Unit I

TRAFFIC CHARACTERISTICS
1.1 Traffic Engineering
Institute of Traffic Engineers (ITE) defines traffic engineering as a subset of transportation engineering.
The definition given is as follows:

“Traffic Engineering is that phase of transportation engineering which deals with the planning, geometric
design and traffic operations of roads, streets and highways, their networks, terminals, abutting lands, and
relationship with other mode of transportation”

The objective of traffic engineering is to provide for the safe, rapid, comfortable, efficient, convenient,
and environmentally compatible movement of people, goods, and services. The revolution in the
automobile industry and liberalized economy has led to tremendous increase in the vehicle ownership
levels. With the development of urbanization and motorization, the imbalanced contradiction of urban
traffic between supply and demand becomes increasingly sharp. Traffic congestion has become a serious
“urban illness”, and it results in problems such as travel time delay, increase of traffic accidents, rise of
fuel depletion, survival environmental degradation and so on. It severely affects the city’s normal function
and its sustainable development. The scope of the traffic engineering lies here. Traffic engineering
improves the traffic performance of road network and terminals with the help of systematic traffic studies,
detailed analysis and with effective applications. It also includes planning, geometric design, regulation and
control of various traffic operations.

1.2 Objectives and scope of Traffic Engineering

The basic object of traffic engineering is to achieve efficient free and rapid flow of traffic with least number
of traffic accidents. The definition of traffic engineering highlights the following objectives:

• Safety
• Speed
• Comfort and Convenience
• Economy
• Environmental Compatibility
The principal goal of the traffic engineer remains the provision of a safe system for highway traffic. Other
objectives are self-evident desires of the traveller. Everyone wants their trip to be fast, comfortable,
convenient, cheap and in harmony with the environment. These objectives are also relative and must be
balanced against each other and against the primary objective of safety.

1. Safety: The specular increase in the number of motor vehicles on the road has created a major social
problem- the loss of live through accidents. The appalling human misery and the serious economic

TRAFFIC ENGINEERING-I
 loss caused by the road accidents demand the attention of the society and call for the solution of
the problem. The traffic engineer plays a major role here since many features of the highway affect
the safety of the vehicle and the other road users. The analysis of the accident statistics provides
clues to the many factors that lead to the accident and to improvements that may be desired. Based
on the statistics the traffic engineer must devise ways to reduce the accidents through better
planning, design, construction maintenance and traffic operation. The traffic engineer is also
concerned about the regulation and management of traffic to ensure safer travel. Accident data
supply valuable information to control, regulate and manage the traffic more effectively.
2. Speed: Speed of travel is much to be desired, is limited by transportation technology, human
characteristics, and the need to provide safety.
3. Comfort and Convenience: comfort and convenience are generic terms and mean different things to
different people. Comfort involves the physical characteristics of vehicles and roadways and is
influenced by our perception of safety. Convenience relates more to the ease with which trips are
made and the ability of transport systems to accommodate all our travel needs at appropriate times.
4. Economy: economy is also relative. There is little in modern transportation systems that can be
termed “cheap”. Highway and other transportation systems involve massive construction,
maintenance and operating expenditures, most of which are provided through general and user
taxes and fees. Every engineer, regardless of the discipline, is called upon to provide the best
possible systems for the money.
5. Environmental Compatibility: Harmony with the environment is a complex issue that has become
more important over time. All transportation systems have some negative impact on the
environment. In many modern cities, transportation systems utilize as much as 25% of the total
land area. “Harmony” is achieved when transportation systems are designed to minimize negative
environmental impacts, and where system architecture provides for aesthetically pleasing facilities
that “fit in” with their surroundings.

1.3 Elements of Traffic Engineering:

There are several key elements in traffic engineering.
• Traffic studies and characteristics
• Performance Evaluation
• Facility Design
• Traffic Control
• Traffic Operations
• Transportation System management (TSM)
• Integration of Intelligent transportation system technologies (ITS)

1. Traffic studies and characteristics: Involves measuring and quantifying various aspects of highway
traffic. Studies focus on data collections and analysis that is used to characterize traffic includes
traffic volumes and demands, speed and travel time, delay, accidents, origins and destinations,

Traffic Engineering-I 2
 modal use and other variables.
2. Performance Evaluation: is a means by which traffic engineers can rate the operating characteristics
of individual sections of facilities and facilities in relative terms. Such evaluation relies on measures
of performance quality referred as “Level of service”. Different classes are there in level of service,
starting from L.O.S A to L.O.S F (A-very good, F- failure on some level).
3. Facility Design: Involves traffic engineers in the functional and geometric design of highways and
other traffic facilities. They are not directly involved in the structural design of highway facilities
but have some appreciation for structural characteristics of their facilities.
4. Traffic control: central function of traffic engineers and involves the establishment of traffic
regulations and their communication to the driver using traffic control devices, such as signs,
markings and signals.
5. Traffic Operations: involves the measures that influence overall operation of traffic facilities, such as
one-way street systems, transit operations, curb management and network control systems.
6. Transportation System management (TSM): involves all aspects of traffic engineering in a focus on
optimizing system capacity and operations. Specific aspects of TSM include high-occupancy
vehicle priority systems, car-pooling programs, pricing strategies to manage demand and similar
functions.
7. Integration of Intelligent transportation system technologies (ITS): refers to the application of modern
telecommunications technology to the operation and control of transportation systems. It includes
automated highways, automated toll-collection systems, Vehicle tracking systems, in vehicle GPS
and mapping systems, automated enforcement of traffic lights and speed laws and smart control
devices.

1.4 Role of Traffic Engineer

The traffic engineer has a very special relationship with the public at large. Perhaps more than any other
type of engineer, the traffic engineer deals with the daily safety of a large segment of the public. The
functions of a traffic engineer include the following:

• Collection, analysis and interpretation of data pertaining to traffic

• Traffic and transportation planning
• Traffic design
• Measures for operation of traffic
• Administration
1. Collection, analysis and interpretation of data pertaining to traffic: One of the important functions of a
traffic engineer is to organize and implement various traffic surveys and to collect data pertaining
to traffic characteristics. Volume counts, speed, travel time and delay measurements; accident and
parking characteristics are some of such studies. The data collected by such studies are analysed
by the traffic engineer and interpreted to take advantage of the observed regularities. An accurate
understanding of the data will help the traffic engineer to select appropriate solutions to problems.

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 2. Traffic and Transportation planning: Traffic engineer is concerned with preparation of traffic and
transportation plans to ensure a safe, orderly and fully integrated transportation system. This phase
of activity concerns itself with the relation of land use with transportation and study of travel
characteristics. Based on the analysis of the results of such a study, mathematical models are
formulated to predict how a system will behave under a given set of conditions. Alternative
solutions are formulated and analysed and finally an optimal solution is selected.
3. Traffic Design: This part of traffic engineer includes the geometric design of highways and streets,
intersection designs, design of off-street and on-street parking facilities, deign of bus and truck
terminal services, design of traffic control devices such as signal timing and traffic signals and other
traffic facilities. The traffic engineer also has a responsibility to protect the community from
liability by good practice. This includes
• Placing control devices that do not conform to applicable standards for their physical
design and placement.
• Failure to maintain devices in a manner that ensures their effectiveness.
• Failure to apply the most current standards and guidelines in making decisions on traffic
control, developing a facility or a design plan.
• Implementing traffic regulation.
4. Measures of operation of traffic: for efficient and safe operation of traffic, the traffic engineer must take
recourse to several measures such as
• Legislation and enforcement measures for regulation of road users (drivers, pedestrians,
passengers, vehicles)
• Management measures such as one-way streets, prohibited turnings at junctions and tidal
flow measurements, exclusive bus lane etc. with a view to get the maximum out of the
available street facilities.
• Measures of regulation on parking vehicles.
• Control measures such as traffic signs, signals, road markings and channelization
techniques to guide and secure the safe and efficient flow of traffic.
5. Administration: The traffic engineer also functions in a world in which several key participants do
not understand the traffic and transport issues. This include elected and appointed officials with
decision-making power, the public and other professionals with whom traffic engineers work on
an overall project team work. The traffic engineer must organize and administer the various
programmes intended to secure safe and efficient traffic in towns and cities.

