FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND

BUILT ENVIRONMENT
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

CIVIL ENGINEERING LAB 2

Experiment No. 12 –
Traffic Volume Count
(Traffic Engineering)

Name
Matrix No.
Batch
Lecturer
Experiment No: 12 Date:

Traffic Lab: Manual Method for Traffic Volume Study

1.0 Objectives
To conduct a traffic Volume study and to determine different volume statistics for a
particular section.
2.0 Theory
In this experiment, vehicles are counted manually by using direct method. For the direct
method, the data is recorded using hand tally on the observation sheets. There are some
advantages and disadvantages when using the direct method

Advantages:
 By this method, traffic volume, as well as vehicle classification can be obtained.
 Data can he used immediately after collection.
Disadvantages:
 There is an increased probability of accumulation of errors as the counts cannot
be cross-checked.
 This method is not practical for long duration counts and when the traffic flow is
high.
 The counts cannot be recorded in bad weather.
 This method is very difficult when the volume is high and there are three or more
than three traffic lanes

Traffic volume studies are usually conducted when certain volume characteristics are
needed, some of which follow
 Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) is the average of 24-hour counts collected
every day if the youf,
 Average Daily Traffic (ADT) is the average of 24-hour counts collected over a
number of days greater than one but less than a year.
 Peak Hour Volume (PIIV) is the maximum number of vehicles that pass a point
on a highway during a period of 60 consecutive minutes.
 Vehicle Classification (VC records volume with respect
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3.0 Equipment and Fagilities
 Observation sheets
 A stopwatch

4.0 Procedure
1) A section of the road is to be selected according to the guideline and all the necessary
lab preparations are to be complete in advance.
2) Traffic volume is a unidirectional study. Therefore, it is more desirable to record
traffic in each direction of travel and keep separate observers for each direction
3) The number of observers required to count the vehicles depends upon the number of
lanes and the type of information required.
4) Also the time slots and the number of shifts could vary depending on members of the
field team.
5) Data is recorded on field data observation sects, First, the observer records the data,
location, weather condition. direction and time of the study, and the observation of
the urate data.
6) Data is collected for each type of vehicle and tilled in tally sheets for the whole limo
of the study.
7) Calculate the hourly volume (vehicle/hour). Volume can be expressed as Average
Daily Traffic (ADT) and Annual Average Daly Traffic (AADT) depending on data
recorded.
8) The peak rate of low and Peak Hour Factor (PHF) during both peak and off-peak
periods for data recorded in the field.

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5.0 Results
Classified Traffic Volume Count Study:

Vehicle Type
Sedan SUV Van Motorcycle Bus/Lorry
Time

00-15 308 71 88 79 39

15-30 335 82 70 106 37

30-45 503 110 88 135 44

45-60 484 114 69 153 20

Total 1630 377 315 473 140

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Hourly volume:

Total vehicle passing lane according to time

Average Daily Traffic:

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6.0 Sample Calculation

7.0 Discussion

Traffic volume study was

carried out to count the number
of vehicles passing a specific
reference point on a road
section within a specified
period. Each mechanical hand
tally
counter represents each flow.
The study shows that the
number of each type of vehicles
passes from each direction, as
well as the number of each

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vehicles passes from each
direction
in every 5 minutes within 30
minutes. For each 5 minutes
that had been conducted with
the
number of vehicles taken, result
for peak hour for the road can
be taken.
Throughout the observation,
the traffic volume increase
th th
from 5 to 10 minutes and
th th
decrease from 15 to 20
minutes. Lane 3 V6 recorded as
the highest number of vehicles
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travelled the selected location
which is 223 vehicles in total.
Lane 3 V5 recorded 141
vehicles
in total which falls under the
second highest vehicle volume
passes the location. Lane2 V2
recorded as the lowest vehicle
volume travelled the same
location throughout the study.
This
indicates that there more vehicle
travelled in the major road (V6)
compared to road (Direction
V2).
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8.0 Conclusion

.Based on the data collected and

analyzed from traffic volume
study, the traffic volume
observed in the selected
location can be considered falls
under LOS C. From the analysis
of
the data collected, the most
th
critical time period is from 25
th
to 30 minutes., where the
traffic
volume in the intersection
increases.
Since there were less heavy
vehicles pass through the
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intersection, the effect of the
heavy
vehicles will reduce the traffic
volume. Changing the lanes for
these vehicles which will
reduce the speed of the
passenger cars and the other
vehicles and this will reduce the
flow

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