3.
Traffic flow theory
Lecture Outline
Introduction
Fundamental Characteristics of Traffic Flow
Relationship Between Fundamental Elements
Basic Traffic Stream Models
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• Traffic flow theories seek to describe in a precise
mathematical way the interactions between the
vehicles and their operators (the mobile components)
and the infrastructure (the immobile component).
• Understanding traffic theory helps:
Evaluating the capacity of existing roadways or
Designing new roadways,.
Introduction
Traffic flow theory is a tool that helps
The transportation engineers to understand & express
the properties of traffic flow
To know vehicles interaction with each other & with
roadways
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How Do We Collect Traffic Data?
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Introduction (cont…)
Before designing a new highway we need to
determine various dimentions of traffic like
Number of vehicles per unit time
Vehicle type
Vehicle speed
Variation of traffic flow over time (usually
24hrs)
Density of the traffic flow
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Introduction (cont…)
These parameters of traffic will influence highway
design in the following ways
Influence highway design (no.of lanes,
geo.design, structural design... )
Influence highway operations (traffic signs,
road markings, traffic signals...)
Influence the type & quantity of materials
used during construction
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Introduction (cont…)
Functional effectiveness of highway can be measured by
its ability to accommodate as much traffic as possible,
subjected to safety and environmental constraints.
Fandamental parametrs used to characterise flow of traffic
in a roadway are:
Flow rate
Macroscopic parameters
Density
Speed
• The primary elements of traffic flow
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• Fundamental chracteristics of traffic flow
Flow (q)
number of vehivles passing a point in a road/lane
in an interval of time (measure of quantity)
q = nt/t
Expressed by vehicle/unit time
Where:
n = the number of vehicles passing a point in the roadway in T
(sec);
q = the equivalent hourly flow. 12
Fundamental chracteristics of traffic flow
(cont...)
Types of traffic flow:
Uninterruped flow-regulated by vehicle-vehicle and
vehicle roadway interaction (usually found in rural areas)
eg. Vehicle travelling in freeway/rural highway
Interrupted flow- regulated by external means like traffic
signals (usually common in urban areas) and access point
Under interrupted flow conditions, vehicle-vehicle
interactions and vehicle-roadway interactions play a
secondary role in defining the traffic flow.
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Fundamental chracteristics of traffic flow
Density (k)
Is defined as the number of
vehicles (pedestrians) occupying
a given length of a lane or
roadway at a particular instant
K = nx/l
Expressed by vehicle/km,
vehicle/mile
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• Normally, density is reported in terms of vehicles
per mile or vehicles per kilometer.
• High densities indicate that individual vehicles are
very close together, while low densities imply
greater distances between vehicles.
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Speed (u)
Is the distance covered by vehicle in unit of time
Due to vehicle- vehicle or vehicle – roadway interactions,
vehicles will not have similar speed in a given traffic stream
Average or mean speed is a significant variable for traffic flow
analysis
Different types of average values of speed are used to characterize a
traffic stream.
time mean speed
space mean speed
Time mean speed is a point measure, while space mean speed is a
measure relating to a length of highway or lane. 16
Time mean speed
This is the arithmetic average of speeds of
vehicles observed passing a point on a highway
also referred to as the average spot speed.
Individual speeds of vehicles passing a point
are recorded and are arithmetically averaged.
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n
u i
ut i 1
n
Where ui = speed of vehicle i at desiginated point x
n = number of mesured vehicle speeds at point x
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Space Mean Speed
SMS is the average speed of vehicles measured at an
instant of time over a specified stretch of road.
SMS is the harmonic mean of all speeds.
Used in traffic models, but harder to measure
n nl
t t1l1 t2l2 ... tnln
us n
1
n 1
t i
i 1 ui i 1
n
n = number of vehicles;
Ui = speed of the ith vehicle (ft/sec);
ti = the time it takes the ith vehicle to travel across a section of
highway (sec);
L = length of section of highway (ft) . 19
Example:- Measurement points are located at the beginning
and at the end of the highway section whose length equals
1 km (see figure below). The recorded speeds and travel times
are shown in the Table.
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Speeds of the five vehicles are recorded at the beginning
of the section (point A). The vehicle appearance at point A
and point B were also recorded.
a) Calculate the time-mean speed and the space-mean
speed.
Solution
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• Example
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Free Flow Speed
• This is the mean speed that vehicles will travel on a roadway when
the density of vehicles is low.
• Under low-density conditions, drivers no longer worry about other
vehicles.
• They subsequently proceed at speeds that are controlled by the
performance of their vehicles, the conditions of the roadway, and the
posted speed limit.