1.5 Traffic System Components

To understand the functional and operational aspects of traffic on streets and highways, it is important to
understand how the various elements of a traffic system interact and the characteristics and limitations of
each of these elements. Five critical components interact in a traffic system:
o Road users- drivers, passengers, pedestrians and bicyclists

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 o Vehicles
o Roadways
o Traffic control devices
o The general environment

1.6 Road User and Vehicle Characteristics - Dealing with Diversity

The most complex problem while dealing human characteristics is its variability. Traffic engineering would
be a great deal simpler if the various components of the traffic system had uniform characteristics. Traffic
controls could be easily designed if all drivers reacted to them in the same way. Safety could be more easily
achieved if all vehicles had uniform dimensions, weights, and operating characteristics. The traffic engineer
must deal with elderly drivers as well as 18-year-olds, aggressive drivers and timid drivers, and drivers
subject to myriad distractions both inside and outside their vehicles.
Just as the road user characteristics vary, the characteristics of vehicles also varies widely (static features as
well as operating characteristics). Highways must be designed to accommodate motorcycles, the full range
of automobiles, and a wide range of commercial vehicles (double and triple-back tractor-trailer
combinations).
The influence of all these factors and the corresponding variability cannot be accounted when a facility is
designed. To incorporate all these variation, it is not a good practice to design for “average” characteristics.
So a standardized value is often used as the design value. Most of the standards are geared to 85th percentile
or 15th percentile characteristics. A percentile is a measure used in statistics indicating the value at or below
which a given percentage of observations in a group of observations fall.
In terms of walking speed, safety demands to accommodate slower walkers, as only 15 % of the population
walks lesser than this value. Considering driver reaction time, 85th percentile is used, as 85% of population
has a reaction time which is equal to or lesser than this. One way of addressing this diversity is through
uniformity. Traffic engineers should try to provide information to drivers in a uniform way.
1.7 Human Factors affecting Road User Behavior (Driver Characteristics)
The various road user characteristics having a bearing on traffic can be broadly classified in to four groups:
a) Physiological (Physical Characteristics)
b) Psychological Factors
c) Mental Characteristics
d) Environmental factors

(a) Physiological Factors (Physical Characteristics): The physiological factors are something
which is measurable and usually quantifiable. It includes
1. Permanent physical factors
1.Vision
2.Hearing
3.Physical Strength

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 4.Perception- Reaction Process (reaction to traffic stimulus)
2. Temporary physical factors
1.Factors which affect road users efficiency (effect of alcohol, drugs, fatigue and
illness)
1.7.1 Permanent physical factor - Vision Characteristics:
Vision is one of the most important factors that affect almost all aspects of highways and safety. The most
important characteristic of drivers is their ability to see. Light rays from objects get refracted through lens
and then brought to focus on retina and image will be formed. The image formed on retina is then
transmitted to brain through optic nerves which perceives the object. Research has shown that
approximately 90% of the information that a driver receives is visual. The principle characteristics of the
eye are visual acuity, fields of vision, color vision, glare vision and recovery and depth perception.
(i) Visual Acuity:
It is the ability of the eye to see fine details of an object. Normal vision is taken to mean that in a well-lit
environment a person can recognize a letter of about 1/3 inch in height at a distance of 20 ft then the
visual acuity of the person is 20/20. Normal visual acuity is commonly referred to as 20/20 vision, the
metric equivalent of which is 6/6 vision. At 20 feet or 6 meters, a human eye with nominal performance
is able to separate lines that are one arc minute apart (equivalent to lines that are spaced 1.75 mm apart).
A vision of 20/40 is considered half as good as nominal performance. A vision of 20/10 is considered
twice as good as nominal performance. If a person has 20/40 visual acuity means, he can see the object at
a distance of 20 ft (wrong vision) when a distance of 40 ft is sufficient for normal vision. From a distance
of 20 ft he can have normal vision by providing the object twice as large as the previous one.
In traffic engineering two types of visual acuity are of importance-
• Static visual acuity: The driver’s ability to identify an object when both the object and the driver
are stationary depends on his or her static acuity. Eg: Chart Reading Exercise
• Dynamic visual acuity: The driver’s ability to clearly detect relatively moving objects depends
on the driver’s dynamic visual acuity. Eg: Traffic sign reading while driving

(ii) Fields of Vision:

Figure illustrates three distinct fields of vision, each of which is important to the driving task.
Acute or clear vision cone- 3° to 10° around the line of sight; legend can be read only within this narrow field
of vision
Fairly clear vision cone- 10° to 12° around the line of sight; color
and shape can be identified in this field.
Peripheral vision- This field may extend up to 160° in
horizontal direction and 115° in vertical direction in the line
of sight. Stationary objects are generally not seen in the
peripheral vision field, but the movement of objects through
this field is detected. For detailed attention the driver has to
turns his head or eyes, to make the object in the clear vision cone.

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Visual Angle - Lateral Displacement: When approaching an object located near the path, drivers show a
tendency to displace laterally away from the object even though it may not be on their direct path. The
narrower the pavement and closer the object to pavement edge, the greater was the magnitude of the
lateral displacement.
The relationship between the longitudinal distance l, the lateral placement of the object a, and the
visual angle θ is given as
𝑙 = 𝑎 cot 𝜃
𝑑𝑙 𝑑𝜃
= −𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑐 0 𝜃
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑙
= −𝑣
𝑑𝑡
0
𝑎0 + 𝑙0
𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝜃 =
𝑎0
𝑑𝜃 𝑣. 𝑎
= 0
𝑑𝑡 𝑎 + 𝑙 0

Figure 1: Geometry of lateral

Thus, for a given vehicle speed, lateral displacement and the clearance rate
of change of the visual angle, the driver can estimate the
lateral placement of the object to judge whether it lies in the vehicles path. If the object lies directly in the
vehicle’s path (a=0), the driver cannot detect any angular change.
(iii) Color Vision:
It is the ability to differentiate one color from another. The deficiency in this ability is referred as color
blindness. Unfortunately, one of the most common forms of color blindness involves the inability to
discern the difference between red and green. In the case of traffic signals, this could have a devastating
impact on the safety of such drivers.
(iv) Glare Vision and Recovery:
There are two types of glare vision: direct and specular. Direct glare occurs when relatively bright light
appears in the individual’s field of vision and specular glare occurs when the image reflected by the
relatively bright light appears in the field of vision. Both types of glare decrease the visibility and cause
discomfort to the eyes.
Glare recovery time is the time required to recover from the effect of glare after the light source is passed,
and is very important in night driving. Studies have shown that this time is about 3 sec when moving from
dark to light and can be 6 sec or more when moving from light to dark. It will be higher for elderly persons.
This phenomenon should be taken in to account in the design and location of street lighting so that glare
effects are reduced to a minimum.
(v) Depth Perception:
It affects the ability of a person to estimate speed and distance. It is important on two-lane highways
during passing maneuvers, where head-on accidents may result from a lack of proper judgment of distance

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and speed. The ability of the human eye to differentiate between the objects is fundamental to this
phenomenon. It should be noted, however, that the human eye is not very good at estimating absolute
values of speed, distance and speed. Therefore the traffic control devices are standard in size, shape and
color.

