2/4/2024

INTRODUCTION
OF TRAFFIC
ENGINEERING
UG4 – S8
KOU20275
Lecture note_01

Syllabus
Introduction to Traffic Engineering
• Defining Traffic Engineering
• Driver Characteristics
• Vehicle Characteristics

Road Vehicle Performance.

• Introduction
• Tractive Effort and Resistance
• Aerodynamic Resistance
• Rolling Resistance
• Grade Resistance
• Available Tractive Efforts
• Vehicle Acceleration
• Fuel Efficiency
• Principles of Braking

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Syllabus
Traffic Composition
Characteristics
of Traffic Flow
Traffic Fluctuation

Turning Movement Measurements

Measurements
Volume Measurements
of Traffic Flow
Speed Measurement and Delay

Origin Destination Survey

Syllabus
Highway Capacity
Traffic Capacity Level of Service
Factors Affecting Street Capacity and Level of Services
Speed Flow and Concentration Relationship
Highway Intersection
Type of Intersections
Design
Intersection Characteristics

Traffic Signal Design

Parking Studies

Accidents Studies

Queuing Theory and Delay Studies

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Definition of Traffic Engineering

It is part of engineering which deals with

traffic planning and design of roads, of
frontage development and of parking
facilities and with the control of traffic
to provide:
1) safe,
2) convenient and
3) economical movement of vehicles and
pedestrians.

Phases of Traffic Engineering

The road user:

• Driver Traffic Capacity Parking

• Pedestrian

Accidents (as
Origin and
The vehicle measure of
destination
failure)

Speed, travel
Traffic volume Public transit .
time, delay

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Characteristics of the Driver, the Pedestrian,

the Vehicle, and the road

Four main
components of • The driver
the highway • The pedestrian
mode of • The vehicle
transportation • The road
are:

Driver Characteristics
The human response process:
 Visual reception:
The receipt of stimuli by the eye is the most
important source of information for both
driver and pedestrian.
 The principal characteristics of the eye are:
a) Visual acuity
b) Peripheral vision
c) Color vision
d) Glary vision and recovery
e) Depth perception
f) Hearing perception

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Perception-Reaction process
Various studies have been carried It is found that this reaction time
out to determine the perception- not only increases with:
reaction time of drivers under
• Age,
different situations which arise in
transportation engineering. • Drunkenness level,

But it also affected by features like:

• Expectancy (where drivers have

learnt to anticipate certain
stimulus) and,
• Complexity of the scenario (where
the information to be processed
for a response is large).

Perception-Reaction process
Perception: seeing the obstacles

Identification: understanding the obstacles

Emotion: what will do? to stop, blow horn or to pass!!!

Volition or reaction: to do the decision

PIEV time or Perception-Reaction time:

It is used in the determination of:

PIEV time ≈ 2.5 sec. (AASHTO)

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Pedestrian Characteristics

• Special pedestrian signals

Some characteristics
of the driver, with • Safety zones and islands at
addition of others, intersections
which influence the
design of location of • Pedestrian underpasses
pedestrian control • Elevated walkways
devices, such as:
• Crosswalks

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Vehicle characteristics

Criteria for the geometric

design of highways are partly
based on:
Static characteristics:
• Weight of vehicles
• Size of vehicles (as a control of pavement
design)

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Vehicle characteristics
■ Size
A vehicle has three dimensions, the length, the
width, and the height. All the three dimensions are
required in the design of different transportation
facilities.
For example, when designing open air on-street or
off-street parking facilities the length and width of
vehicles are important input parameters.
The height of vehicles (especially those of trucks and
buses) are important considerations when placing
signs and designing overpasses and underpasses.

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Vehicle characteristics
Weight, Axle Configurations

The weight of vehicles, especially of heavy vehicles, plays an

important role in the design of both flexible and rigid
pavements.

Hence, knowledge of vehicle weights is important for

transportation engineers.

Since the weight of a vehicle is transferred to the pavement

layer through the axles, the wheel and axle configuration of
vehicles also plays an important role in the design of
pavements.

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Vehicle characteristics
 Kinematic characteristics:
Involve the motion of the vehicle, without
considering the forces that cause the motion
 Acceleration capability of the vehicle.
 Braking
 Steering
 Lighting
 Power
 Fuel economy
 Operating cost

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Vehicle characteristics
■ Power-to-Weight Ratio
The power-to-weight ratio of a vehicle is a
parameter which characterizes the ease with
which a vehicle can move.
For example, human-powered vehicles like cycles
or rickshaws have very low power-to-weight ratio
and their operating characteristics (like
acceleration capability, sustainable speeds on
slopes, etc.) are thus very poor.
Motorized vehicles, like automobiles, motor bikes,
etc. have high power-to-weight ratios and hence
have good operating characteristics.

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Vehicle characteristics
■ Power-to-Weight Ratio
Heavy vehicles, on the other hand, through motorized,
have poorer power-to-weight ratios than those of
other motorized vehicles owing to the heavy weight of
the vehicles (especially, when full).
This ratio is important to transportation engineers as
it relates to the operating efficiency of vehicles on
roads and especially on positive gradient road sections.
For examples, the length for which a positive gradient
can be maintained on a road is often limited by its
effects on the operation of heavy vehicles.

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Vehicle characteristics
■ Turning Radius and Turning Path
Every vehicle has a minimum turning radius
which is the radius of the circle that will
be traced out by the front wheels if the
vehicle moved with its steering turned to
the maximum extent possible.
This radius is dependent on the design and
class of the vehicle.
For example, a big vehicle like a bus has a
much larger turning radius than that of a
smaller vehicle like an automobile.

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Vehicle characteristics

Turning Radius and Turning Path

Another important feature related to

vehicles is the turning path traced by the
vehicle. Since only the front wheels turn and

• The rare wheels are fixed, and

• The vehicle’s body extends beyond the
tires, different points of the vehicle trace
out different paths as shown in the
following Figure.

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Vehicle
characteristics
■ Turning Radius and Turning Path
Due to this, as can be seen from the
figure, the effective width of a vehicle
on a turn increases.
This fact is considered while designing
turns at intersections of roads (where
the corners are arched to increase the
space for turning) and at sharp
horizontal curves (where the width of
the road on the curve is increased in
order to accommodate the increased
effective width of vehicles).
Typical turning path of vehicles

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Vehicle characteristics
 Dynamic characteristics:
Involve the forces that cause
the motion of the vehicle:
 Air resistance
 Grade resistance
 Rolling resistance
 Curve resistance
 Friction resistance

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VEHICLE
CHARACTERISTICS

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Vehicle characteristics
The vehicle:
Cars range from compacted cars to
articulated trucks. They differ in their:
 Maximum acceleration (kinematic
characteristics)
 Turning radii (static characteristics)
 Weight and size (static characteristics)
 The ability of climb grades (dynamic
characteristics)

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Vehicle characteristics
Passenger Car:
All free wheeled, self-propelled vehicles
generally designed for the transportation
of persons, but limited in the seating
capacity to not more than nine
passengers including:
 Taxicabs
 Limousines
 Station wagons

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Vehicle characteristics
Truck:
All free wheeled, self-propelled vehicles generally
designed for the transportation of persons, and
having a seating capacity of ten or more
passengers, or all free wheeled vehicles having dual
tires on one or more axles, designed for
transportation of freight rather than passengers,
includes:
 Tractor-truck
 Trailers
 Semitrailers

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Road Characteristics

These effects:
 Stopping sight distance, and
 Passing sight distance, involves:
 Gradient
 Super elevation
 Geometric design of the road.

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