Jam Density
• Extremely high densities can bring traffic on a roadway to a
complete stop.
• The density at which traffic stops is called the jam density.
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Fundamental of traffic flow relation ship
The three parameters u, k and q are directly related
under stable traffic conditions as follows
n n n l l
qk u
t l t n t
q ku
Volume and Rate of Flow are two different measures.
Volume is the actual number of vehicles observed or
predicted to be passing a point during a given time interval.
Rate of flow represents the number of vehicles passing a
point during a time interval less than 1 hour, but expressed
as an equivalent hourly rate.
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In addition to the above parameters, the following
parameters are also important in the study of traffic flow
• Volume - the total number of vehicles that pass over a
given point or section of a lane or roadway during a given
time interval; volumes may be expressed in terms of
Annual,
Daily,
Hourly, Or
Sub-hourly Periods.
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o Daily Volume
Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT)
Average Daily Traffic (ADT)
Average Weekly Traffic (AWT)
o Hourly Volume
Peak Hourly Volume (PHV)
Design Hour Volume
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1. Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT)
The average of 24-hour counts collected every day of the
year.
vehicles per day (VPD) in both directions
Expressed as average of 24 hours counts for 365 days (1
year)
Used for determining and assigning traffic trends, feasibility
studies, etc.
2. Average Daily Traffic (ADT)
The average of 24-hour counts collected over a
number of days greater than one but less than a
year.
Vehicles per day (VPD) in both directions.
Used for planning, measurement of current demand,
evaluate traffic flow
3. Hour Volume (PHV)
• Traffic volume varies considerably during the course of a 24-hr day.
Peak Hourly Volume (PHV):-The single hour of the day that has the
highest hourly volume is referred to as the peak hour.
Design Hour Volume:-A facility may have capacity adequate to
serve the peak hour demand, but short-term peaks of flow within
the peak hour may exceed capacity, thereby creating a breakdown
Peak Hour Volume
Peak Hour Factor
(4)(Volume during 15 minutes within peak hour)
PHV
PHF Design Hourly Volume DHV
PHV
(4)(PV15 ) PHF
• Peak Hour Factor (PHF) –is the ratio of the hourly flow rate (q60) divided
by the peak 15 minute rate of flow expressed as an hourly flow (q15)
q60
PHF
4 * q15
Traffic volume within this hour is of greatest interest to traffic engineers in
design or operational analysis.
The maximum value of PHF is 1.00, which occurs when the volume in each
15-min period is equal.
The minimum value is 0.25, which occurs when the entire hourly volume
occurs in one 15-min interval.
The normal range of values is between 0.70 and 0.98, with lower values
signifying a greater degree of variation in flow during the peak hour.
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Example: The afternoon peak hour traffic flow data of traffic on
a major road are:
4:45pm-5:00pm = 400 vehicles ,
5:00pm-5:15pm = 700 vehicles
5:15pm-5:30pm = 600 vehicles
5:30pm-5:45pm = 400 vehicles
Data Analysis:
PHV = 400 + 700 + 600 + 400 = 2100 vehicles
PV15 = 700 vehicles PHF = 2100/(4)(700) = 0.75
DHV=2100/0.75=2800 vehicles
Microscopic traffic parameter in traffic flow study.
- Headway (h) – is the time that elapses between the arrival of the
leading vehicle and the following vehicle at a designated test point
• Spacing (s) – is the physical distance between the front
pumper of the leading vehicle and the front pumper of the
following vehicle
As it is difficult to measure, it is easily obtained as the product of
speed and headway
Both h & s express the microscopic nature of flow
Spacing (s)
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• Gap (g) – is the measure of the time that elapses between
the departure of the first vehicle and the arrival of the
second vehicle at the designated test point
• Clearance (c) – is the distance between the rear pumper of
the leading vehicle & the front pumper of the following
vehicle
Is equivalent to the spacing minus the length of the
leading vehicle
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Relationship Between Fundamental
Elements of traffic flow
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Relationship Between Fundamental Elements
Speed- Density Relationship
Consider a single car traveling along a highway
By definition density will tend to zero
The speed at which the car can be driven is determined
solely by the geometric design & layout of the road
The speed @ which the density is near to zero (0) is
defined as Free flow speed (uf)
uf not hindered by the presence of other vehicles
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Speed- Density Relationship (cont…)
• As more vehicles use the section of the highway, density
increases & speed decreases from its maximum free flow
value
• If the above condition persists, a point is reached where
traffic will be brought to a stop. i.e., u= 0, with the density
at its maximum point as cars are jammed bumper to pumper,
termed Jam Density (kj)
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Speed- Density Relationship (cont…)
The limiting values are
When k=0,u=uf & when u=0, k=kj
Different researchers
