Design Speed and Design

Traffic Concepts

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Objectives
 Understand concept of design
speed
 Describe traffic demand and
determine for roadway design
 Define ADT, AADT, DHV, D,
DDHV, K-Factor, and T

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 Posted speed = speed limit
 Operating speed = free flow (spot
speed)
 Running speed = length of
highway section ÷ running time
 Design speed = selected speed
used to determine geometric
design features

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Design Speed
 Design speed is defined by the AASHTO Green
Book as: ...the maximum safe speed that
can be maintained over a specified
section of highway when conditions are
so favorable that the design features of
the highway govern.
 Design Speed should: 1) “…be consistent
with the speed the driver is likely to expect.”
and 2) “. . .fit the travel desires and habits of
nearly all drivers.”
 Not posted speed and not operating speed
(but ALWAYS higher than both)
 See first part of:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/flex/c
h04.htm
(Chapter 4 from FHWA’s Flexibility in
Highway Design)
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Design Speed Considerations
 Functional classification of the highway
 Character of the terrain
 Density and character of adjacent land
uses
 Traffic volumes expected to use the
highway
 Economic and environmental
considerations

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 Design Speed in Green Book
(suggested minimum design speed)

Rural Local Roads

Source: A Policy on Geometric

Design of Highways and Streets
(The Green Book). Washington, DC.
American Association of State
Highway and Transportation
Officials, 2001 4th Ed. 6
 Design Speed in Green Book
(suggested minimum design speed)
Rural Collectors

Source: A Policy on Geometric

Design of Highways and Streets
(The Green Book). Washington, DC.
American Association of State
Highway and Transportation
Officials, 2001 4th Ed. 7
Design Speed in Green Book
(suggested minimum design speed)
Rural Arterials
 60 – 120 kph (40-75 mph)
 Depends on …
 Terrain
 Driver expectancy

 Alignment (reconstruction)

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Design Speed in Green Book
(suggested minimum design speed)
Urban
 Locals 20-30 mph
 Collectors 30 mph+
 Arterials 30-60 mph

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Values represent the
minimum acceptable
design speeds for the
various conditions of
terrain and traffic
volumes associated
with new or
reconstructed
highway facilities

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International

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Design Traffic

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Traffic Definitions
 Volume:
 number of vehicles, pedestrians,
etc. passing a point during a specific
period of time
 for vehicles, usually expressed as
veh/hour (vph) or veh/hour/lane
(vphpl)

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 Demand:
 number of vehicles, pedestrians, etc. that desire to
travel between locations during a specific period
 Frequently higher than volume during certain peak
times
 Trips are diverted or not made when there are
constraints in the system
 difficult to measure actual demand because capacity
constrains the demand
 Capacity:
 maximum number of vehicles that can pass a point
during a specific period
 A characteristic of the roadway or facility

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Characteristics of Traffic Flow
 Highly variable
 Time of day
 Day of week
 Season
 Road characteristics
 Direction

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 Traffic Typically Peaks twice per day
7000

6000
Highw ay Capacity
Flow in vehicles per hour

5000
Highly Congested
4000

3000

2000

1000

M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M
A 0A 0A 0A 0A 0A 0A 0A 0A 0A A A 0P 0P 0P 0P 0P 0P 0P 0P 0P 0P 0P 0P A
0 0 0 0
2:3 1 :3 2:3 3 :3 4 :3 5 :3 6 :3 7 :3 8:3 9 :3 0:3 1:3 2: 3 1 :3 2:3 3 :3 4 :3 5 :3 6 :3 7:3 8 :3 9 :3 0:3 1:3 2:3
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Time of Day

Source: www.ecn.purdue.edu/~darcy
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Volume Studies
 AADT: Annual average daily
traffic (counted for 365 days)
 ADT: average daily traffic
(counted for > 1 day and < 365)
 PHV: peak hour volume
 Classification counts: fleet mix

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Estimating AADT
 Annual Average Daily Traffic
 Use count station information
 Extrapolate to non-count locations
 Used to adjust ADT for
 Seasons
 Daily variation

