3.2.2.

Road traffic density

Traffic density, (K) expressed in vehicles/space interval. The value is
known under the name of road traffic concentration when the space interval
denotes the unit (kilometer) and stands for the number of vehicles on a traffic
lane on the length specified at a certain time.
Measurements allowing the determination of road traffic density are also
called momentary observations (figure 3.4) and are carried out at a precise
moment upon a road segment.

Figure 3.4. Momentary observations carried out upon traffic streams

Provided the measurement is carried out by simply taking a photo of the
road traffic, the traffic density, K, may be found out directly just by counting
the vehicles on the road section submitted to analysis.
There are two possibilities to determine the density directly:
• knowing the space intervals between vehicles, si or the mean interval
s:
N N 1 1
K= = = =
X ∑ si 1 s
i
⋅ ∑ si
N i
• knowing the traffic flow and the traveling speed of the flow of vehicles.
A value that is often associated with the road traffic density is the
occupancy degree of the traffic lane, dimensionless value that shows the time
when a vehicle is traveling on a traffic lane at a specific point. This measure is
not to be taken for the occupancy degree of a vehicle, which makes reference
to the number of passengers occupying a vehicle.
The occupancy degree of the traffic lane is often measured by using
certain presence detectors such as detecting inductive loops incorporated in
the road-mat at access points of signalized intersections or at about 500 m
along each highway lane.