1.2 Permanent physical factors- Hearing Perception:

Hearing is an aid to the road-user which can at times be very vital. The sound of a horn or the sound of
the nearing vehicle itself can alert a pedestrian to safety. Typically hearing is only important when
emergency vehicles are sounding a warning to get out of their way. Loss of hearing ability is not a serious
problem, since it can normally be corrected by a hearing aid.

1.3 Permanent physical factors- Physical Strength

In general, strength is not considered as a major factor. In the case of heavy vehicles, lack of physical
strength may make parking maneuvers difficult.

1.4 Permanent physical factors: Perception- Reaction Process

The road user is subjected to a series of stimuli both expected and unexpected. Perception- Reaction
process is the process in which a driver evaluates and reacts to a stimulus. The time it takes to go through
this process is generally called as Perception- Reaction Time (PRT) or commonly called as reaction time
of a driver.
Reaction time of a driver is the time taken from the instant the object is visible to the driver to the instant
when the brakes are applied. The time taken to perform an action according to the stimulus involves a
series of stages based on PIEV theory.
According to PIEV theory, four distinct processes that the driver must perform:
§ Detection (Perception)
§ Identification (Intellection)
§ Judgment (Decision)
§ Response (Volition)
1) Perception: Perception is the process of perceiving the sensations received through the sense
organs, nerves and brains. It is the recognitions that a
stimulus on which a reaction is to happen exists.
2) Intellection: Intellection involves the identification
and understanding of stimuli.
3) Emotion: This stage involves the judgment of the
appropriate response to be made on the stimuli like
to stop, pass, move laterally etc.
4) Volition: Volition is the execution of the decision
which is the result of physical actions of the driver.

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For eg., if a driver approaches an intersection where the signal is red, the driver first sees the signal
(perception), he recognizes that is a red/STOP signal, he decides to stop and finally applies the
brake(volition). This sequence is called the PIEV time or perception-reaction time.
But apart from the above time, the vehicle itself traveling at initial speed would require some more time
to stop. That is, the vehicle traveling with initial speed u will travel for a distance, d = vt where, t is the
above said PIEV tome or PRT time. Again, the vehicle Figure 2: PIEV Theory
would travel some distance after the brake is applied. The
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) mandates the use of 2.5
seconds for most computations involving braking reactions based on number of research studies.
For signal timing purposes, the Institute of Transportation Engineers [ITE] recommends a PRT time of
1.0 s. Because of the simplicity of the response and the preconditioning of drivers to respond to signals,
the PRT time is significantly less than that for a braking response on an open highway. Although this is a
lower value, it still represents an approximately 85th percentile for the situation of responding to a traffic
signal.
In general, PRTs increase with several factors, including
§ Physiological Factors (age, vision related problems)
§ Psychological Factors
§ Complexity of Reactions (Type of problem- simple or complicated , may vary from .5 s to 4s)
§ Environmental Condition
§ Temporary Factors (Presence of Drugs or Alcohol, fatigue)

2.1 Temporary Physical Factors:

The physical status of the road user is vital factor in traffic operation, especially road safety. The temporary
physical characteristics of the road users affecting their efficiency are fatigue, alcohol or drugs and illness.
All these factors reduce alertness and increase the reaction time and affect the quality of judgment in some
situation.
Impact of alcohol and drugs on road users:
Every time you drink alcohol or take drugs and then drive you risk causing death or serious injury to
yourself and other road users. All these reduce alertness and increase the reaction time and affect the
quality of judgments in some cases. Some of the physiological changes after drinking and drug
consumption are:
• less attention
• Memory loss
• Emotions (short tempered, difficult to control emotions)
• Aggression
• Tolerance
• Driver effected by alcohol has decreased ability to reason and make sound judgments
• Space management and reaction time
• Double vision and wrong distance judgment

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The amount of the alcohol content in the blood stream in human body is usually expressed in terms of
BAC level, Blood Alcohol Content. The various BAC level (Blood Alcohol Level: amount of alcohol in
the blood stream) and the related accident risks are mentioned in the following figure.

(b) Psychological Factors

Having the physical ability to operate a motor vehicle is only half the picture. Being in the right
psychological and emotional state - having the right attitudes, traits, and motivation is also essential to
driving safely, being courteous, and avoiding accidents and traffic citations. The Psychological factors are
something which is difficult to measure and to quantify. Psychological factors include mental the
personality of a person. The emotional factors such as fear, anger, superstition, impatience, general attitude
towards traffic comes under this. Emotional factors which affect the driver behavior are listed below.
a) Driving experience
b) alcohol / drug consumption
c) inexperience in identifying and handling hazardous situations
d) over-confidence in abilities
e) personality structure
f) poor judgment
g) excessive speed
h) Attitudinal factors such as risk-taking propensity.
(c) Mental Characteristics
Knowledge, skill, intelligence experience and literacy can affect the road user characteristics. Knowledge
of vehicle characteristics, traffic behavior, driving practice, road rules and psychology of road users will be
quite useful for safe traffic operations. Reactions to certain traffic situations become more spontaneous
with experience. Understanding the traffic regulation and special instruction and timely action depends on
intelligence and literacy.
Over the past decade, traffic engineers and the public in general have become acquainted with the
term road rage. Commonly applied to drivers who lose control of themselves and react to a wide variety
of situations violently, improperly, and almost always dangerously, the problem (which has always existed)
is now getting well-deserved attention.
Road rage is the extreme expression of a driver's psychological and personal displeasure over the
traffic situation he or she has encountered. It does, however, remind traffic engineers that drivers display
a wide range of behaviors in accordance with their own personalities and psychological characteristics.
Most of these factors cannot be addressed directly through design or control decisions and are best treated
through vigorous enforcement and educational programs.
(d) Environmental Factors
The various environmental conditions affecting the road user behavior are traffic stream characteristics,
facilities to the traffic, atmospheric conditions, locality and weather visibility.

