The document discusses key traffic concepts including flow rate, spacing, headway, speed, and density. It defines these terms and explains the relationships between them. Specifically, it shows the relationships between speed and density, flow and density, and speed and flow. An example problem is also included to demonstrate how to use these relationships to calculate maximum flow rate, density, and speed from other known values.
The document discusses key traffic concepts including flow rate, spacing, headway, speed, and density. It defines these terms and explains the relationships between them. Specifically, it shows the relationships between speed and density, flow and density, and speed and flow. An example problem is also included to demonstrate how to use these relationships to calculate maximum flow rate, density, and speed from other known values.
The document discusses key traffic concepts including flow rate, spacing, headway, speed, and density. It defines these terms and explains the relationships between them. Specifically, it shows the relationships between speed and density, flow and density, and speed and flow. An example problem is also included to demonstrate how to use these relationships to calculate maximum flow rate, density, and speed from other known values.
The document discusses key traffic concepts including flow rate, spacing, headway, speed, and density. It defines these terms and explains the relationships between them. Specifically, it shows the relationships between speed and density, flow and density, and speed and flow. An example problem is also included to demonstrate how to use these relationships to calculate maximum flow rate, density, and speed from other known values.
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Traffic Concepts
Winter 2006 CEE 320
CEE 320 Steve Muench Outline
1. Basic Concepts a. Flow Rate b. Spacing c. Headway d. Speed e. Density 2. Relationships 3. Example Winter 2006 CEE 320 Concepts
• Definitions • Volume, Speed, Density relationships • Speed – Space mean speed – Time mean speed Winter 2006 CEE 320 Flow Rate (q)
• The number of vehicles (n) passing some
designated roadway point in a given time interval (t)
n q t
• Units are typically vehicles/hour
• Flow rate is different than volume Winter 2006 CEE 320 Spacing
• The distance (ft) between successive
vehicles in a traffic stream, as measured from front bumper to front bumper Winter 2006 CEE 320 Headway (h)
• The time (in seconds) between successive
vehicles, as their front bumpers pass a given point.
n n 1 t hi q n h i 1 h i 1 i Winter 2006 CEE 320 Headway Winter 2006 CEE 320
From HCM 2000
Speed
• Time mean speed (spot speed)
– Arithmetic mean of all instantaneous vehicle speeds at a given “spot” on a roadway section
• Space mean speed (u)
– The mean travel speed of vehicles traversing a roadway segment of a known distance (d) – More useful for traffic applications Winter 2006 CEE 320 Space Mean Speed
• It is the harmonic mean (1/H = 1/a + 1/b + …)
1 n li 1 n u i 1 t t1l1 t 2l2 ... t nln t n
• Space mean speed is always less than time
mean speed Winter 2006 CEE 320 Time Mean vs. Space Mean Speed Winter 2006 CEE 320
From HCM 2000
Density (k)
• The number of vehicles (n)
occupying a given length (l) of a lane or roadway at a particular instant
• Unit of density is vehicles
per mile (vpm).
n q k l u Winter 2006 CEE 320 Other Concepts • Free-flow speed (uf) • Jam density (kj) • Capacity (qm) 5,280 Density veh / mi spacing ft / veh
spacing ft / veh Headway s / veh speed ft / s
3,600 Flow rate veh / hr headway s / veh Winter 2006 CEE 320 Speed vs. Density
k u u f 1 k j uf Free Flow Speed Speed (mph)
kj Winter 2006
Density (veh/mile) Jam Density
CEE 320 Flow vs. Density
k 2 q uf k k j
Optimal flow, Congested Flow
capacity, qm FLow (veh/hr)
km kj Winter 2006
Uncongested Flow Optimal density Jam Density
CEE 320
Density (veh/mile) Speed vs. Flow
u 2 q k j u u uf Free Flow Speed f Uncongested Flow Speed (mph)
3-D Model Example I-5 over the ship canal bridge has 4 lanes in each direction. The northbound capacity is 8200 veh/hr/lane and the free-flow speed is 65 mph. What is the maximum flow rate, maximum density, jam density? If a one-hour vehicle count in the northbound direction for the outside lane gives 7034 vehicles in a non- congested condition, what is the estimated space mean speed of these 7034 vehicles? Winter 2006 CEE 320 Traffic – Time of Day Patterns 9.00%
8.00%
7.00% Percent of Daily Traffic
6.00%
5.00%
4.00% Rural Cars 3.00% Business Day Trucks Through Trucks Urban Cars 2.00%
1.00%
0.00% Winter 2006
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 CEE 320
Hour of Day From WSDOT 2003 Annual Traffic Report From WSDOT 2003 Annual Traffic Report Estimated Weekday Volume Profile: GP and HOV Lanes (Nov 98) I-405 NE 37th St GP SB
2500
2000
1500
GP
1000
HOV 500
0 12 AM 2 AM 4 AM 6 AM 8 AM 10 AM 12 PM 2 PM 4 PM 6 PM 8 PM 10 PM Estimated Volume and Speed Conditions (2/17/00) I-5 NE 45th St-SB GP SB
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0 12 AM 2 AM 4 AM 6 AM 8 AM 10 AM 12 PM 2 PM 4 PM 6 PM 8 PM 10 PM Estimated GP and HOV Volume and Speed Conditions I-5 S Spokane St GP NB
2500 Saturday, J uly 31, 1999 Data Multicolor =Average GP Lane Gray =HOV Lane
2000
1500
1000
500
HOV speed < 45 mph
0 12 AM 2 AM 4 AM 6 AM 8 AM 10 AM 12 PM 2 PM 4 PM 6 PM 8 PM 10 PM Estimated Weekday Volume, Speed, and Reliability Conditions (1999) I-405 NE 37th St GP NB
2500 100
90
2000 80 GP
70
1500 60
50
HOV 1000 40
30
500 20
10
0 0 12 AM 2 AM 4 AM 6 AM 8 AM 10 AM 12 PM 2 PM 4 PM 6 PM 8 PM 10 PM SR 520Traffic Profile General Purpose Lanes Westbound 1997 Weekday Average East bound NE 60th St.
148th Ave.
405
B’vue. Way
92nd Ave.
84th Ave.
520
Lk. Wash.
Ar bo re Montlake Blvd.tum
5 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 2 4 6 8 10 12 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 2 4 6 8 10 12 AM Time PM AM Time PM
Uncongested, near Restricted movement More heavily congested, Extremely congested,
speed limit but near speed limit 45 - 55 mph unstable flow Primary References
• Mannering, F.L.; Kilareski, W.P. and Washburn, S.S. (2005). Principles
of Highway Engineering and Traffic Analysis, Third Edition. Chapter 5
• Transportation Research Board. (2000). Highway Capacity Manual
2000. National Research Council, Washington, D.C. Winter 2006 CEE 320
