Fundamentals of

Transportation Engineering
CHA RA CTER ISTICS O F TR A F FIC F LO W
CA PACITY A ND LEVEL OF SERVICE

Dr. Sudeshna Mitra

Type of Traffic Facilities
• Uninterrupted-flow Facilities
◦ No external factors such as Traffic signals,
STOP or YIELD signs Uncontrolled access,
etc.

◦ No periodic interruptions to the traffic

stream

◦ Facilities include freeways and other limited

access roads

◦ Long sections of rural highways between

signalized intersections, etc.

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Type of Traffic Facilities
• Interrupted-flow Facilities
◦ Traffic flow is periodically interrupted by
external devices like traffic signals, STOP
or YIELD signs

◦ These facilities do not offer continuous

movement and time enters as a significant
parameter affecting flow

◦ Constant stopping and restarting of traffic

streams occur on such facilities

◦ Traffic movements occur in platoons

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Traffic Stream Parameters
Flow (q)
• The equivalent hourly rate of vehicles past a point during any
time period

• If counted volume is 4 veh/min, what is the flow?

4 𝑣𝑒ℎ 60 𝑚𝑖𝑛
𝑞= ∗
𝑚𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑟

𝑣𝑒ℎ
𝑞 = 240 = 𝟐𝟒𝟎𝒗𝒑𝒉
ℎ𝑟

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 Volume and Flow
Volume Per Minute

10

5
V = 15 x 5 = 75 veh/ quarter hour
V = 5 veh/min 75 𝑣𝑒ℎ 60 𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑒ℎ
𝑞= ∗ = 300
15 𝑚𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑟 ℎ𝑟

15 30 45 60
Minutes
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 Peak Hour Factor
• A measure of flow uniformity during an hour
• Used in design to adjust design hour volume predictions to peak
15 min. flow rate for capacity analysis
𝑣𝑒ℎ
ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 375
𝑃𝐻𝐹 = = ℎ𝑟 = 0.625
𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝟏𝟓 𝒎𝒊𝒏 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑣𝑒ℎ
600
ℎ𝑟
Volume Per Minute

10

5 V = 150

V = 150 V = 75

Minutes
15 30 45 60

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 Speed and Density
Time Mean Space 𝝁
ഥ𝒕
• The arithmetic mean of the speeds of vehicles passing
a point on a highway during an interval of time
𝒏
𝟏
ഥ 𝒕 = ෍ 𝒖𝒊
𝝁
𝒏
𝒊=𝟏

Time Mean Space 𝝁

ഥ 𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒖 Density
• The total distance traveled by vehicles within a length • Concentration of
(section) of road divided by the total time spent by the number of
vehicles in that section during the same time period vehicles per unit
𝒏 length of highway
ഥ𝒔 =
𝝁
𝟏 at an instant in
σ𝒏𝒊=𝟏
𝒖𝒊 time

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Close Cousins of Flow &
Density
• Headway (Time Headway)
◦ Time interval between the passage of the front ends of consecutive
vehicles at a point (h = 1/q)

• Spacing (Space Headway)

◦ Distance between the front ends of consecutive vehicles (d = 1/k)

• Gap
◦ Time interval between the passage of the rear end and the front end of
successive vehicles

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The Fundamental Rule
of Traffic Flow
Flow = q (vehicles per hour - vph)

Density = k (vehicles per km - vpkm)

Speed = u (km per hour - kmph)

FLOW = DENSITY * SPEED

q = k*u

(vph = vpkm*kmph)

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Traffic Flow Questions
• On a freeway with a directional flow of 1600 vph and a density of
25 vpkm, find the average speed of traffic.

• A highway has an average headway of 2.2 seconds and a density

of 30 vpkm in one direction. What is the average speed?

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Fundamental Diagram of
Traffic Flow
• Data is collected for a section Speed Flow Density
48 48 1
of road during different 46 230 5
periods of the day 47 470 10
38 950 25
• When curves are fit through 40 1400 35
the actual observations, road 35 1750 50
traffic is found to behave as 30 1800 60
29 2175 75
follows: 27 2295 85
25 2500 100
20 2200 110
14 1750 125
13 1755 135
10 1500 150
8 1280 160
6 1020 170
4 720 180
2 380 190
0 0 200

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Speed vs Flow

Free Flow Speed

u (km/h)

Capacity

q (veh/hr)

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Flow vs Density
q max

Capacity
q (veh/h)

Jam Density

k (veh/km)

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Speed vs Density
u (km/h)

k (veh/km)