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1.8 Pedestrian Characteristics:
Pedestrian characteristics relevant to traffic and highway engineering practice include those of driver,
discussed in the preceding section. Virtually all of the interactions between pedestrians and vehicles occur
as pedestrians cross the street at intersections and at mid-block locations. At signalized intersections, safe
accommodation of pedestrian crossings is as critical as vehicle requirements in establishing an appropriate
timing pattern. At un-signalized crossing locations, gap-acceptance behavior of pedestrians is another
important consideration. "Gap acceptance" refers to the clear time intervals between vehicles encroaching
on the crossing path and the behavior of pedestrians in "accepting" them to cross through. Pedestrian
walking speed in crosswalks is the most important factor in the consideration of pedestrians in signal
timing. On an average, the pedestrian walking speed can be taken between 1.5 m/sec to 2 m/sec. But the
influence of physical, mental, and emotional factors need to be considered.
1.9 Vehicle Characteristics
Criteria for geometric design of highways are partly based on static, kinematic and dynamic characteristics
of vehicles. Static characteristics include dimensions, weight and size of the vehicle, while kinematic
characteristics involve the motion of the vehicle without considering the forces that cause the motion.
Dynamic characteristics involve the forces that cause the motion of the vehicle.
(a) Concept of design Vehicle
With the immense range of vehicle types used in the roads and highways, it is necessary to adopt standard
vehicle characteristics for design and control purposes. A design vehicle is a selected motor vehicle, the
weight, dimensions and operating characteristics of which are used to establish highway deign controls to
accommodate vehicles of a designated type. Design vehicles are primarily employed in the design of
turning roadways and intersection curbs, helps in the lane widths and appropriate lane-widening on curves.
The first basic step in formulating geometric design standards is standardization of the dimensions and
weight of design vehicles. The dimensions and the operating characteristics influence the geometric design
aspects such as radii, width of the pavement, clearances and parking geometries. The weight of the axles
and the weight of the vehicle affect the structural design of the pavement structure. For geometric design,
AASHTO has defined “20 design vehicles” each with specified characteristics. In India, the IRC standard
contains only commercial vehicles and recognized three types
of commercial vehicles (Ref: IRC 3- 1983) - single unit truck,
semi-trailer and truck-trailer combination.
Figure 3: vehicle Types as per IRC-3
1.9.1 Static Characteristics
(a) Vehicle Dimensions:
The vehicular dimensions which affect the road and traffic
design are mainly: width, height and length. The width of vehicle affects the width of lanes, shoulders and
parking facility. The capacity of the road will also decrease if the width exceeds the design values. The
height of the vehicle affects the clearance height of structures like over-bridges, under-bridges and electric
and other service lines and also placing of signs and signals. Another important factor is the length of the
vehicle which affects the extra width of pavement, minimum turning radius, safe overtaking distance,

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capacity and the parking facility. Table 1 shows some features of static characteristics for which limits were
prescribed by various authorities.
Table 1: Standard dimensions for design vehicles
Maximum Overall Length
Authority Width Height Single Single
Passenger Semi- Truck-
Country (Max) (Max) Unit Unit
Car Trailer Trailer
Truck Bus
15.2-
AASHTO 2.6 4.1 5.8 9.1 19.9 18.3
16.7
U.K. 2.5 4.57 5.5 11.0 13 18
3.8-bus
IRC 2.5 4.2-freight(truck) - 11 16 18 12
4.75-double-decker

(b) Weight and Axle Configuration :

The weight of the vehicle is a major consideration during the design of pavements both flexible and rigid.
The weight of the vehicle is transferred to the pavement through the axles and so the design parameters
are fixed on the basis of the number of axles. A vehicle can have number of axles. The weights of the
individual axles are called as axle load. The power to weight ratio is a measure of the ease with which a
vehicle can move. It determines the operating efficiency of vehicles on the road. The ratio is more
important for heavy vehicles. The power to weight ratio is the major criteria which determines the length
to which a positive gradient can be permitted taking into consideration the case of heavy vehicles. As per
IRC standards, the axle weight of a single axle shall not exceed 6 tones. The total gross weight imposed
on a highway for a single axle fitted with dual wheels shall not exceed 10.2 tones. The maximum axle loads
of vehicles as per standards in some of the countries are given in table 2.
Table2: Maximum axle loads for design vehicles

Authority
Single Axle Tandem Axle
Country
AASHTO 9 14.5
U.K. 1 -
IRC 10.2 18
(c) Turning radius and Turning Path:
The minimum turning radius is dependent on the design and class of the vehicle. The effective width of
the vehicle is increased on a turning. This is important at intersections, terminals, and parking. There are
two conditions under which vehicles must make turns- low speed turns (≤ 16 kmph) and high speed turns
(≥16 kmph). Low speed turns are limited by the characteristics of the vehicle, as the minimum radius
allowed by the vehicles steering mechanism can be supported at such speed. High-speed turns are limited
by the dynamic of side friction between the roadway and the tires and also by the super elevation of the
roadway.

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1.9.2. Dynamic Characteristics
Several forces act on a vehicle while it is in motion: Air resistance, Grade resistance, rolling resistance,
curve resistance and inertia resistance. A vehicle in motion has to overcome all these resistances.
(a) Air resistance (Ra):
Air resistance is the force that acts against anything that moves through the atmosphere or air. Moving
objects have to push past air molecules when they are moving forward. This force becomes larger in
magnitude when an object increases its speed.
When a vehicle is in motion, air resists in the following ways:
Ø Air exerts a reaction pressure against the front of the vehicle when it moves at speed
Ø The friction of the air against the sides of the vehicle body causes resistance
Ø Thy flow of air through the vehicle for ventilating and cooling causes resistance to motion
Ø The eddying of the air stream behind the vehicle, under the body and around the wheels causes
power loss.
The force required to overcome these is known as the air resistance and is related to the cross-sectional area
of the vehicle in a direction perpendicular to the direction of motion and to the square of the speed of the
vehicle.
The following formula can be used to determine the air resistance, Ra
R 5 = C5 ×Av 0
Where Ra = air resistance in N, A= projected front area of the vehicle in square meters on a plane at right
angles to the direction of motion, v= speed of vehicle relative to air in m/sec, Ca= coefficient of air
resistance.
For Indian vehicles, the values for A and Ca can be taken from table 3.
Table 3: Values of frontal area and Coefficient of air resistance

Type of vehicle A(m2) Mass (Kg) Ca

(Kg/m2)
Premier Padmini Car 1.63 1065 0.42
Ambassador 2.15 1365 0.39
Jeep 2.38 1200 0.37
Tata Truck 5.37 6120 0.48
Ashok Leyland Truck 5.37 8125 0.48

0.>? @ AB CDE
AASHTO defines 𝑅; = 0.5 ×
F

Ra = air resistance force (lb)

ρ = density of air (0.0766 lb/ft3 at sea level; less at higher elevations)

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 Cd = aerodynamic drag-coefficient (current average value for passenger cars-0.4; trucks- 0.5 to 0.8,
but a typical value is 0.5)
A = frontal cross-sectional area (ft2)
u = vehicle speed (mph)
g = acceleration of gravity (32.2 ft/sec2)
Air resistance can be reduced in different ways. It can be reduced by an object having a more aerodynamic
shape, for example a sports car has a very low profile and a smooth pointed front. When the car travels at
high speeds, air resistance is kept low. Streamlining also works when travelling through water.

(b)Grade resistance (Rg):

Gradient is the rate of rise or fall along the length of the road with respect to the horizontal. When a
vehicle moves up a grade, a component of the weight of the vehicle acts downward, along the plane of
the highway. This creates force acting in a direction opposite that of the motion. This force is the grade
resistance. A vehicle travelling up a grade will therefore tend to lose speed unless an accelerating force is
applied. The speed achieved at any point along the grade for a given rate of acceleration will depend on
the grade.
From figure, 𝑅F = 𝑊×sinθL
For small angles, sin θ~ tan θ,
Hence the above equation can be rewrite as, 𝑅F = 𝑊×tanθL
The grade is nothing but the slope, ie 𝐺 = tanθL and W= mg,
hence the equation can be deduced as
R L = mg×G
The positive gradient or the ascending gradient is denoted as +G and the negative gradient as -G.

