CETB 4013/412

TRANSPORTATION
ENGINEERING

T R A F F I C F L OW C H A R AC T E R I S T I C
Chapter

Traffic Flow
Characteristic

2
Traffic Flow Elements

1. Traffic Volume & Flow Rate

2. Speed
3. Density
4. Spacing
5. Headway

3
Traffic Volume
Definition
• Actual number of vehicles observed or predicted to be passing a point during a given
time interval.
• Data may include directional movements, occupancy rates, vehicle classification, and
pedestrian age
Purpose
Design & Repairing road for improvement Traffic Control System
• To indicate the need to improve • Systematic traffic control (e.g. one way
facilities street, no parking, no-turn, no u-turn)
• Find out the suitable lane width
Traffic Volume Forecasting
• To investigate whether a particular • Statistic
stretch of road can accommodate the
existing traffic volume and further Road Accident survey
need • How many veh/km

Traffic survey at junction Cost-benefit Analysis

• To reduce delay • Toll? Cost?
• For traffic design – traffic light,
roundabout, island

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Traffic Volume
Characteristic
■ Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT)
Average of 24hr count collected every day in the year
• Estimate highway user revenues
• Compute crash rates (crash per million vehicle kms traveled)
• Establish traffic volume trends
• Evaluate economic feasibility of h/way projects
• Develop freeway and major arterial street system
• Develop improvement and maintenance program
■ Average Daily Traffic (ADT)
Average of 24hr counts collected over a number of days greater than 1 day
but less than 365 days
• Plan of h/way activities
• Measure current demand
• Evaluate existing traffic volume
Direct use is not appropriate – does not indicate the significant fluctuation
in traffic volume occurring various months of the year, days of week or hour
of the day
■ Design Hourly Volume (DHV)
30th highest hourly volume (30HV) in one year. In absence of information,
use K-value (design hourly volume ratio – ratio of DHV to designated ADT,
8~12% urban, 12~18% rural).
K = DHV/ADT
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Traffic Volume
Characteristic
■ Directional design hourly volume (DDHV)
Number of vehicle in peak direction. In absence of survey data,
use D - 60% for urban, 65% for rural area)
DDHV = DHV x D

■ Peak Hour Volume (PHV)

Max. nos of vehicles that pass a point of highway during period of
60 minutes
• Functional classification of h/way
• Design geometric characteristic (no of lanes, intersection signalization or
channelization
■ Vehicle Classification (VC)
Record volume with respect to the type of vehicle
• Design geometric characteristic (i.e.. turning radius requirement, max grades,
lane width)
• Capacity analysis
• Adjustment of traffic counts
• Structural design
■ Projected traffic
Future traffic expected to use the facilities 𝑛
• New road improvement 𝑉𝑝 = 𝑉0 × 1 + 𝑟
• Design standard selection
Based on 15 yrs after completion of road
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 Traffic – Time of Day Patterns
9.00%

8.00%

7.00%
Percent of Daily Traffic

6.00%

5.00%

4.00%
Rural Cars
3.00% Business Day Trucks
Through Trucks
Urban Cars
2.00%

1.00%

0.00%
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
Hour of Day 7
Selection of Design Standards

8
Example

Figure above show the demand characteristic for a proposed

multilane road in urban area. If K = 10% and D=60%, determine
• the design hourly volume (DHV),
• the Annual Daily Traffic (ADT),
• the expected directional design hourly volume (DDHV), and
• the DHV in next 20 year time, assuming the growth rate of 4%
per annum.
 Traffic Volume
Method of conducting traffic volume
Manual Methods
■ Used mostly for light
volume
■ Turning movement
■ Vehicle classification
■ Occupancy
■ Pedestrian count
Automatic Methods
■ Involve laying of surface
detector or subsurface
detector on the road
■ Fixed or permanent
counters
■ Electric contact device
■ Photoelectric device
■ Magnetic device
■ Ultrasonic device
■ Infra-red device
 Traffic Volume
Manual Method
Traffic Volume
Automaticl Method