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Importance of Location

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Example
Freeway Data Set

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 Greenshield’s Flow Model
• Simple flow model based on assumption:
u = uf - (uf / kj) k

qmax
uf
Speed (u)

Speed (u)
Flow (q)

qmax

kj
Vehicle Density (k) Vehicle Density (k) Flow (q)

• Assuming Greenshield’s flow (or some other simple analytical model)

allows direct algebraic solution for a wide range of flow parameters

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Greenshield’s Flow Model
• The space mean speed at which volume is maximum
𝒖𝒇
𝒖𝟎 =
𝟐
• The density at which volume is maximum
𝒌𝒋
𝒌𝟎 =
𝟐
• Maximum flow
𝒌𝒋 ∗ 𝒖𝒇
𝒒𝒎𝒂𝒙 =
𝟒

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Needs for Traffic Control
• Whenever there are access points such as driveways and
intersections, there is a need to determine the right of way for
the potential conflicting movements.
• The process of determining who has the right-of-way involves
traffic control strategies.
• Sight distance and traffic volumes are used to decide traffic
control
• From the least imposing to most imposing traffic controls are:
◦ No Control
◦ Yield Control
◦ Stop Control
◦ Signal Control

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Highway Capacity
• Highway Capacity is the maximum number of vehicles per unit
time OR the maximum rate of flow that a facility can
accommodate
• The capacity of a facility is dependent upon prevailing
conditions
◦ Traffic conditions
◦ Roadway Characteristics
◦ Control conditions
◦ Environmental conditions

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Highway Capacity
• Capacity is typically defined in terms of vehicles per hour (vph)
• Procedures for addressing pedestrian, transit, and HOV
(carpool) facilities may use persons per hour (pph)
• Operating conditions at capacity are generally poor because it is
difficult to maintain capacity operations without breakdown.

Type of Facility Capacity under Ideal Condition

Multilane Highway 2250 pc ph pl
Two-Lane Rural Highway 2800 pc ph, total both directions
Intersection Approaches 1800 pc ph g pl

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Level of Service (LOS)
• A level of service is a letter designation that represents a
qualitative measure of operational conditions and their
perception by users
• Levels of Service (LOS) are defined based on the freedom of
maneuvering
• Six levels of service (LOS) are defined for capacity analysis; A
through F, where A is the best
• LOS A describes a free-flowing condition where individual
vehicles are not influenced by the presence of other vehicles
• LOS F describes breakdown conditions where queues have
developed because the arrival flow rate > capacity

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HCM
Definition of Various LOS
• LOS A represents free flow. Users
are unaffected by the presence of
others in the traffic stream.
Freedom to select desired speeds
and to maneuver within traffic
stream is extremely high. The
overall level of comfort and
convenience is excellent.
• LOS B is still in the range of
stable flow but the presence of
other users in the traffic stream
begins to be noticeable. There is a
slight decline in the freedom to
maneuver. Level of comfort and LOS A LOS B
convenience is less than LOS A.

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HCM
Definition of Various LOS
• LOS C still in the range of stable
flow but it marks the beginning of
significant effect by the presence
of others and maneuvering
requires substantial caution. The
overall level of comfort and
convenience declines noticeably at
this level.
• LOS D high density, speed and
freedom to maneuver are severely
restricted. Users experience poor
level of comfort and convenience.
At this level, small increase in
traffic flow cause operational
problems.

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HCM
Definition of Various LOS
• LOS E Operating conditions are at
or near the capacity level. All
speeds are reduced. Freedom to
maneuver is extremely difficult.
Comfort and convenience is
extremely poor and frustration is
high. Flow is unstable and with
slight volume increase it could be
breakdown.
• LOS F defines breakdown flow.
Flow is characterized by stop-and
go waves.

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Determining LOS
• Speed
◦ On freeways, speed is an evident measure of service quality

• Travel time
◦ On surface streets, drivers are very sensitive to total travel time

• Density
◦ Describes the proximity of vehicles to each other and reflects the ease
of maneuverability as well as psychological comfort

• Delay
◦ Represents the additional travel time due to traffic or traffic controls,
which drivers find particularly annoying

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 LOS
Highway Intersections
LO Max Minimum Maximum LOS Average Delay
S Density Speed Flow
(pc/km/ln) (mph) (pcphpl)
A 0-7 54 800 A < 5.0 sec / veh
B 7-11 50 1000 B 5 - 15 sec / veh
C 11-16 45 1350 C 15 - 25 sec / veh
D 16-22 39 1610 D 25 - 40 sec / veh
E 22-28 30 1800 E 40 - 60 sec / veh
F > 28 < 30 <1800 F > 60 sec / veh

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