(c) Rolling resistance (Rr):

There are forces within the vehicle itself that offer resistance to motion. These forces are primarily of
Ø Resistance from tire deformation (~90%)
Ø Tire penetration and surface compression (~ 4%)
Ø Tire slippage and air circulation around wheel (~ 6%)
The sum effect of these forces on motion is known as rolling resistance. The following formula can be
used to determine the air resistance, Rr
R R = mg×f
Where Rr = rolling resistance in N, m= mass of vehicle in kg, g= acceleration due to gravity, m/s2, f=
coefficient of rolling resistance.

Traffic Engineering-I 14
The rolling resistance depends on the speed of the vehicle and the type of the pavement. Rolling forces
are relatively lower on smooth pavements than on rough pavements. The values of rolling resistance
coefficient based on the type of pavement (Indian studies) can be taken from the following table.
Table 4: Values Coefficient of rolling resistance
Type of surfacing f
Asphaltic concrete 0.01
PMC in good condition 0.016
PMC in bed condition 0.022
WBM in good condition 0.025
WBM in bad condition 0.037
Gravel 0.046
Earth 0.055
Regarding the speed of the vehicle, the value of Coefficient of rolling resistance is constant up to a speed
of 50 K.P.H. As the speed increases, Coefficient of rolling resistance also increases. The modified
Coefficient of rolling resistance can be calculated using the following equation.
fT = fU [1 + 0.01 (V − 50)]
Where fv = coefficient of rolling resistance with speed V, V= speed in K.P.H, fo= constant coefficient of
rolling resistance up to a speed of 50 K.P.H.

AASHTO defines, for cars: R R = CR\ + 2.15 CRT u0 ×W

For trucks: R R = C` + 1.47 Cc u ×W
§ Rr = rolling resistance force (lb)
§ Crs = constant (typically 0.012 for passenger cars)
§ Crv = constant (typically 0.65 X 10-6 sec2/ft2 for passenger cars)
§ Cd = constant (typically 0.02445 for trucks)
§ Cb = constant (typically 0.00044 sec/ft for trucks)
§ u = vehicle speed (miph)
§ W = gross vehicle weight (lb)

(d)Curve Resistance (Rc):

As was stated earlier, once a vehicle is set in motion, it tends to remain in motion in a straight line unless
acted on by some force. The forces changing the direction of a vehicle are imparted through the front
wheels. When a passenger car is maneuvered to take a curve, external forces act on the front wheels of the
vehicle. These forces have components that have a retarding effect on the forward motion of the vehicle.
The sum effect of these components constitutes the curve resistance. This resistance depends on the radius
of the curve, the gross weight of the vehicle, and the velocity at which the vehicle is moving. It can be
determined as

Traffic Engineering-I 15
 0.77u0 W
Rd =
gR
Where Rc - curve resistance in kg, W- gross vehicle wt in kg, u- speed of vehicle in km/h, R- radius of
curvature in m, g- acceleration due to gravity, 9.81m/s2 .

(e) Inertia forces during acceleration and deceleration (Ri):

When the speed of the vehicle needs to be increased some additional force is needed to accelerate. The
additional force is given as

Force = Mass×acceleration

dv
R j = m×
dt

Ri will be positive if the vehicle is to accelerate and negative if the vehicle is to decelerate.

Power requirement of a vehicle

If roads were flat and frictionless and air resistance didn’t exist, there would be no need for an automobile
to have an engine. All you’d need to go for a drive would be a few strong friends to give you a push to get
started and a few other friends at your destination to stop you. (Steering on frictionless roads would be a
problem, though.) In the real world, however, a moving car without an engine slows down because of
forces that resist its motion. The engine’s function is to continuously provide power to overcome this
resistance.
Power is the rate at which work is done. It is usually expressed as horse power (hp), where 1 hp = 745.6
watts. The performance capability of a vehicle which is measured in terms of the horse power the engine
can produce to overcome air, grade, rolling, curve and inertia resistance and put the vehicle in motion.
The power delivered by the engine is given as,

Ru
P=
735

Where P – horse power delivered (hp) also called power output or power performance, R- sum of
resistance to motion in N, u- speed of vehicle in km/h.
1.9.3. Kinematic Characteristics
(a) Acceleration Characteristics:
The acceleration capacity of vehicle is important in several traffic operations- passing maneuvers and gap
acceptance. It is also important in determining the forces that cause motion. Hence a study of kinematic
characteristics involves study of the influence of how acceleration rates influence on elements of motion
such as speed, distance etc.

Traffic Engineering-I 16
Consider a vehicle moving along a straight line from o point to m, a distance x in a reference plane T.
Case I: assume constant acceleration
When acceleration of the vehicle is assumed to be constant,
𝑣 = 𝑢 + 𝑎𝑡
1
𝑠 = 𝑎𝑡 0 + 𝑢𝑡 + 𝐶0
2
𝑣 0 = 𝑢0 + 2𝑎𝑠
Case II: acceleration as a function of velocity
𝛼
𝑣= 1 − 𝑒 rs + 𝑣t 𝑒 urs
𝛽
𝑎 = 𝑒 urs 𝛼 − 𝛽𝑣t
𝛼𝑡 𝛼 𝑣t
𝑆= − 0 1 − 𝑒 urs + 1 − 𝑒 urs
𝛽 𝛽 𝛽
(b)Braking System characteristics:
The braking distance is the distance that a vehicle travels while slowing to a complete stop. The braking
distance is a function of several variables- slope of the roadway, gravity, frictional resistance between road
way and tires and the initial velocity with which the vehicle travels. If you are going uphill, gravity assists
you in your attempts to stop and reduces the braking distance. Similarly, gravity works against you when
you are descending and will increase your braking distance. If you have old tires on a wet road, chances
are you'll require more distance to stop than if you have new tires on a dry road. Regarding the speed,
higher your speed the longer it will take you to stop, given a constant deceleration.
The conditions for breaking for a vehicle travelling downhill are illustrated in figure showing forces acting
on a vehicle breaking on a down grade
Here,
W: weight of the vehicle
u: initial speed of the vehicle
f: Coefficient of friction
g: Acceleration due to gravity
a: Vehicle acceleration
Db: Braking distance
γ: Angle of inclination
G: Grade (tan γ)
x: Distance travelled by the vehicle
along the road during braking

Resolving the forces,

R= W cos γ
Frictional force on the vehicle= f× W cos γ

Traffic Engineering-I 17
Force acting on the vehicle due to acceleration= Wa/g
Net force, W sin γ - f× W cos γ = Wa/g
a is unknown. Use the known values (initial speed u, and distance x) to determine a. We assume first the
vehicle accelerated from speed 0 to u.
x = ½at2 & u = at
Now t = u/a. Plug in this in the RHS of x
1 0
x= at
2
therefore,
u0
a=
2x
the net force reduces to,
Wu0
W sin γ − f× W cos γ =
2gx
However, Db = x cos γ and we therefore obtain
Wu0
W 𝑓cos γ − W sin γ = cos γ
2gDc
{E
Giving 𝑓 − tan γ =
0L|}

{E
Hence braking distance, Dc =
0L (~u•)

If g is taken as 32.2 ft/sec2 and u is expressed in mi/h, equation becomes

u0
Dc =
30 (f ± G)
{E
If the road is leveled one, then Dc =
•‚ ~
2
If g is taken as 9.8 m/sec and u is expressed in km/h, equation becomes
u0
Dc =
254 (f ± G)
{E
When vehicle stops completely, Dc = „
0?ƒ ( ±•)
…

{E† u {EE
Equation for a reduction in speed, Dc = „
0?ƒ ( ±•)
…

Traffic Engineering-I 18
1.10 Road Characteristics
1.10.1. Pavement surface characteristics
For a safe and comfortable driving four aspects of the pavement surface are important; the friction
between the wheels and the pavement surface, smoothness of the road surface, the light reflection
characteristics of the top of pavement surface, and drainage to water.