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AADT Data Help to:
 Estimate highway revenues and
distribution
 Establish overall volume trends
 Establish annual accident rates
 Analyze benefits of road
improvements

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Counting Program
 To satisfy the traffic volume data
needs for all roads under a
particular jurisdiction, we
establish a Counting Program

A systematic pattern of
counting at different times and
locations
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Traffic Counts Maps
http://www.iowadotmaps.com/msp/traffic/index.html

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Traffic Counts Maps

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Design Volume
 Usually hourly volume
 Which hour?
 Average hourly volume – inadequate design
 Maximum peak hour – not economical
 Hourly volume used for design should not
be exceeded very often or by very much
 Usually use 30th highest hourly volume of
the year
 On rural roads 30 HHV is ~ 15% of ADT
 Percentage tends to be constant year to
year

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Traffic Demand
 Design Hourly Volume (DHV) – future hourly
volume (both directions) used for design -
typically 30th HHV (highest hourly volume)
in the design year
 Why 30th HHV?
 Breakpoint of 2-28
 Compromise: too high is wasteful, too low poor
operation
 Approximately median weekly peak hour volume

(30th HHV exceed 29 times in year)

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Traffic Demand (cont.)
3. Exhibit 2-28 relationship between HHV and percent of
ADT in peak hour (referred to as K-factor)

Source: A Policy on
Geometric Design of
Highways and Streets
(The Green Book).
Washington, DC.
American Association of
State Highway and
Transportation Officials,
2001 4th Ed.

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Design Hourly Volume
DHV is a representation of peak hour
traffic, usually for the future, or
horizon year

K-factor represents proportion of AADT

that occurs in the 30th HHV

K-factor = __DHV x 100

AADT
K = 8 to 12% urban, 12 to 18% rural

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Design Hourly Volume (Example)
If AADT is 3500 vpd and the 30th
highest hourly volume for the year is
420 vph what is the K-factor for that
facility?

K-factor = __DHV x 100

AADT
K-factor = __420 x 100 = 12
3500
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Question: What’s the impact of choosing
different K factor for design?
If AADT is 3500 vpd, how will the design hour
volume differ for K-factor = 8% vs. 12%?

DHV = K-factor x AADT

100
DHVk=8% = 8 x 3500 = 280 vph
100
DHVk=12% = 12 x 3500 = 420 vph (diff of 140
100
veh)
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What if the traffic is 10 times higher?
If AADT is 35000 vpd, how will the design hour
volume differ for K-factor = 8% vs. 12%?

DHV = K-factor x AADT

100
DHVk=8% = 8x35000 = 2800 vph
100
DHVk=12% = 12x35000 = 4200 vph (diff of 1400
100
veh)
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Traffic Demand (cont.)
• D = directional distribution = one
way volume in peak direction
(expressed as a percentage of
two-way traffic) Rural 55 to 80%
• Can also adjust for how traffic is
distributed between lanes (e.g., 3
lanes, highest/outside lane may
be 40% of total directional flow)
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 Directional Distribution
(example)
If traffic is directionally split 60/40, what is directional
distribution of traffic for previous example (Design
hourly volume = 420 veh/hr)?

Directional Design Hourly Volume (DDHV) =

0.6 x 420 = 252 veh/hr
Notice we use 0.6 not 0.4!!

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Traffic Demand (cont.)
• T = percentage of heavy vehicles
during design hour (Iowa interstate
35% plus)
• Affects capacity, ability to pass on
two-lane rural roads, etc.
• Larger, occupy more space
• Should determine % during design
hour (truck patterns may not be same
as passenger vehicles)

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 Peak Hour Factor (PHF)
PHF = peak-hour volume
4(peak 15-min volume)

Flow is not uniform throughout an hour

HCM considers operating conditions
during most congested 15-minute
period of the hour to determine service
level for the hour as a whole

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Peak Hour Factor

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 DHV = Peak-Hour Volume
PHF
Example
Peak hour volume from previous = 375 vph
PHF = 0.625
DHV = 375 = 600 vph
0.625
Note: the traffic you design for is the busiest 15
minutes during the peak hour … another way to
think of it is 150 vehicles per 15 minutes = 600
vehicles per 60 minutes

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