 It forms the foundation for planning transportation projects.
What OD Studies Look at?

• Where vehicles are coming from

• Where they are going
• Why people are travelling
• When the trips occur and
• What types of vehicles are traveling

The travel pattern is determined by ​desire lines ​which show us the

number of people going from one origin to another destination in the
form of lines with varying thickness.
Application of Origin and Destination Study

 Origin and destination study maps out the movement of

all the people in a city. It visually represents the most
frequent routes people take. Therefore, this data can be
used to plan for the expansion of a particular road or to
introduce more public transport facilities along the route.
Types of Origin and Destination Study

1. Bluetooth OD
This is done by strategically deploying Bluetooth sensors across
the survey area.
The path of each device is tracked throughout the survey area
based on the progression of sensors that pick up the signal-
emitting device.
The resulting data is viewable on a cloud-based web portal.
This study is suited for medium-type OD studies.
2. Surveys
This study involves the use of historical, anonymized data from
location-based apps and GPS navigation services and
processes that data to produce O-D matrices and travel time
data.
This study is suited for large areas like the cities.
3. License Plate Studies
This study is done using cameras that capture license plates
and track the movement of the vehicle based on the license
plate.
This study is best suited for projects where counting all trips is
ideal, such as assessing cut-through traffic.
It can also be more cost-effective than the other two methods
when only a few routes need to be analyzed.
Vehicle Count Survey – Traffic Volume Count

• Traffic Volume Count is counting of number of vehicles passing

through a road over a period of time.
• It is usually expressed in terms of Passenger Car Unit (PCU) and
measured to calculate the Level of Service of the road and
related attributes like congestion, carrying capacity, V/C Ratio,
identification of peak hour or extended peak hour, etc.
Need of Traffic Volume Count Survey

 Traffic Volume Survey is an essential part of Town Planning,

especially for a town planner.
 It includes counting the number of vehicles passing through a survey
station.
 The study of Classified Traffic Volume Count is to understand factors
that form the basis of:
a) Checking the efficiency/saturation of the road network by comparing
current traffic volume with the calculated capacity or by identifying the
level of service
b) Establishing the use of the road network by vehicles of different
categories, traffic distribution, PCU/vehicle value
c) Need for median shifting or road widening
Purpose of Traffic Volume Count

 The purpose of classified traffic volume count is to draw inferences

on the basis of data collected.
To provide possible solutions and improvement suggestions for the
problem identified.
The objectives covered in it include identifying the hourly distribution
of vehicles and peak hour, identifying the level of service, and
comparing modal composition on the different hierarchies of roads.
Methods of doing Traffic Volume Count

 Traffic Volume Count can be done by various methods

depending upon various factors like manpower available, budget,
technology/instrument available, and magnitude of traffic data
required or to be collected which will then determine the quality
and type of vehicle classification to be adopted.
Traffic counting falls in two main categories, namely: manual
count and automatic count.
Traffic data collection forms an integral part of traffic volume study
as it provides the raw data and includes a primary survey. The
various types and methods used to collect traffic data provide
good and valuable coverage of the required traffic information.
Duration and Interval of Traffic Counts
In order to predict traffic flow volumes that can be expected on the
road network during specific periods, knowledge of the fact is
required that traffic volumes change considerably at each point in
time.

There are three important cyclical variations:

 Hourly pattern: the way traffic flow characteristic varies throughout
the day and night;
• Typical hourly patterns of traffic flow, particularly in urban areas,
generally show a number of distinguishable peaks.
• Peak in the morning followed by a lean flow until another peak in the
middle of the afternoon, after which there may be a new peak in the
late evening.
Daily Pattern: The day-to-day variation throughout the week.
• The traffic during the working days (Monday to Friday) may not
vary substantially, but the traffic volume during the weekend is
likely to differ from the working days on different type of roads and
in different directions

Monthly and yearly Pattern: The season-to-season variation

throughout the year.
• Manual Count:
The most common method of collecting traffic volume data is the
manual method of traffic volume count, which involves a group of
people recording a number of vehicles passing, on a
predetermined location, using tally marks in inventories.
Raw data from those inventories is then organized for
compilation and analysis.
This method of data collection can be expensive in terms of
manpower, but it is nonetheless necessary in most cases where
vehicles are to be classified with a number of movements
recorded separately, such as at intersections also in case where
automatic methods cannot be used due to lack of infrastructure,
necessary authorization etc.
• Automatic Count:
This method is employed in cases where the manual count method is
not feasible.
Various instruments are available for automatic count, which have their
own merits and demerits. Some of the widely used instruments are
pneumatic tubes, inductive loops, weigh-in-motion Sensor, micro-
millimeter wave Radar detectors and video camera.
Both types of count can be classified or unclassified.
Classified traffic volume count gives a better understanding of the types
of vehicles that use the road and can be used for a number of other
purposes apart from the transportation surveys.
It can also be used for calculating the modal split of vehicles on the
road.
Unclassified traffic volume count is done where sufficient manpower is
not available or the budget for the survey is low. This type of volume
count does not give good information about the road.
• Some of the widely used instruments are –
i) Pneumatic tubes – These are tubes placed on the top of road
surfaces at locations where traffic counting is required. As vehicles
pass over the tube, the resulting compression sends a burst of air to an
air switch.
ii) Inductive Loops – Inductive loop detector consists of embedded
turned wire. It includes an oscillator, and a cable, which allows signals
to pass from the loop to the traffic counting device. Inductive loops
are cheap, almost maintenance-free, and are currently the most
widely used equipment for vehicle counting and detection.
iii) Weigh-in-Motion Sensor types – A variety of traffic sensors and loops
are used to count, weigh and classify vehicles while in motion, and these are
collectively known as Weigh In Motion (WIM) sensor systems. Some notable
traffic sensors are:

• Bending Plates which contains strain gauges that weigh the axles of
passing vehicles
• Capacitive Strip is a thin and long extruded metal used to detect passing
axles. Capacitive strips can be used for both statistical data and axle
configuration.
• Capacitive Mat functions in a similar manner as the capacitive strip but it
is designed to be mobile and used on a temporary basis only.
• Piezo-electric Cable is a sensing strip of a metallic cable that responds to
vertical loading from vehicle wheels passing over it by producing a
corresponding voltage. The cable is very good for speed measurement and
axle-space registration, and is relatively cheap and maintenance
Bending Plates
v Video Camera – Video image processing system utilize
machine vision technology to detect vehicles and capture details
about individual vehicles when necessary.
• Factors to be considered while doing a traffic volume survey
on mid-block –
1.Surveyor should not affect the flow of traffic.
2.Survey station should be located at a position where queuing does
not take place.
3.Vehicles should be classified if possible as it saves time for
Classified Traffic Volume Survey. Also, classified results have many
other applications.
4.Safety of the surveyor should be kept in mind and a safe location
should be selected. This becomes more important in rural areas
where the carriageway is not well-defined.
5.Equipment used while automatic count should be placed such that
they do not draw the attention of driver.