School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Trimester 1, 2019

CVEN4404
FUNDAMENTALS OF
TRAFFIC ENGINEERING
PROJECT BRIEF (100 MARKS)

An urban traffic network as shown below is provided in the form of an “ang” file. You must use
Aimsun, a traffic microsimulation model.

The network consists of two main roads: 1. Thor Freeway, and 2. Dr. Sheldon Cooper Highway.
The Thor Freeway is connected with the Dr. Sheldon Cooper Highway through entry and exit
ramps, forming a weaving section on the Freeway.

Network Preparation (12 Marks)

1. Create 4 centroids in the network as shown in the figure below.

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2. The network caters to daily commuters and the total demand during the 4hr period from
6AM to 10AM is specified in the table below. Assume that the proportion of cars and trucks is
95% and 5% of the total demand respectively.

Destination Thor Freeway Exit Dr. Sheldon Cooper TOTAL

Origin Highway Exit

Thor Freeway Entry 10500 2000 12500

Dr. Sheldon Cooper

Highway Entry 1500 3200 4700

TOTAL 12000 5200 17200

3. Traffic demand should be loaded as shown in the table below.

Initial Duration Percentage of

Time Total Demand

6:00:00 0:30:00 3

6:30:00 0:30:00 7

7:00:00 0:30:00 12

7:30:00 0:30:00 16

8:00:00 0:30:00 21

8:30:00 0:30:00 17

9:00:00 0:30:00 14

9:30:00 0:30:00 10

4. Convert the two nodes on the Dr. Sheldon Cooper Highway into signalised intersections. Use
the phase plans provided below. Use the default values for offset, yellow time, and red
percentage.

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Signal 1:

Phase diagram

Movement 1

Movement 2

3
Signal 2

Phase plan

Movement 1

Movement 2

4
Movement 3

5. Consider a warm-up period of 15 minutes.

6. In the network file provided to you, seven loop detectors are placed at different locations.
Ensure that traffic data from detectors is collected every 5 mins.

7. Ensure that the random seed number is 560.

Questions:

For questions 1, 2, and 3, use the simulation output data from loop detectors 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6.

1) Plot the fundamental diagrams of traffic flow using Excel (5*3=15 graphs). (7 Marks)

2) Which model has a better fit for speed vs density at each of these detectors? Is it Greenshields
or Greenberg? You may use the trendline and generate R2 options in Excel to determine the
better fit. (3 Marks)

3) Using the Greenshields equation from Question 2, obtain the capacity of the road sections at
these detectors. Discuss the results. (5 Marks)

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4) Only for this question, you are required to create four more replications with seed numbers
as provided in the below table.

The real-world aggregated traffic flows of the weaving section (detector 2) and the section at
detector 6 are 3600veh/hr and 750veh/hr respectively. Determine the number of replications
required to ensure statistical model stability. Assume that the project requires that the
confidence level be 95% and the limit of acceptable error be 3% of the sample mean. (5 Marks)

****Revert the number of replications to 1 and the random seed to 560 for the remaining
questions after attempting question 4.*****

5) At intersection 2, for the incoming approach of the Dr. Sheldon Cooper Highway, determine:
a) the length of the queue at the end of the red phase, b) the speed of the backward recovery
wave, and c) the maximum queue length.

Use the aggregated flow and average speed from detector 6. Assume a saturation flow of 1500
veh/hr/ln with a density of 43 veh/ln, and a jam density of 85 veh/km/ln. (5 Marks)

6) Determine the hourly Level of Service (LOS) of the Dr. Sheldon Cooper Highway (at detector
4) using the maximum density, average speed, and maximum v/c ratio criteria of HCM 2010
(Table 4.4 of Austroads guidelines). Plot the LOS vs time (all criteria in a single graph) and
discuss the results. Make suitable assumptions and state them in the report. (12 Marks)

7) Determine the hourly LOS of the Thor Freeway (basic freeway segment, i.e. detector 3) using
the maximum density, minimum speed, and maximum v/c ratio criteria of HCM 2010 (Table

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4.5 of Austroads guidelines). Plot the LOS vs time (all criteria in a single graph) and discuss the
results. Make suitable assumptions and state them in the report. (8 Marks)

8) For varying weaving lengths (150m, 200m, 250m, 300m, and 350m) and percentage of
weaving vehicles (15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, and 35%), determine the overall LOS of the weaving
segment, i.e. detector 2 (over 4 hr simulation period). Plot all the results on a single graph and
discuss the results (similar to Figure 4.11 in Austroads guidelines). To change the length of the
weaving segment, the on-ramp (along with the intersection on the Dr. Sheldon Cooper
Highway) can be shifted towards the left or right as appropriate. To change the percentage of
weaving vehicles, increase or decrease the number of weaving vehicles accordingly. Make
suitable assumptions and state them in the report. (25 Marks)

9) Determine the LOS of the Thor Freeway (basic freeway segment, i.e. detector 3) using the
HCM approach. Also, compare the FFS obtained through the HCM approach with that using the
Greenshields equation. Assume that the adjustment for interchange density is “0”, and that the
base free-flow speed is 110km/hr (urban freeway). Make other assumptions as required. (8
Marks)

10) Determine the overall LOS of all the approaches at intersections 1 and 2. Assume
Environmental Class A and Lane type 2 to obtain the base saturation flows. Make other
assumptions as required. (10 Marks)