(a) Friction
Friction between the wheel and the pavement surface is a crucial factor in the design of horizontal curves
and thus the safe operating speed. It also affects the acceleration and deceleration ability of vehicles. Lack
of adequate friction can cause skidding or slipping of vehicles.
Various factors that affect friction are:
a) Type of the pavement (like bituminous, concrete, or gravel)
b) Condition of the pavement (dry or wet, hot or cold, etc) less friction; wet road
c) Condition of the tyre (new or old)
d) Speed of the vehicle (more friction; less speed)
IRC suggests the coefficient of longitudinal friction as 0.35-0.4 depending on the speed and coefficient of
lateral friction as 0.15. The former is useful in sight distance calculation and the latter in horizontal curve
design.
(b) Unevenness
Rough road surface profile with minor corrugations and undulations. It is always desirable to have an even
surface, but it is seldom possible to have such one. Even if a road is constructed with high quality pavers,
it is possible to develop unevenness due to pavement failures. Unevenness affects the vehicle operating
cost, speed, riding comfort, safety, fuel consumption and wear and tear of tyres.
Causes
¨ Poor or inadequate sub-surface drainage
¨ Inferior sub-grade soil
¨ Inadequate pavement thickness
¨ Unscientific construction practice
¨ Excessive magnitude of wheel load and their repetitions
Unevenness index is a measure of unevenness which is the cumulative measure of vertical undulation of
the pavement surface recorded per unit horizontal length of the road. An unevenness index value less than
1500 mm/km is considered as good, a value less than 2500 mm.km is satisfactory up to speed of 100
kmph and values greater than 3200 mm/km is considered as uncomfortable even for 55 kmph.
(c) Light reflection

Traffic Engineering-I 19
The amount of light which is reflected by the road surface to the drivers' eyes is an important factor for
achieving road safety. Glare caused by the reflection of oncoming vehicles is negligible on a dry pavement
but is an important factor when the pavement is wet.
¨ White roads have good visibility at night, but caused glare during day time.
¨ Black roads have no glare during day, but has poor visibility at night
Concrete roads have better visibility and less glare. It is necessary that the road surface should be visible
at night and reflection of light is the factor that answers it.
(d) Drainage
The pavement surface should be impermeable to prevent seepage of water into the pavement layers.
Further, both the geometry and texture of pavement surface should help in draining out the water from
the surface in less time.
1.10.2. Cross sectional elements
(a) Camber
Camber or cant is the cross slope provided to raise middle of the
road surface in the transverse direction to drain off rain water from
road surface. The objectives of providing camber are:
• Sub-grade protection by proper drainage
• Quick drying of pavement which in turn
increases safety
The common types of camber are parabolic or straight in shape,
or can be a combination of them. Camber is measured in 1 in n or
n% (Eg. 1 in 50 or 2%) and the value depends on the type
of pavement surface. The values suggested by IRC for Figure 4: Camber
various categories of pavement are given in following table.
Table: IRC Values for Camber
Surface type Heavy rain Light rain
Concrete/Bituminous 2% 1.7 %
Gravel/WBM 3% 2.5 %
Earthen 4% 3.0 %

(b) Width of Carriageway:

Width of the carriage way or the width of
the pavement depends on the width of the
traffic lane and number of lanes. Width of
a traffic lane depends on the width of the
vehicle and the clearance. Side clearance
improves operating speed and safety.

Traffic Engineering-I 20
The maximum permissible width of a vehicle is 2.44 m and the desirable side clearance for single lane
traffic is 0.68 m. This require minimum of lane width of 3.75 m for a single lane road. Whereas in a two-
lane road, the side clearance required is about 0.53 m on both side and 1.06 m in the center. Therefore, a
two lane road require minimum of 3.5 meter for each lane. The desirable carriage way width recommended
by IRC is given in following table.
Table: IRC specification for carriageway width
Single lane 3.75m
Two lane, no kerbs 7.0 m
Two lane, raised kerbs 7.5 m
Intermediate carriage 5.5 m
Multi-lane 3.5 m
(c) Kerbs:
Kerbs indicate the boundary between the carriage way and the shoulder or islands or footpaths. Kerbs are
classified in to different types based on the use and the kerb height.
low or mountable kerbs: The height of this kerb is about 10 cm above the pavement edge with a slope which
allows the vehicle to climb easily. This type of kerbs is provided such that they encourage the traffic to
remain in the through traffic lanes and also allow the driver to enter the shoulder area with little difficulty.
Semi-barrier type: When the pedestrian traffic is high, these kerbs are provided. Their height is 15 cm above
the pavement edge. This type of kerb prevents encroachment of parking vehicles, but at acute emergency
it is possible to drive over this kerb with some difficulty.
Barrier type: They are designed to discourage vehicles from leaving the pavement. They are provided when
there is considerable amount of pedestrian traffic. They are placed at a height of 20 cm above the pavement
edge with a steep batter.
Submerged kerbs: They are used in rural roads. The kerbs are provided at pavement edges between the
pavement edge and shoulders. They provide lateral confinement and stability to the pavement.

1.10.3 Geometric Design Aspects-

(a) Horizontal Curve:

The presence of horizontal curve imparts centrifugal force which is reactive force acting outward on a
vehicle negotiating it. Centrifugal force depends on speed and
radius of the horizontal curve and is counteracted to a certain
extent by transverse friction between the tyre and pavement
surface. On a curved road, this force tends to cause the vehicle
to overrun or to slide outward from the centre of road
curvature. For proper design of the curve, an understanding
of the forces acting on a vehicle taking a horizontal curve is
necessary. Various forces acting on the vehicle are illustrated
in the figure showing effects on a horizon curve.
Figure 5: Effects on a Horizontal Curve

Traffic Engineering-I 21
They are the centrifugal force (P) acting outward, weight of the vehicle (W) acting downward, and the
reaction of the ground on the wheels (Ra and Rb). The centrifugal force and the weight is assumed to be
from the centre of gravity which is at h units above the ground. Let the wheel base be assumed as b units.
The centrifugal force, P in Kg/m2
Wv 0
P=
gR
where W is the weight of the vehicle in kg, v is the speed of the vehicle in m/sec, g is the acceleration due
to gravity in m/sec2 and R is the radius of the curve in m. The centrifugal ratio or the impact factor is
given by:
P v0
=
W gR

Radius of Horizontal Curve:

The radius of the horizontal curve is an important design aspect of the geometric design. The maximum
comfortable speed on a horizontal curve depends on the radius of the curve. Although it is possible to
design the curve with maximum superelevation and coefficient of friction, it is not desirable because re-
alignment would be required if the design speed is increased in future. Therefore, a ruling minimum radius
Rruling can be derived by assuming maximum superelevation and coefficient of friction.

Rruling = v2/
g(e + f)

Ideally, the radius of the curve should be higher than Rruling. However, very large curves are also not
desirable. Setting out large curves in the field becomes difficult. In addition, it also enhances driving strain.

(b)Super elevation:
While designing the various elements of the road like super elevation, we design it for a particular vehicle
called design vehicle which has some standard weight and dimensions. But in the actual case, the road has
to cater for mixed traffic. Different vehicles with different dimensions and varying speeds ply on the road.
For example, in the case of a heavily loaded truck with high centre of gravity and low speed, super elevation
should be less, otherwise chances of toppling are more. Taking into practical considerations of all such
situations, IRC has given some guidelines about the maximum and minimum superelevation etc. These
are all discussed in detail in the following sections.