Infrared Sensors Magnetic Sensors

Traffic Volume
Manual Methods Automatic Methods
Advantage Advantage
■ Able to obtain turning ■ Low cost
movement and vehicle
classification ■ Provide an extensive coverage
of time from which variation
Disadvantage and trend data are obtained
■ Relatively costly since Disadvantage
depends on the available of
manpower ■ Cannot obtain turning
movement or vehicle
■ Subject to limitation of human classification
factor
■ Subjected to vandalism
■ Can’t be used for long periods
of counting
Flow Rate (q)
Flow rate is different than volume
Flow rate - The number of vehicles (n) passing some
designated roadway point in a given time
interval (t) less than 1 hour, but expressed
as an equivalent hourly rate
Units - vehicles/hour

n
q= n = no. of vehicle passing some designated roadway
point during time, t
t t = duration of time interval

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Peak hour factor (PHF)
■ Measure of demand uniformity or demand peaking
■ Accounting for uneven flow
■ Ratio of peak hour volume to the maximum rate of flow
■ Typical PHF values ranges between 0.80 and 0.95

V V = peak hour volume

PHF = q= flow rate
q

15
Example

Calculate the rate of flow of vehicles and the peak hour factor from
the following data:

1) Time period Volume (vehicle)

4.00 – 4.15 700
4.15 – 4.30 812
4.30 – 5.00 1635
Total 3147

2) Time period Volume (vehicle)

4.00 – 4.15 100
4.15 – 4.30 104
4.30 – 4.45 109
4.45 – 5.00 116
5.00 – 5.15 122
5.15 – 5.30 130
5.30 – 5.45 121
5.45 – 6.00 101
 Traffic Volume
Data Presentation
■ Traffic Flow Map
– Map show various routes
proportional to the traffic
volume

• Intersection Summary Sheet

/ Intersection Flow Diagram
– Diagram show the direction
and volume of all movement
by number at intersection
– Volume can be either ADT or
PHV
 Traffic Volume
Data Presentation

■ Time-Based Distribution Charts

– Charts presents the hourly, daily,
monthly changes in volume in an
area or on particular highway

■ Summary Table
– Tables give a summary of traffic
volume data – Peak Hour Volume
(PHV), Vehicle Classification (VC)
and Average Daily Traffic (ADT)
Speed
Definition
■ Total distance travel by a vehicle during a unit of time (rate of motion)

Purpose of studies
■ To estimate the distribution of speeds (rate of movement) of vehicles
in a stream of traffic at a particular location on a roadway / highway
– establish speed zones and determine safe speeds at curves
– determine speeds at problem location – whether complaint about
speeding is valid
– Establish passing and no-passing zones
– Geometric design features
– Analyze accident data
– Evaluate effects of physical improvements
– To determine enforcement speed limits
– Determine speed trends – of different vehicle types
 Speed
Location of studies
Trend locations
■ Straight, level, open section of rural highways
■ Midblocks location on urban streets
Problem location
■ High accident frequency purposes
■ At points where the installation of traffic signals and signs
is contemplated
■ Other locations that important for traffic operation
Representative locations for basic data survey
■ Location represent different traffic condition
Speed
Method of conducting speed studies
Manual Methods Automatic Methods

■ Observe the time required Road Detector

by vehicle to cover a short – Pneumatic road tubes
distance – Inductive loop
■ Seldom used since ■ Advantage
complicated – Reduce human error –
Disadvantage – accurate result
○ Human error
– Portable
○ parallax effect
– Not required specialized
– Long life on low volume road
■ Disadvantage
– Expensive devices
– Conspicuous – effect driver
behavior, thus resulting in distortion
of speed distribution
 Speed
Method of conducting speed studies

