CED401

Traffic Engineering and Management

Lecture-17
Dr. Leeza Malik
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
IIT(ISM) Dhanbad
08-09-2023
Summary of last lecture
• Analysis of journey data collected using GPS
• Density or Concentration
Space/Distance Headway
• Is defined as the distance between successive vehicles in a traffic
stream as measured from front bumper to front bumper (or back
bumper to back bumper) .
𝑘𝑚 𝐿𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑔𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡
• 𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑆𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑤𝑎𝑦 =
𝑣𝑒ℎ 𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑑
𝑣𝑒ℎ 1
• 𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦( ) =
𝑘𝑚 𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑣𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑒
• Traffic in congested highway lane is observed to have an average
spacing of 60 m. Estimate the density in this lane?
• Density = (1000/60) = 16.6 veh/km
Space/Distance Headway

80 m

Lane 1 40 m/s
Lane 2 20 m/s

40 m
Time Headway
• The corresponding time between successive vehicles as they pass a
point on a roadway.
• The summation of the headways for all vehicles during a time period
is simply equal to the observation time period.
• 𝑡 = σ𝑛𝑖=1 ℎ𝑖
• Where
• t = duration of time interval
• ℎ𝑖 = time headway of the ith vehicle
• n = number of measured time headways at some designated roadway point
Time headway
𝑛
•𝑞=
𝑡
𝑛
•𝑞= σ𝑛
𝑖=1 ℎ𝑖
• 𝑞 = 1/ℎത
• ℎത = 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑤𝑎𝑦
• Traffic in congested highway lane is observed to have an average
headway of 3.8 s. Estimate the rate of flow in this lane?
• (3600/3.8) = 947 veh/h
Relationship between q, k and v
• Rate of flow = Density * Space mean speed
• Fundamental relationship
Analysis of speed, flow and density
relationship
• If it is hypothesized that a linear
relationship exists between the
speed of traffic on an uninterrupted
traffic lane and traffic density
• Mathematically the relationship can
be written as :
• V = A-Bk
• Because the flow is the product of
the density and speed
• q = k v = k (A-Bk)
𝐴 𝑣2
• 𝑞= 𝑣 −
𝐵 𝐵
Analysis of speed, flow and density
relationship contd…
• At point A, density is close to zero, and
there are only a very few vehicles on the
road; the volume is also close to zero and
these few vehicles on the road can choose
their own individual speeds, or change
lanes with no restrictions.
• At point B, the number of vehicles has
increased but the conditions are of “free
flow” and there are hardly any restrictions.
• Restrictions keep increasing steadily by the
time C is reached.
• From B to C, the flow conditions may be
called “normal”
• Around C, traffic conditions begin to show
signs of instability, and speeds and
densities fluctuate with small changes in
volume.
Analysis of speed, flow and density
relationship contd…
• Point C is the point of maximum
volume, and further increases in
density reduce speeds
considerably.
• Behaviour is called “forced flow”
and prevails along from C almost to
point D.
• Flow near point D is reduced
almost to zero, with cars stacking
up almost bumper to bumper.
• Point D is known as jam density.
• A driver would perceive excellent
driving conditions from A to B,
moderately good conditions from B
to C, but increasingly deteriorating
conditions from C to D.
Analysis of speed, flow and density
relationship contd…
• If rays are drawn from zero through any
point on the curve, the slope of the rays
represents the corresponding space
mean speed.
• The ray with a slope of vf corresponds
to the mean free speed and is
tangential to the curve. This speed is
possible when the density is near zero.
Thank You and Questions?