TRAFFIC SYSTEM

COMPONENTS &
FUNDAMENTAL THEORY
OF TRAFFIC FLOW
Dr Sitti Asmah Hassan
M47-113
Road traffic system consists of road users ,
vehicles and road network that interact
between one and another.

It is important to study each of these

elements for the planning, design, and
analysis of an efficient, safe road traffic
system.
1) Road Users
• Consist of drivers, passengers, motorcyclists,
cyclists, pillions, and pedestrians.

• Characteristics and behaviour of a driver are

influenced by three factors:
1. Physical
2. Environment
3. psychology
Physical Factors
• Two main factors considered are:

1. Perception–Reaction Time
2. Cone of vision
Perception–Reaction Time of a driver
It is a combination of four consecutive tasks:
1. Perception
2. Identification
3. Emotion
4. Volition
Perception-Reaction time of a driver varies and is influenced
by factors such as:
Age, fatigue, complexity of a situation, drivers physical
characteristics, alcohol or drugs, etc.
Average time: 0.5 – 3.0 seconds
Environmental Factors
These include:

• Weather & lighting

• Traffic volumes
• Road geometry
Psychological Factors
• Motive of the journey
• Emotion
2) Vehicles

• Characteristics of vehicles on roads vary

in terms of shape, dimension,
performance, etc.

• Road must be designed to cater almost all

types of vehicles.
3) Road Network

• Varies in terms of standards and geometry

• Categorised into 5 for administrative purposes:

1. Toll highway
2. Federal highway
3. State road
4. Urban road
5. Rural road
Fundamental theory of
traffic flow
Common traffic parameters that are of
traffic engineers / planners interest
include:

• Traffic Flow or Volume

• Speed
• Density or Concentration
• Headway
(1) Traffic Flow or Volume (q)
Define as the number of
vehicles passing a
specific reference point on
a road section within a
specified period of time.
Traffic Flow or Volume (q)
(cont’d)
The count can be directional or all
directions.
Typical units:
vehicles/hour (hourly traffic) (vph),
vehicles/day (daily traffic),
vehicles/year (annual traffic), etc.
Traffic flow data is usually collected to obtain
factual data concerning the movement of
vehicles at selected points on the street.,
example:
(a) Annual Traffic
(i) To compute crash rates
(ii) To indicate trends in volume
(b) Average Daily Traffic (ADT) &
Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT)

(i) To measure present demand

(ii) To programme capital improvements

(c) Hourly Traffic

(i) To determine peak periods
(ii) To evaluate capacity deficiencies
(iii) To establish traffic controls
(iv) To determine geometric design parameters
Traffic composition:
Vehicular traffic consists of various types of vehicle –
i.e. various sizes, performances, and characteristics.
A vehicle is converted into an Equivalent Passenger
Car unit (PCU or UKP) For consistency in interpreting
road traffic performance, congestion, road geometry
and traffic signal analysis and design.
 Typical PCU values for roadways

Types of vehicle Rural road Urban road

Cars 1.0 1.0
Utilities & small vans 2.0 2.0
Medium lorries & large 2.5 2.5
vans
Large lorries & heavy 3.0 3.0
vehs
Buses 3.0 3.0
Motorcycles 1.0 0.75
Example application of PCU values:
• Traffic volumes on a section of rural road during morning peak hour
is 500 veh/h and during the evening peak hour is also 500 veh/h.

Can you comment on the traffic flow conditions for both situations? (e.g.
which peak hour traffic would you think is the busiest or congested
condition compare to the other?)
Now,
If information of traffic compositions for both peak-hours
are available as follows:
For AM Peak: 50% cars, 20% medium lorries, 10% buses,
and 20% m/cycles.
For PM Peak: 30% cars, 25% medium lorries, 15% heavy
lorries, 15% buses, 15% m/cycles.

Can you describe the differences between the two peak

hour traffic in terms of traffic flow conditions?
Answer:
Let us express the peak hour traffic in terms of pcu/h, i.e.

AM Peak: (0.5x1+0.2x2.5+0.1x3.0+0.2x1) x 500 = 1.5 x

500 = 750 pcu/h
PM Peak: (0.3x1 + 0.25x2.5 + 0.15x3.0 + 0.15x3.0 +
0.15x1) x 500 = 1.975x500 = 988 pcu/h
This shows that the evening peak hour traffic is
busiest compare to the morning traffic.
 (2) Speed (u)

Speed is defined as the distance travelled per unit time. The

parameter is usually used to describe the quality of journey
and the performance of road network in accommodating
traffic demand.

Types of speed:
» spot speed,
» journey speed,
» running speed,
» time mean speed, and
» space mean speed.
(a) Spot Speed
This speed is the instantaneous speed of a
vehicle passing a point on the roadway. If the data
for a group of vehicles is collected properly,
results from the sample should represent the
speed characteristics of the entire population of
vehicles passing the site.
 Definition of spot speed (cont’d)

Time taken from A to B = t

A Distance = S B

S
Speed = Distance/Time, i.e. speed 
t
If S  100 meters, then the speed measured is known as Spot Speed.
Typical use of Spot Speed data:
• To establish speed trends
• Traffic control planning
- establish speed limits
- determine safe speeds at curves
- establish proper location for traffic signs
- establish lengths of no–passing zones
- evaluate intersection sight distance
• Before–and–after studies
• Accident analysis
• Geometric design – i.e. road alignments and stopping
sight distance
(b) Journey speed & Running Speed
Journey speed is the distance divided by total journey time. Total
journey time includes all delays due to traffic. Mathematically,

Journey speed = distance/total journey time

Running speed is the distance divided by running time, i.e. total

journey time minus delays. (Running time is the time that the vehicle is
actually in motion.)