Doppler Principle meter Electronic-Principle Detector

■ Radar speedmeter ■ Video camera
Advantage Advantage
■ Easy to use & Portable ■ No disrupting traffic operation
■ Equipment located at
inconspicuous position, thus
can reduce influence on
driver behavior
Disadvantage
■ Expensive devices
■ Difficult for two-lane road
■ Experience person needed
 Speed
3 basic classes
❑ Spot Speed
❑ Overall speed
❑ Running speed

Spot Speed
Distribution speed over a relatively long section of street or highway
between an origin and a destination
Overall Speed
Total distance traveled divided by the total time required, including
traffic delays
Running Speed
Total distance traveled divided by running time (time at which vehicle
in motion, excluded stop delays)

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 Spot Speed
The instantaneous speed of vehicle as it passes a specified
point along a street or highway
1. Time mean speed (ūt)
– Arithmetic mean of all instantaneous vehicle speeds at a given
“spot” on a roadway section

2. Space mean speed (ūs)

– The harmonic mean travel speed of vehicles traversing a relatively
long section of a known distance (d)
– More useful for traffic application

Time mean speed & space mean speed are not equal
Time mean speed always greater than spaced mean speed

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 Spot Speed
1. Time mean speed (ūt)

σ𝑛𝑖 𝑢𝑖
ūt =
𝑛

2. Space mean speed (ūs)

𝑙 1
𝑢ത 𝑠 = 𝑡ҧ = σ𝑛𝑖 𝑡𝑖
𝑡ҧ 𝑛
= speed of the vehicles at the designated point on the highway
n = number of measured vehicle spot speeds
l = length of roadway used for travel time measurement of vehicles
= average travel time
t = time necessary for vehicle i to travel a roadway section of length l

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Time Mean vs. Space Mean Speed

From HCM 2000

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Example

The speeds of five vehicles were measured (with radar) at

the mid point of a kilometer section of roadway. The speeds
for all the vehicles is shown in table below. Assuming all
vehicles were traveling at constant speed over the roadway
section, calculate the time mean and space mean speeds

Vehicle Speed (km/h)

1 71
2 68
3 82
4 79
5 74
Speed
Data Presentation

Frequency histogram

Cumulative Frequency
Distribution Curve

Frequency Distribution Table

 Speed Studies - Analysis
Analysis of Spot Speed Studies
Average speed
■ Arithmetic mean of the speeds of all traffic at a specified point (sum of all spot
speeds divided by number of recorded speeds)
Standard deviation of speeds
■ Measure of the spread of individual speeds
Median speed
■ Middle value when all speed value are array in ascending order (also called 50th
percentage speed)
Modal speed
■ Speed value that occurs most frequently in a sample of spot speeds
85th percentile of spot speed
■ Spot speed below which 85th percent of the vehicle travel
Pace
■ 10km range in speed in which the highest number of observation were recorded
 Density (k)
■ Also referred as traffic
concentration
■ The number of vehicles (n)
occupying a given length (l) of a
lane or roadway at a particular
instant
■ Unit of density is vehicles per
km (veh/km).

n q
k= =
l u

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 Spacing (s)
■ The distance (m) between successive vehicles in a traffic stream,
as measured from front bumper to front bumper
■ Can be generally observed from aerial photographs

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 Headway (h)
■ The time (in seconds) between successive vehicles, as their front
bumpers pass a given point.
■ Can be measured using stopwatch
■ Can be related to speed, flow rate, and density

 hi
n 1
t= q= n
=
h
h
i =1 i
i =1

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Example

At a midblock on Green Avenue, an observer began noting at

what time after an arbitrary start time vehicles cross a mark
on the pavement in the lane nearest the near curb. The
results are summarized as below. Determine the average
headway for the vehicles.