For fast moving vehicles, providing higher super elevation without considering coefficient of friction is
safe, i.e. centrifugal force is fully counteracted by the weight of the vehicle or super elevation. For slow
moving vehicles, providing lower super elevation considering coefficient of friction is safe, i.e.centrifugal
force is counteracted by super elevation and coefficient of friction

Maximum and minimum super-elevation: Depends on (a) slow moving vehicle and (b) heavy loaded trucks with

Traffic Engineering-I 22
high CG. IRC specifies a maximum super-elevation of 7 percent for plain and rolling terrain, while that of
hilly terrain is 10 percent and urban road is 4 percent. The minimum super elevation is 2-4 percent for
drainage purpose, especially for large radius of the horizontal curve.

Attainment of super-elevation:

1. Elimination of the crown of the cambered section by:

(a) rotating the outer edge about the crown : The outer half of the cross slope is rotated about the
crown at a desired rate such that this surface falls on the same plane as the inner half.

(b) shifting the position of the crown: This method is also known as diagonal crown method.
Here the position of the crown is progressively shifted outwards, thus increasing the width of the
inner half of cross section progressively.

2. Rotation of the pavement cross section to attain full super elevation by: There are two methods of
attaining super elevation by rotating the pavement

(a) rotation about the center line : The pavement is rotated such that the inner edge is depressed and the
outer edge is raised both by half the total amount of superelevation, i.e., by E/2 with respect to the centre.

(b) rotation about the inner edge: Here the pavement is rotated raising the outer edge as well as the centre
such that the outer edge is raised by the full amount of superelevation with respect to the inner edge.

(c) Extra widening

Extra widening refers to the additional width of carriageway that is required on a curved section of a road
over and above that required on a straight alignment. This widening is done due to two reasons: the first
and most important is the additional width required for a vehicle taking a horizontal curve and the second
is due to the

tendency of the drivers to ply away from the edge of the carriageway as they drive on a curve. The first is
referred as the mechanical widening and the second is called the psychological widening. These are
discussed in detail below.

1. Mechanical widening

The reasons for the mechanical widening are: When a vehicle negotiates a horizontal curve, the rear wheels
follow a path of shorter radius than the front wheels as shown in figure 15.5. This phenomenon is called
off- tracking, and has the effect of increasing the effective width of a road space required by the vehicle.
Therefore, to provide the same clearance between vehicles traveling in opposite direction on curved roads
as is provided on straight sections, there must be extra width of carriageway available. This is an important
factor when high proportion of vehicles are using the road. Trailor trucks also need extra carriageway,

Traffic Engineering-I 23
depending on the type of joint. In addition speeds higher than the design speed causes transverse skidding
which requires additional width for safety purpose. The expression for extra
width can be derived from the simple geometry of a vehicle at a horizontal curve
as shown in figure below. Let R1 is the radius of the outer track line of the rear
wheel, R2 is the radius of the outer track line of the front wheel l is the distance
between the front and rear wheel, n is the number of lanes, then the mechanical
widening Wm is

Wm = nl2/2R

2. Psychological widening

Widening of pavements has to be done for some psychological reasons also.

There is a tendency for the drivers to drive close to the edges of the pavement on
curves. Some extra space is to be provided for more clearance for the crossing
and overtaking operations on curves. IRC proposed an empirical relation for the psychological widening
at horizontal curves Wps:

Wps =v/2.64√R

Therefore, the total widening needed at a horizontal curve We is:

We = Wm+Wps

= (nl2/2R)+ (v/2.64√R)
Fig: Extra-widening at a horizontal curve
1.11 Traffic Manoeuvres
Basic types of manoeuvres within intersections
1. Crossings may be direct, if the angle of skew is between 75
and 105 degrees, or oblique if the angle is in the range of below
75 or above 105 degrees. (Oblique skews should be voided if
possible).
2. Diverging is a traffic operation when the vehicles moving in
one direction is separated into different streams according to their destinations.
3. Merging is the opposite of diverging. Merging is referred to as the process of joining the traffic coming
from different approaches and going to a common destination into a single stream.
4. Weaving is the combined movement of both merging and diverging movements in the same direction.
All manoeuvres within intersection result in conflicts

Traffic Engineering-I 24
1.12 Traffic Stream Characteristics
traffic stream is characterized into macroscopic and microscopic.

1.12.1 Macroscopic parameters:

1. Flow or Volume: there are practically two ways of defining flow or volume on a road. One is defined
as 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. In the second method, the measurement is carried out by counting the number of
vehicles, nt
passing a particular point in one lane in a defined time period t. th e flow Q is expressed in vehicle/hour
is given by,
ˆ
𝑄= ‰
Š

Types of volume measurements: since there is considerable variation in the volume of traffic, several types
of measurement of volume are commonly adopted which will average these variations into single volume
count to be used in many design purposes.

1. Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT): the average 24-hour traffic volume at a given location over a
full 365-day year.

2. Average Annual Weekday Traffic (AAWT): the average 24-hour traffic volume occurring on weekdays
over a full year.

3. Average Daily Traffic (ADT): An average 24-hour traffic volume at a given location for some period
of time less than a year. It may be measured for six months, a season, a month, a week, or as little
as two days

4. Average weekday Traffic (AWT): An average 24-hour traffic volume occurring on weekdays for some
period of time less than one year, such as for a month or a season.

5. Peak Hour Volume (PHV): the single hour of day that has the highest hourly volume is referred to
as peak hour.

6. Peak Hour Factor (PHF): peak flow rates and hourly volumes produce the peak hour hour factor.
It is the ratio of total hourly volume to the peak flow rate within the hour.

2. Density or Concentration (k): density is defines as the number of vehicles occupying a given length
of highway or lane and is generally expressed as vehicle per km/lane. Following equation can be used in
Œ
saturated flow condition, k =
•

Where, Q= flow rate(veh/h)

v= average travel speed (km/h)
k= density (veh/km)

3. Speed: 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

Traffic Engineering-I 25
them will be discussed in detail in this chapter. The relationship between the fundamental parameters of
traffic flow will also be derived. In addition, this relationship can be represented in graphical form resulting
in the fundamental diagrams of traffic flow.

Types of speed:

1. Spot speed: it is the instantaneous speed of a vehicle at a specified location.

2. Running speed: is the average speed maintained over a particular course while the vehicle is moving.
3. Journey speed: is the effective speed of the vehicle on a journey between two points
4. Time Mean Speed (TMS): 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,
ˆ
••> 𝑞• 𝑣•
𝑣s = ˆ
••> 𝑞•

5. Space mean speed (vs): The space mean speed also averages the spot speed, but spatial weightage is
given instead of temporal. 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).
ˆ
••> 𝑞•
𝑣‘ =
ˆ 𝑞•
••> 𝑣
•

Relation between TMS and SMS:

σ0
𝑣s = 𝑣‘ +
𝑣‘
1.12.2 Microscopic parameters
1. Spacing: is the physical distance, usually reported in feet or meters, between the fron bumper of the
leading vehicle and the front bumper of the following vehicle.
2. Headway: is a measure of the temporal space between two vehicles. Specifically, the headway is the
time that elapses between the arrival of the leading vehicle at the designated test point.
Headway (sec)= spacing(m)/speed(m/sec)
3. Speed: time space diagram is a convenient tool in understanding the movement of vehicles. It shows
the trajectory of vehicles in the form of a two-dimensional plot. Time space diagram can be plotted for a
single as well as multiple vehicles as shown in graph below.