[Greenshield, Greenberg, &
Underwood] had developed
different models [linear,
logarithmic, & exponential]
respectively
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Flow- Density Relationship
Combining the relations for u & relations between
flow, density, and speed gives
K
q uk u f (1 ) K
Kj
2
k
q u f (k )
kj
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Flow- Density Relationship (cont…)
In order to determine the density at which
maximum flow occurs, differentiate eqn (c)
uf kj
qmax Equation (d)
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Speed-Flow Relationship
Rearranging equ (b) for k and combining it with
equ (a) gives
u
k k j (1 )
uf
u2
q k j (u )
uf
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Speed-Flow Relationship (cont…)
In order to determine the speed at maximum flow
occurs, differentiate eqn (e) w.r.t. u
uf
um
2
Combining eqn (d) & eqn (f) gives,
uf kj uf kj
qm u m k m
2 2 4
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Peak Hour Volume- is the volume of traffic that
uses the approach or lane in question during the
hour of the day that observes the highest traffic
volumes for that intersection
Peak Hour Factor = peak hour volume/[4*peak
15 minute volume]
Design Flow Rate [Actual Flow Rate]- is the peak
hour volume (flow rate) for the entity divided by
the peak hour factor or simply is the product of
the peak fifteen-minute volume by 4
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Example-1
A section of a highway is known to have a free-flow speed
of 90 km/h and a capacity of 3300 veh/h. In a given hour,
2100 vehicles were counted at a specified point along this
highway section. If the speed and density is linearly related,
what would you estimate the space-mean speed of these
2100 vehicles to be?
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Greenberg Model.
Using the fluid-flow analogy was developed by
Greenberg in the form
Differentiating q with respect to k, we obtain
For maximum flow
• Giving
• That is, and Substituting 1 for
• gives
• Thus, the value of c is the speed at maximum flow.
Reading assignment on Hand out
• Shock waves in traffic streams.
• Gap and gap acceptance
• Queuing Analysis:- Queuing Patterns and Queuing models.
Shock Wave And Queuing
Analysis
Shock wave
• Flow, speed and density change over space and time which is
more or less a continuous process
• When flow, speed and density change from one state to
another, the boundary of this change is called a shock wave
Examples:
• high speed vehicles approach a queue of slow moving
vehicles
• signalized intersection
• vehicles with low speed make a queue
• different types of bottlenecks
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Shock wave analysis terminology
Shock wave movements
• Forward – discontinuity propagating downstream in the same direction
of moving traffic
• Stationary – shockwave remains at the same position in space
• Backward – discontinuity propagating upstream in the opposite direction
of moving traffic
“Forming” shockwave – propagation of shockwave is resulting in the
increase of the congested portion over time
“Recovery” shockwave - propagation of shockwave is resulting in the
decrease of the congested portion over time
“Frontal/Rear” – the shockwave is at the downstream/upstream edge of the
congested region
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Example 1: Assumptions:
• Demand is light and arrival at constant flow rate
• Capacity of signal exceeds demand, but discharge only on green
• Free-flow conditions some distance upstream and immediately downstream of
signal (Densities < 60 vehicles per lane-mile)
Discontinuities:
• As vehicles join rear of queue (backward forming shockwave) and
• As vehicles are discharged on green (Backward recovery shockwave)
• At the stop line during the red phase (Frontal stationary shock wave)
Case where demand is constant and capacity varies over time, an
isolated single restriction (Bottleneck) with no entrances and exit in
the congested region
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Shock Wave Equations
State-A: Steady-state free-flow condition (qA, kA, uA)
State-B: less input flow (qB, kB, uB)
Note: uA < uB
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Introduction to Queuing Analysis
When demand exceeds capacity for a period of time or an
arrival time headway is less than the service time (at the
microscopic level) at a specific location, a queue is formed.
The queue may be a moving queue or a stopped queue.
Essentially, excess vehicles are stored upstream of the
bottleneck or service area, and their departure is delayed to
a later time period.
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Queuing analysis can be employed for deterministic or stochastic
processes:
Deterministic: if both the arrival and service times of each
vehicle are known
Stochastic: if either the arrival distribution and/or service
distribution are probabilistic (the exact arrival and/or service time
of each vehicle is unknown)
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D/D/N model
• The arrival and service rates are deterministic that is the arrival and
service times of each vehicle are known.
Assumptions
• Customers are assumed to be patient.
• System is assumed to have unlimited capacity.
• Users arrive from an unlimited source.
• The queue discipline is assumed to be first in first out.
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