BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

TRAFFIC FLOW THEORY

TRAFFIC FLOW PARAMETERS
1) SPEED (v)
Speed is ......
defined as rate of motion, or distance per unit time
Space Mean Speed, vs
is the average travel speed

vs

nL
vs
t

nL

n = number of travel times observed

L = length of the highway segment (km)

t
i 1

ti = travel time of the i-th vehicle to

traverse the section (hr)
1

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

TRAFFIC FLOW PARAMETERS

Time Mean Speed, vt
is the arithmetic mean of the measured speeds of all
vehicles passing a fixed roadside point during a given interval
of time (the individual speeds are known as spot speeds)

vt

v
i 1

n = number of vehicles observed

vi = spot speeds (km/hr)

vt
n

L = average length travelled by the vehicles

Relationship between Space Mean Speed and Time Mean Speed

s
v t vs
vs

t
vs v t
vt

or

s2 = variance of the space mean speed

t = variance of the time mean speed =
2

2
(
v

v
)
i t
n

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

Example 1
Three vehicles pass a kilometer post at 60, 75 and 54 km/hr,
respectively. What is the time mean speed of the three vehicles?
Also, find the approximate space mean speed.

60 75 54
vt
63
3

km/hr

2
2
2
(
60

63
)

(
75

63
)

(
54

63
)
t2
78
3

78
vs 63
61.8
63

km/hr

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

TRAFFIC FLOW THEORY

2) VOLUME (V)
Volume is ......
the number of vehicles observed or predicted to pass a point
during a given time interval.
3) RATE OF FLOW (q)
Rate of flow is ......
the number of vehicles passing a point during a given time
interval less than 1 hour, but expressed as an equivalent
hourly rate.
Thus, a volume of 200 vehicles observed in a 10-minute period
implies a rate of flow of 1200 veh/hr.
200
(10/60)

= 1200

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

TRAFFIC FLOW THEORY

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

4) DENSITY (k)
Density is ......
the number of vehicles occupying
a given length of lane or
roadway, averaged over time.

k = 14 veh / 0.5 km
= 28 veh/km

Usually expressed in vehicles/km.

Density can be measured directly
through aerial photography.
Density can also be calculated using
the equation:
k = q/v
where q = rate of flow
v = speed

500 m

What is the
density of
southbound
traffic on this
highway?

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

TRAFFIC FLOW THEORY

5) SPACING (s)
Spacing is ......
the distance (meters) between successive vehicles in a traffic
stream, measured from front bumper to front bumper.
6) HEADWAY (h)
Headway is ......
the corresponding time (seconds) between successive vehicles
as they pass a point of a roadway.
Spacing and Headway are related to q, v and k:
k = 1000/s

k (in veh/km), s (in meters)

h = s/v

h (in sec), v (in m/s)

q = 3600/h

q (in veh/hr), h (in sec)

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

TRAFFIC FLOW THEORY

7) LANE OCCUPANCY (LO)
Lane Occupancy is ......
the ratio of the time that vehicles are present at a detection
station in a traffic lane compared to the time of sampling.
LO = Total time vehicle detector is occupied = to
Total observation time
to = L + C
vs

where L = average length of vehicle

C = distance between loop detector

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

TRAFFIC FLOW THEORY

Density can be estimated using the expression ......
k = LO x 1000
L + C
Lane occupancy may also be expressed by R, which is
R = Sum of lengths of vehicles = Li
Length of roadway section

Then, density can be estimated using the expression ......

k = R/L

where L = average length of vehicles

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

Example 2
During a 60-sec period, a detector is occupied by vehicles for the
following times: 0.34, 0.38, 0.40, 0.32 and 0.52 sec.
a) Determine the lane occupancy.
b) Estimate the values of q, k and v.
(Assume that the loop-detector length is 3 m and the average length
of vehicles is 8 ft).
a)
to = 0.34 + 0.38 + 0.40 + 0.32 + 0.52 = 1.96 sec
T = 60 sec
LO =

1.96
100%
60

= 3.27%

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

b)
k =

0.0327 1000 = 6.01 veh/km

2.44 3

vs =

n (L C) = 5( 2.44 3) = 13.88 m/s = 49.97 km/h

1.96
to

q = 6.01 49.97 = 300.3 veh/hr

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

TRAFFIC FLOW THEORY

8) CLEARANCE (c)
Clearance is ......
the distance (meters) between successive vehicles in a traffic
stream, measured from front bumper to back bumper.
9) GAP (g)
Gap is ......
the corresponding time (seconds) between successive vehicles
as they pass a point of a roadway.