Traffic Engineering-I 26
1.12.3 Fundamental diagrams of traffic flow
The relation between flow and density, density and speed, speed and flow, can be represented with the
help of some curves. They are referred to as the fundamental diagrams of traffic flow. They will be
explained in detail one by one below.

1. Flow-density curve

The flow and density varies with time and location. The relation between the density and the
corresponding flow on a given stretch of road is referred to as one of the fundamental diagram of traffic
flow. Some characteristics of an ideal flow-density relationship is listed below:
. When the density is zero, flow will also be zero, since there is no vehicles on the road.
. When the number of vehicles gradually increases the density as well as flow increases.
. When more and more vehicles are added, it reaches a situation where vehicles can’t move. This is
referred to as the jam density or the maximum density. At jam density, flow will be zero because
the vehicles are not moving.
. There will be some density between zero density and jam density, when the flow is maxi- mum. The
relationship is normally represented by a parabolic curve as shown in figure below.

2. Speed-density diagram

Similar to the flow-density relationship, speed will be maximum, referred to as the free flow speed, and
when the density is maximum, the speed will be zero. The most simple assumption is that this variation
of speed with density is linear as shown by the solid line in figure below. Corresponding to the zero density,
vehicles will be flowing with their desire speed, or free flow speed. When the density is jam density, the
speed of the vehicles becomes zero. It is also possible to have non-linear relationships as shown by the
dotted lines. These will be discussed later.

3. Speed flow relation

The relationship between the speed and flow can be postulated as follows. The flow is zero either because
there is no vehicles or there are too many vehicles so that they cannot move. At maximum flow, the speed
will be in between zero and free flow speed. This relationship is shown in figure below. The maximum
flow qmax occurs at speed u. It is possible to have two different speeds for a given flow.

Traffic Engineering-I 27
1.13 Passenger Car Unit (PCU)
Passenger Car Unit (PCU) is a metric used in Transportation Engineering, to assess traffic-flow rate on a
highway. A Passenger Car Unit is a measure of the impact that a mode of transport has on traffic variables
(such as headway, speed, density) compared to a single standard passenger car. This is also known as
passenger car equivalent. For example, typical values of PCU (or PCE) are: Highway capacity is measured
in PCU/hour daily.

1.13.1 Determination of PCU:

Traffic in many parts of the world is heterogeneous, where road space is shared among many traffic modes
with different physical dimensions. Loose lane discipline prevails; car following is not the norm. This
complicates computing of PCU. Some of the methods for determining passenger car units (PCU) are
following:

• Modified Density Method

• Chandra’s method
• Method Based on Relative Delay
• Headway method
• Multiple linear regression method
It may be appropriate to use different values for the same vehicle type according to circumstances like
volume of traffic, speed of vehicle, lane width and several external factors.

1. Method based on relative delay

The 1965 HCM used relative speed reduction to define PCUs for two lane highways and quantified this
by the relative number of passing known as the Walker method. For multi-lane highways, PCUs were
based on the relative delay due to trucks. PCUs for multi-lane highways based on relative delay may be
found as

𝐷•• − 𝐷–
𝐸s =
𝐷–

where Dij is the delay to passenger cars due to vehicle type i under condition j and Db is the base delay to
standard passenger cars due to slower passenger cars.

PCUs in the 1965 HCM were reported for grades of specific length and percent, proportion of trucks, and
LOS grouped as A through C or D and E. As expected, the highest PCU was reported for the longest and
steepest grade with the highest proportion of trucks and the lowest LOS. However, in many cases the
PCU for a given grade and LOS decreased with increasing proportion of trucks. PCUs in the 1965 HCM
were reported for grades of specific length and percent, proportion of trucks, and LOS grouped as A
through C or D and E. As expected, the highest PCU was reported for the longest and steepest grade with
the highest proportion of trucks and the lowest LOS. However, in many cases the PCU for a given grade
and LOS decreased with increasing proportion of trucks.

2. Multiple linear regression model

Traffic Engineering-I 28
Multiple linear regression method try to represent the speed of a traffic stream as function of number of
variables. For example, the percentile speed vp can represented as:

vp =vf +c1 ×Vc +c2 ×Vt +c3 ×Vr +c4 ×Vo +c5 ×Va (5.4)

where vf is the free speed, Vc is the number of passenger cars, Vc is the number of trucks Vr is the number
of recreational vehicles, Vr is the number of other types of vehicles, Va is the number of vehicles moving
against the current stream, C1 to C5 are coefficient representing the relative sizes of speed reductions for
each vehicle type. Although this model was formulated for two lane highways with opposing traffic flow,
it could be applied to multi-lane highways by setting the coefficient C5 to zero. Using the speed reduction
coefficients, En, the PCU for a vehicle type n is calculated as:

𝐶ˆ
𝐸ˆ =
𝐶>

where Cn is the speed reduction coefficient for vehicle type n and C1 is the speed reduction coefficient
for passenger cars.

3. Method based on headway

Realizing one of the primary effects of heavy vehicles in the traffic stream is that they take up more space,
headways have been used for some of the most popular methods to calculate PCUs. In 1976, Werner and
Morrall suggested that the headway method is best suited to determine PCUs on level terrain at low levels
of service. The PCU is calculated as

𝐻 ˜
− 𝑃š
𝐻–
𝐸s =
𝑃s

where HM is the average headway for a sample including all vehicle types, HB is the average headway for
a sample of passenger cars only, PC is the proportion of cars, and PT is the proportion of trucks.

4. Chandra’s method

This method uses two factors: namely, velocity of vehicle type and its projected rectangular

area to calculate the PCU value.

ϥ
œž
𝑃𝐶𝑈• = Ÿ•
Ÿž
where Vc and Vi are mean speeds of car and vehicle of type i respectively and Ac and Ai are their respective
projected rectangular area length * width on the road.

5. Density method

Traffic Engineering-I 29
In the density method, the PCU of truck (Et) is computed as:

𝑘š;
𝑊£
𝑃𝐶𝑈s Dš¡ =
𝑘s Dš¡
𝑊£

(kt)/Wl) where kc is the density of cars in pure homogeneous conditions(car/km.), Wl is the width of

the lane in homogeneous traffic, kt is the density of the truck in pure homogeneous conditions and Et is
the passenger car unit of the trucks given homogeneous traffic behaviour. In density method where car
following and lane discipline behaviour prevails, all traffic entities use an equal Wl.

References
1. Lecture Notes: Dr. Tom V. Mathew, IIT Bombay
2. L. R Kadiyali. Traffic Engineering and Transportation Planning. Khanna Publishers, New
Delhi, 1987.
3. William R McShane, Roger P Roesss, and Elena S Prassas. Traffic Engineering. Prentice-
Hall, Inc, Upper Saddle River, New Jesery, 1998.
4. Garber Nicholas J. and Lester A. Hoel, Traffic and Highway Engineering, Third edition,
University of Virginia
5. Papacostas, C.S. and P. D. Prevedouros. Transportation Engineering and Planning. Third
Edition. Prentice Hall. 2001.

6. L. R Kadiyali. Traffic Engineering and Transportation Planning. Khanna Publishers, New

Delhi, 1987

Traffic Engineering-I 30