University of Duhok

College of Engineering
Civil Department
Fourth Year Students
2020-2021

Traffic Engineering
Lecture 2

Lecturer: Dr. Nasreen A. Hussein

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Fundamental Relations of Traffic Flow
Speed is one of the basic parameters of traffic flow and time mean speed and space
mean speed are the two representations of speed. Time mean speed and space mean
speed and the relationship between them are discussed as follows:

Time mean speed (vt)

As noted earlier, time mean speed is the average of all vehicles passing a point over a
duration of time. It is the simple average of spot speed. Time mean speed vt is given by,

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𝑣𝑡 = ∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑣𝑖 (1)
𝑛

Where vi is the spot speed of ith vehicle, and n is the number of observations. In many
speed studies, speeds are represented in the form of frequency table. Then the time mean
speed is given by,
∑𝑛
𝑖=1 𝑞𝑖 𝑣𝑖
𝑣𝑡 = ∑𝑛
(2)
𝑖=1 𝑞𝑖

Where qi is the number of vehicles having speed vi, and n is the number of such speed
categories.

Space mean speed (vs)

The space mean speed also averages the spot speed, Consider unit length of a road, and
let vi is the spot speed of ith vehicle. Let ti is the time the vehicle takes to complete unit
distance and is given by 1/ vi. If there are n such vehicles, then the average travel time t s
is given by,
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∑ 𝑡𝑖 ∑
𝑣𝑖
𝑡𝑠 = = (3)
𝑛 𝑛

If tav is the average travel time, then average speed vs = 1/ts. Therefore, from the above
equation,

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 𝑛
𝑣𝑠 = 1 (4)
∑𝑛
𝑖 𝑣𝑖

This is simply the harmonic mean of the spot speed. If the spot speeds are expressed as
a frequency table, then,
∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑞𝑖
𝑣𝑠 = 𝑞 (5)
∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑖
𝑣𝑖

Where qi vehicle will have vi speed and ni is the number of such observations.

Example (1):
If the spot speeds are 50, 40, 60, 54 and 45 km/hr, then find the time mean speed and
space mean speed.

Solution
Time mean speed vt is the average of spot speed. Therefore,

= Km/h
r

Space mean speed is the harmonic mean of spot speed. Therefore,

= Km/h
r

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Example (2):
The results of a speed study is given in the form of a frequency distribution table. Find the
time mean speed and space mean speed.

Solution:

The time mean speed and space mean speed can be found out from the frequency table
given. First, the average speed is computed, which is the mean of the speed range.

For example, for the first speed range, average speed,

The volume of flow qi for that speed range is same as the frequency. The terms vi.qi and

are also tabulated, and their summations given in the last row. Time mean speed can
be computed as,

Similarly, space mean speed can be computed as,

∑ 𝑞𝑖 12
𝑉𝑠 = = = 9.38
𝑞𝑖 1.28
∑
𝑣𝑖

Volume of
No. Speed range Average speed (vi) viqi
flow (qi)

1 2-5 3.5 1 3.5 0.29

2 6-9 7.5 4 30 0.54
3 10-13 11.5 0 0 0
4 14-17 15.5 7 108.5 0.45
Total 12 142 1.28

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 The relation between time mean speed (vt) and space mean speed (vs) is given by
the following relation:

Where, is the standard deviation of the spot speed.

Flow
Flow (q) is the number of vehicles that pass a point on a highway or a given lane or
direction of a highway during a specific time interval. The measurement is carried out by
counting the number of vehicles, nt, passing a particular point in one lane in a defined
period t. Then the flow q expressed in vehicles/hour is given by:

Density
Density is defined as the number of vehicles occupying a given length of highway or lane
and is generally expressed as vehicles per km. Considering a length of road x, count the
number of vehicles, nx, in one lane of the road at that point of time and derive the density
k as,

This is illustrated in Figure 1. From the figure, the density is the number of vehicles
between the point A and B divided by the distance between A and B.

Figure 1

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Difference between flow and density:

Example (3):
Figure below shows vehicles traveling at constant speeds on a two-lane highway between
sections X and Y with their positions and speeds obtained at an instant of time by
photography. An observer located at point X observes the four vehicles passing point X
during a period of T sec. The velocities of the vehicles are measured as 45, 45, 40, and 30
mi/h, respectively. Calculate the flow, density, time mean speed, and space mean speed.

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Solution:

The flow is calculated by:

Density is obtained by:

Time mean speed

Vt =

The space mean speed is found by:

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𝑉𝑠 = = 39.0 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒/ℎ𝑟
1 1 1 1
30 + 40 + 45 + 45

Or

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 4 ∗ 300
𝑉𝑠 = = 57 𝑓𝑡/𝑠𝑒𝑐
4.54 + 4.54 + 5.1 + 6.8
57 ∗ 3600
𝑉𝑠 = = 38.9 = 39 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒/ℎ𝑟
5280

 The microscopic parameters of traffic stream are time headway (h) and space
headway (s).

Time headway
The microscopic character related to volume is the time headway or simply headway.
Time headway is defined as the time difference between any two successive vehicles
when they cross a given point. It involves 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. Time headway is usually expressed in seconds.
If all headways h in time period, t, over which flow has been measured are added then,

But the flow is defined as the number of vehicles nt measured in time interval t, that is,

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Where, hav is the average headway. Thus average headway is the inverse of flow. Time
headway is often referred to as simply the headway.

Space Headway
Another related parameter is the distance headway. It is defined as the distance between
corresponding points of two successive vehicles at any given time. Space headway (S) is
the distance between the front of a vehicle and the front of the following vehicle and is
usually expressed in meters.
If all the space headways in distance x over which the density has been measured are
added then,

But the density (k) is the number of vehicles nx at a distance of x, that is

Where, sav is average space headway. The average space headway is the inverse of density
and is sometimes called as spacing.
1000
𝑆𝑎𝑣 =
𝑘
Where
K=density in veh/km/lane
Sav =average space headway between vehicles in m

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Example (4):
Given that 40 vehicles pass a given point in 1 minute and traverse a length of 1 kilometer,
what is the flow, density, space headway and time headway?

Solution:

Compute space headway:

K=40=1/sav

sav =0.025 km=25 m

Compute time headway:
hav= 1/q
hav= 1/(2400/3600)
hav= 3600/2400
hav=1.5 sec

Example 5
Data obtained from aerial photography showed 8 vehicles on a 250-m-long section of
highway. Traffic data collected at the same time indicated an average time headway of 3
sec. Determine:

 The density on the highway,

 The flow on the highway.
 The mean speed.

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Solution:
 Density (k)= 8*1000/250 = 32 v/km.
 Flow (q) = 1/average time headway
q= (1/3 ) x 3600 = 1200 v/hr.
 Finally we have: q= v*k

Then v = q / k.

Speed (v) = 1200/32 = 37.5 km / hr.

Traffic flow basic summary:

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