g = h (L/v)
c = g x v

where

g
L
c
h
v

=
=
=
=
=

mean
mean
mean
mean
mean

gap (sec)
length of vehicles (m)
clearance (m)
headway (sec)
speed (m/s)

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

TRAFFIC FLOW THEORY

Clearance (m) / Gap (s)

Spacing (m) / Headway (s)

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

TRAFFIC FLOW THEORY

CATEGORIES OF TRAFFIC FLOW
UNINTERRUPTED FLOW
Occurs on facilities that have no fixed elements (such as traffic
signals or stop signs) external to the traffic stream, that cause
interruptions to traffic flow.
Traffic flow conditions are thus the result of interactions among
vehicles in the traffic system and between vehicles and the
geometric characteristics of the roadway/guideway system.
The driver of the vehicle does not expect to be required to stop by
factors external to the traffic stream
Uninterrupted Flow facilities:
Expressways, Exclusive bus lanes, Rail
Transit Lines

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

TRAFFIC FLOW THEORY

CATEGORIES OF TRAFFIC FLOW
INTERRUPTED FLOW
Occurs on facilities that have fixed elements causing periodic
interruptions to traffic flow.
Traffic is stopped or significally slowed down periodically
irrespective of how much traffic exists.
The driver expects to be required to stop as and when required by
fixed elements that are part of the facility
Interrupted Flow facilities:
Signalized streets, Unsignalized streets with stop signs, Arterials,
Pedestrian walkways, Bicycle paths.
*Note:
Uninterrupted/Interrupted Flow are terms that describe the facility, and not
the quality of flow!

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

Answer This!
What type of facilities are these?
Uninterrupted flow facility or Interrupted flow facility?

UNINTERRUPTED FLOW
FACILITY

INTERRUPTED FLOW
FACILITY

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

TRAFFIC FLOW THEORY

UNINTERRUPTED TRAFFIC FLOW MODEL
Speed (km/hr)
C
D

Normal flow
B

Forced flow
A
Congestion

Capacity

Flow (veh/hr)

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

TRAFFIC FLOW THEORY

Imagine several vehicles, driven by rational drivers along a section of
freeway.
As vehicles speed and spacing increases, the speeds approach the free
speed, and drivers adopt their own speed when uninfluenced by other
vehicles in the traffic stream (point C).
The dashed curve represents the normal flow behaviour if all drivers
were to have the same free speed (point D).
It has been observed that drivers are uninfluenced by other vehicles in
the traffic lane at flows about half the capacity flow (point B).
Maximum traffic density occurs (point A) when traffic has virtually
come to a complete stop.
In the forced flow region, each vehicle adopts its minimum spacing and
clearance distance.

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

TRAFFIC FLOW THEORY

SPEED, FLOW and DENSITY relationship
Speed, v

Speed, v

A
v = A Bk
A/2

A/B

Density, k

Flow, q
A2/4B

A/2B

A/B

Density, k

Flow, q

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

TRAFFIC FLOW THEORY

Speed-Density relationship

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

TRAFFIC FLOW THEORY

Flow-Density relationship

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

TRAFFIC FLOW THEORY

Speed-Flow relationship

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

TRAFFIC FLOW THEORY

Maximum flow (qmax) occurs at optimal speed (vm) and optimal density
(km).
qmax = vm x km
= vf x k j
2

= vf x kj
4

BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety

Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

EXAMPLE QUESTION
A traffic stream is moving at a steady state when entering a
mountain grade. Upon entering the grade, the speed, density
and flow are 72 km/h, 25 veh/km and 1800 veh/hr respectively.
On the grade, a truck drops to a speed of 15 km/h causing traffic
to bunch up to a density of 85 veh/km. When the truck pulls
over, traffic accelerates to the maximum flow until steady state
flow conditions resume.
Calculate
(a)the flow of traffic behind the truck on the mountain grade
(b)the jam density and free flow speed for this road
(c) the density and speed when traffic resumes a steady state flow
(d) the maximum flow