Vehicle Time of passing (sec)

1 6.52
2 11.26
3 14.59
4 19.33
5 28.30
6 39.93
7 43.76
8 58.16
Example

Vehicle time headways and spacings were measured at a

point along a highway, from a single lane, over the course of
an hour. The average values were calculated as 2.5 s/veh for
headway and 60 m/veh for spacing. Calculate the flow, the
density, and the speed
Example

Table below shows the data of six vehicles that passed two
points, AA’ and BB’ in 25 sec. Distance AA’ to BB’ is 100 m

Time of passing Time of passing

Vehicle BB’ (sec)
AA’ (sec)
1 3.0 11.5
2 5.2 13.1
3 8.2 15.2
4 12.1 18.1
5 15.5 20.7
6 18.2 22.4

Calculate
• The flow of vehicles per hour (q)
• Average headway
• Average speed of vehicles
Delay
Time lost beyond the control of the driver
Operational Delay
Delay caused by the impedance of other traffic (side friction,
parking and unparking vehicles, or reduction in capacity of
the highway)
Stopped-time delay
Delay during which the vehicle is at rest
Fixed delay
Delay caused by control devices (traffic signals)
Travel time delay
difference between the actual travel time and the travel time
that obtained by assuming that a vehicle traverses at an
average speed equal to that for uncongested traffic flow
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 Travel Time & Delay Studies - Methods
Requiring Test Vehicle Method
■ Floating Car Technique
– Test car is driven along the
test section, record the time
taken to traverse the study
section
■ Average-speed Technique
– Test car is driven along the
test section at average
speed, record the time
required to traverse the
study section, stop time and
reason of stoppage
■ Moving Vehicle Technique
– Test car makes a round trip
on the study section
Nor Requiring Test Vehicle
Method (50 sample)
■ License –Plate Observation
– Observers be positioned at
the beginning and end of
the study section, record
the last three or four digit of
the license plate of each
car that passes, record the
time
■ Interviews
– Obtain information from
people that drive on the
study section
Flow – Density Relationship
1. Traffic flow is zero when
density is zero because of no
vehicle on the

2. Traffic flow is zero (vehicles

line up end to end) when
density reaches its maximum
(referred to as jam density, kj).

3. Traffic flow increases when

density increases. Traffic flow
will reach to a maximum
value with the continuous
increase of density. However,
further increase in density will
result in continuous reduction
of flow and eventually
become zero when the density
is equal to jam density.

Flow vs density

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Speed - Density Relationship
1. Speed is maximum when
traffic density approaches
zero

2. Speed will decrease with the

increase in density

3. Speed is zero when traffic

density is the jam density

Space mean speed vs density

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Speed - Flow Relationship
1. Speed is maximum when flow is
very small (little interaction
between individual vehicles) and
the absolute maximum speed,
known as the mean free speed (uf)
is reached (magnitude would
depend on the physical
characteristics of the highway)
when the flow approaches zero

2. Speed will decrease when flow

increase and further increase in
flow will result in a maximum
value of flow, qmax is reached that
represent the beginning of the
state of congestion on the
highway

3. Further increase of congestion on

the highway will result in
decrease of both flow and speed
and eventually both will become
Space mean speed vs flow zero

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 Categories of Traffic Flow
■ Interrupted Flow
• Occur on transportation facilities that have fixed elements (i.e
traffic signals, stop signs and other types of controls causing
periodic interruptions to traffic flow
• Driver expects to be required to stop as/when required by
fixed elements that are part of the facility

■ Uninterrupted Flow
– Occur on facilities that have no fixed element external to
traffic stream that cause interruptions to traffic flow
– Driver does not expect to be required to stop by factor external
to the traffic stream

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The road which link an industrial zone to a terminal is expected to
experience a 4% of traffic growth annually with 12% of K-value

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 References
■ Nicholas J. Garber and Lester A. Hoel (2015);
Traffic and Highway Engineering, 5th Edition,
PWS Publishing.
■ C. Jotin Khisty, B.Kent Lall (2003);
Transportation Engineering An Introduction, 3th
Edition, Prentice Hall
■ JKR: A Guide to Geometric Design of Road.
Arahan Teknik (Jalan) 8/86 (Pindaan 2015)