Running speed = distance/(total journey time – delays)

Both speeds are usually as a result of travel time and delay study –
used to evaluate road performance.
 Example:
Evaluate journey & running speeds for the following situation
& interpret the result:

A B
J1 J2 J3 J4 J5

8 km

Average Total travel time including delay due to traffic = 32 minutes

Average Delays at each junction: J1 = 5 min, J2 = 5 min, J3 = 3 min, J4 = 4 min,
& J5 = 6 min.

Answer:
Average Journey Speed = 8km x (1 h x 60 min) /32 min = 15 km/h.
Average Running Speed = 8km x (1 h x 60 min)/(32 – 23)min = 53.3 km/h.
Interpretation:
Since Journey speed  running speed  drivers experience heavy traffic flow &
inefficient traffic control system at junctions. System requires improvements.
 (3) Density (k)

Concentration or density of traffic is the number of

vehicles in a given length of roadway or a lane, i.e.
vehicles/km.

It is also a common parameter used to describe road

performance.
 (4) Headway (h)

It is defined as the time between successive

vehicles past a point. Headway and spacing (which
is the distance between successive vehicles past a
point) are microscopic measures of flow as they
apply to pairs of vehicles in the traffic stream.

Headway if measured in terms of time, or

Spacing if measured in terms of distance

Reference point
(4) Headway (h) (cont’d)

These parameters are important in determining the

number of gaps in a traffic stream for vehicles or
pedestrians to cross and for measuring operations
at junctions.
 To summarise,
Basic Traffic Stream Parameters are:

Typical Typical
Parameter Symbol units Reciprocal Symbol Units

Flow q veh/h Headway h sec/veh

Speed u km/h Travel time T sec/km

Density k veh/km Spacing s m/veh

 Example:

1. What is the average headway of vehicles if the traffic

volume in a lane is 1800 veh/h assuming there is no
m/cycle in the system? What is the average inter-vehicle
spacing if the average vehicle’s speed is 60 km/h?
Answer:
h = 1/q = 1 x 3600 sec/1800 = 2 sec.

How to compute Spacing? Headway = 2 sec. u = 60 km/h

u = 60 km/h Spacing = ?? meter

Reference point
Speed, Flow, Density Relationships
and their interpretations

Flow rate = Speed x Density

or
q=uxk
 (i) u-k relationship

 uF 
uF u  uF    k
A
 kJ 
____
Stable flow
uC = uF/2 ------- Unstable flow
u (km/h)

k (veh/km) kC = kJ/2 kJ
 (ii) q-u relationship

 kJ  2
q  u  kJ   u
uF  uF 
A
u1

theoretical flow
maximum
uC = uF/2
u (km/h)

u2
B

q (vph) q1 qC
 (iii) q-k relationship
maximum  uF  2
q  k  uF    k
qC theoretical flow  kJ 

A B
q1
q (vph)

k1 k2

k (veh/km) kC = kJ/2 kJ
Example:
Traffic volume during a stable free-flowing condition is 600 veh/h with an
average speed of 75 km/h. Estimate the average speed of traffic under
congested situation for the same volume of traffic if speed & density are
linearly related. The maximum free-flow speed for the road section is 90
km/h.
Solution:
First, sketch the parabolic curve for q–u relationship.

(ii) q-u relationship

q1 = 600 veh/h; uf = 90 km/h
uF Point A represent the stable flow
u1
A
region with the corresponding
maximum capacity

speed u1 = 75 km/h.
uC = uF/2
Point B represent congested flow
u (km/h)

u2 for q1 = 600 veh/h.

B
 u2 = 90-75 = 15 km/h
q (vph) q1 qC
Example 1.7
Vehicles in a traffic stream moved at an average headway
of 2.2 sec. The average speed is 80 km/h. Estimate the
flow rate & density of that traffic stream.
Solution:
Using q = uk = 1/h, then
q = 1/h = 1/(2.2/3600) = 1636 veh/h.

Using q = uk, then k = q/u

 density of the flow, k = 1636/80 = 20.45 veh/km
Example 1.8
Free-flow speed of vehicles on a road section is 88 km/h.
Jammed density is 228 veh/km. Estimate the traffic density
on the road if traffic flow is at a maximum level. Estimate also
the possible maximum flow for the road section and the
average speed of vehicles at that maximum traffic volume.

Solution:
Density when traffic flow reaches the maximum volume,
kc = kj/2 = 228/2 = 114 veh/km.

Expected maximum flow, qc = ufkj/4 = (88 x 228)/4

= 2508 veh/h

Average speed at qc, uc = uf/2 = 88/2 = 44 km/h

Example:
Data collected on a stretch of highway reveals that the free-flow
speed is 90 km/h, jammed density is 112 veh/km/lane, and the
observed maximum flow is 2000 veh/h/lane.

a) Establish the mathematical relationships between flow &

speed for the given characteristics.
b) Estimate the average speed & density when the flow is at
the maximum theoretical flow.
c) Estimate the maximum theoretical flow & why it is different
from the observed volume?
d) Estimate the average speed of vehicles if traffic flow is 1000
veh/h.