Chapter 3 Traffic Flow 2024

4/13/2024
Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Faculty of Engineering Traffic Engineering - CIE3552 Email: a.alkhdour@bau.edu.jo
Department of Civil Engineering
Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Email: a.alkhdour@bau.edu.jo
Course №: CIE3552
Lecture note: Traffic Engineering
Chapter№ 3
Traffic Flow

3.1 Traffic Flow Elements

3.2 Flow-Density Relationships
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Traffic Flow Theory:

Traffic Flow Theory: involves the development of mathematical relationships
among the primary elements of a traffic stream: flow, density, and speed.
• These relationships help the traffic engineer in planning, designing, and

evaluating the effectiveness of
implementing traffic engineering measures on a highway system.
• Physical and empirical methods have been used in studying the description and
quantification of traffic flow.


Time speed Diagramed
• A graph that describes the relationship
between the location of vehicles in a traffic
stream and the time as the vehicles progress
along the highway.
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Time speed Diagramed

• This Figure shows a time-space diagram for six vehicles with
distance plotted on the vertical axis and
time on the horizontal axis.
• At time zero, vehicles 1, 2, 3, and 4 are at respective distances d1, d2,

d3, and d4 from a reference point.
• whereas vehicles 5 and 6 cross the reference point later at times t5

and t6, respectively.

Primary Element of Traffic Flow

1. Flow (q): the equivalent hourly rate at which vehicles pass a point
on a highway during a time period less than 1 hour.
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2. Density (k) veh/mi or veh/km: referred to as concentration, It is the
number of vehicles traveling over a unit length of highway at an
instant in time.


Example:
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3. Speed (u) mi/hr or km/hr:
the distance traveled by a vehicle during a
unit of time.
‒ Speed at time t is the slope of the time

space diagram for that vehicle at time t


3. Speed (u) km/hr or mi/hr:
a. Time mean speed : the arithmetic mean of the speeds of
vehicles passing a point on a highway during an interval of time.
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3. Speed (u) mi/hr or km/hr:
b. Space mean speed : the harmonic mean of the speeds of vehicles
passing a point on a highway during an interval of time.


3. Speed (u) km/hr or mi/hr:
‒ Time mean speed is always higher than the space mean speed
‒ The difference between these speeds tends to decrease as the

absolute values of speeds increase.
‒ From empirical analysis.
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4. Time Headway (h) sec: the difference between the time the front of
a vehicle arrives at a point on the highway and the time the front of the
next vehicle arrives at that same point


5. Space Headway (d) feet: the distance between the front of a vehicle
and the front of the following vehicle and is usually expressed in feet
Example 6.1
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3.2 Flow-Density Relationships
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Flow - Density Relationships

• Objective: Provide fundamental relationships among the traffic
stream characteristics for uninterrupted flow conditions:
– speed-density
– flow-density
– speed-flow

• Each of the variables depends on several other factors:

– Characteristics of the roadway,
– Characteristics of the vehicle,
– Characteristics of the driver,
– Environmental factors such as the weather.
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2 5
3 6
4


Fundamental Diagram of Traffic Flow
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Fundamental Diagrams of Traffic Flow


• The following theory has been postulated with respect to the shape of the curve
Figure 6.4(a):
1. When the density on the highway is 0, the flow is also 0 because there are no
vehicles on the highway.
2. As the density increases, the flow also increases.
3. However, when the density reaches its maximum, generally referred to as the
jam density (kj), the flow must be 0 because vehicles will tend to line up end to
end.
4. It follows that as density increases from 0, the flow will also initially increase
from 0 to a maximum value. Further continuous increase in density will then
result in continuous reduction of the flow, which will eventually be 0 when the
density is equal to the jam density.
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• It is desirable for highways to operate at densities
not greater than that corresponding to maximum flow
(Ke)
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Mathematical Relationship Describing Traffic Flow
• Mathematical relationships are classified into:

a. Macroscopic : considers traffic stream and develops algorithms that
relate the flow to the density and space mean speeds.
b. Microscopic: considers spacings between vehicles and speeds of

individual vehicles.


• Macroscopic Approach
① Greenshields Model: It is hypothesized that
a linear relationship existed between speed and
density
Parabolic relationships
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• Macroscopic Approach
① Greenshields Model: It is hypothesized that
a linear relationship existed between speed and
density


② Greenberg Model: A major contributions using the fluidflow
analogy was developed by Greenberg in the form of:
At the maximum flow (Capacity)
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• Macroscopic Approach: Model application
Use of these macroscopic models depends on whether
they satisfy the boundary criteria of the fundamental
traffic flow diagrams
① Greenshields Model: satisfies the boundary conditions when the
density is zero and jam density
‒ It can be used for light or dense traffic.
② Greenberg Model: satisfies the boundary conditions when the
density is approaching the jam density only
‒ It can be used only for dense traffic conditions

Calibration of Microscopic Traffic Flow Models

• Traffic models discussed before can be used to estimate speed and
density at which maximum flow occurs and the jam density of a
facility.
This requires appropriate data which have

to be fitted using suitable model
Regression analysis
By minimizing the squares of the differences between the observed and expected
values of a dependent variable
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• Assuming that the dependent variable is linearly related to the independent variable
Linear regression analysis

If the relationship is with two or more independent variables
Multiple Linear regression analysis


• The suitability of an estimated regression function is usually determined using
the coefficient of determination R2
• Yi is the value of the dependent variable as computed from the

regression equations.
• The closer R2 is to 1, the better the regression fits
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4/13/2024

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Lecture note: Traffic Engineering

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

3.1 Traffic Flow Elements

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Traffic Flow Theory:

• These relationships help the traffic engineer in planning, designing, and

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

3.1 Traffic Flow Elements

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Time speed Diagramed

• At time zero, vehicles 1, 2, 3, and 4 are at respective distances d1, d2,

• whereas vehicles 5 and 6 cross the reference point later at times t5

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Primary Element of Traffic Flow

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Primary Element of Traffic Flow

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Primary Element of Traffic Flow

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Primary Element of Traffic Flow

‒ Speed at time t is the slope of the time

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Primary Element of Traffic Flow

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Primary Element of Traffic Flow

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Primary Element of Traffic Flow

‒ The difference between these speeds tends to decrease as the

‒ From empirical analysis.

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Primary Element of Traffic Flow

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Primary Element of Traffic Flow

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Primary Element of Traffic Flow

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Primary Element of Traffic Flow

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Primary Element of Traffic Flow

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

3.1 Traffic Flow Elements

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Flow - Density Relationships

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Flow - Density Relationships

• Each of the variables depends on several other factors:

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Flow - Density Relationships

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Flow - Density Relationships

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Fundamental Diagrams of Traffic Flow

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Fundamental Diagrams of Traffic Flow

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Fundamental Diagrams of Traffic Flow

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Flow - Density Relationships

Al-Balqa Applied University Instructor: Dr. Ahmad Alkhdour

Mathematical Relationship Describing Traffic Flow