TRAFFIC VOLUME STUDY 201

INTRODUCTION:
Traffic Volume is the number of vehicles crossing a section of road per unit time at
any selected period. Traffic volume is used as a quantity measure of flow, the commonly
used units are vehicles per day and vehicles per hour.

OBJECTIVES & NEED OF STUDY:

One of the fundamental measures of traffic on a road is the volume of traffic using
the road in a given interval of time. It is also termed as flow and it is expressed in vehicles
per hour or vehicle per day. When the traffic is composed of a number of vehicles, it is the
normal practice to convert the flow into equivalent Passenger-Car Unit (PCU), by using
certain equivalency factors. The flow is then expressed as PCUs per hour or PCUs per day.

Knowing the flow characteristics one can easily determine whether a particular
section of the road is handling traffic much above or below its capacity. If a traffic is heavy,
the road suffers from congestion with consequent loss in journey speeds. lower the speeds
causes ecomonicloss to the community due to time lost by the occupants of the vehicles and
the higer operational cost of vehicles.Congesion also lead to traffic hazards. There for traffic
volume data are require to draw up schemes for improvement of road network and also to
allocate the scare economic resources most advantageously.

If a traffic flow data are available over the past number of years, the rate at which
traffic flow has increased in the past can be easily determined. Extrapolating the past trend
into the future ,a reasonable indication of the future rate of growth of traffic is made possible.

If a average annual flow and the length of the highway are known, the annual vehicle
kms of travel can easily be computed. Road pavement design pertaining to numbers of
commercial vehicles using a road. The maintenance needs of a highway is often based on the
traffic using the road.

Traffic regulatory and control systems are designed on the basis of accurate vehicle
floe data. The design signal and road junction are possible only if, among other things, the
vehicle flow data are available.

METHODS FOR COUNTING TRAFFIC VOLUME:

(1) Mechanical counters
(2) Manual counts

(1) Mechanical counters:

These may be either fixed (permanent) type or portable type. The mechanical counter can
automatically record the total number of vehicles crossing a section of the road in a
desired period. The working may be by the effect of impulses or stimuli caused by traffic
 TRAFFIC VOLUME STUDY 201
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movement on a pneumatic hose placed across the roadway or by using any other of sensor.
Traffic count is recorded by electrically operated counters and recorders capable of
recording the impulses. The impulses caused by vehicles of light weight may not be
enough in some cases to actuate. The main advantages of mechanical counter is that it can
work throughout the day and night for the desired period, recording the total hourly
volume, which may not be practicable in manual counting. The main drawback of the
mechanical counter is that it is not possible to get the traffic volumes of various classes of
traffic in the steram and the details of turning movements.

(2)Manual counts:
This method employs a field team to record traffic volume on the prescribed record sheets.
By this method it is possible to obtain data which can not be collected by mechanical
counters, such as vehicle classification, turning movements and counts where the loading
condition or number of occupants are required. But it is not practicable to have manual
count for all the 24 hours of the day .Hence it is necessary to resort to statically sampling
techniques in order to cut down the manual hours involved in talking complete counts,
First the fluctuation of traffic volume during the hours of day and the daily variations are
observed. Then by selecting typical short count period, the traffic volume study is made by
manual counting. Then by statistical analysis the peak hourly traffic volumes as well as the
average daily traffic volumes are calculated. This method is very commonly adopted due
to the specific advantages over other methods.

PRESENTATION OF TRAFFIC VOLUME DATA:

The data collected during the traffic volume studies are sorted out and are presented in any
of the following forms depending upon the requirements.
(a) Annual average daily traffic (AADT or ADT) of the total traffic as well as classified
traffic are calculated. This helps in deciding the relative importance of a route and in
phasing the road development programme. In order to convert the different vehicle
classes to one class such as passenger car, conversion factors known as passenger Car
units(PCU) are used.
(b) Trend charts showing volume trends over period of years are prepared. These data are
useful for planning future expansion, design and regulation.
(c) Variation charts showing hourly, daily and seasonal variations are also prepared
.These help in deciding the facilities and regulation needed during peak traffic
periods.
(d) Traffic flow maps along the routes,(the thickness of the lines representing the traffic
volume to any desired scales),are drawn. These helps to find the traffic volume
distribution at a glance.
(e) Volume flow diagram at intersection at either drawn to a certain scale or indicating
traffic volume . Thus showing the detais of crossing and turning traffic.These data are
needed for intersection design.
(f) Thirties highest hourly volume or the design hourly volume is found from the plot
between hourly volume and the number of hours in an year that the traffic volume is
exceeded.The 30th highest hourly volume is the hourly volume that will be exceeded
 TRAFFIC VOLUME STUDY 201
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only 29 times in a year and all other hourly volumes of the year will be lessthan this
volume.the annual average hourly volume (AAHV) FOUND FROM aadt will not be
sufficient during considerable perioad of an year.The high facilities designed with
capacity for 30th highest hourly traffic volume in the assumed year is found to be
satisfactory from both facility and economic considerations.There will be congestion
only during 29 hours in the year.thus the thirtieth highest hourly volume is generally
taken as the hourly volume for design.Thus the thirtieth highest houly volume is
generally taken as the houly volume for design.The design hourly volume thus
arrived at need not necessarily be the thirtieth highest hourly volume in all cases.

CASE STUDY OF TRAFFIC VOLUME SURVEY:

Traffic Volume study was carried out at kamrej Junction by Surat Urban
Development Authority. The survey was carried out by Civil Engineering Department of
SVNIT on August 20-21, 2010.

The following steps ware performed for traffic volume study:

(1)Preparation of site layout

(2)Vehicle Count Survey

(3)Traffic Volume Survey Analysis

• Analysis of Traffic Volume Composition

• Hourly Variation of Traffic Volume in Vehicle/hr and PCU/hr(MODE WISE)
• Hourly Variation of Traffic Volume in Vehicle/hr and PCU/hr(DIRECTION
WISE)
(1)Preparation of site layout:
 TRAFFIC VOLUME STUDY 201
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(2)Vehicle Count Survey: Volume Count data is as following:

Hourly Variation of Traffic Volume in Vehicle/hr (Mode wise) onDate:20/08/2010 at

Kamrej Char Rasta Junction
Time Cycl Cart 2- 3- Other 4- LCV Bus Truc Total
e Wheelere Wheelere s Wheelere k
s s s
Veh./h
r
8:00 to

9:00 33 8 1018 327 28 503 183 77 103 2280

9:00 to

10:00 19 4 1436 459 16 857 192 67 121 3171

10:00
to
11:00 14 2 1439 524 140 832 202 56 120 3329
11:00
to
12:00 33 1 1850 576 4 1002 180 59 130 3835
12:00
to
13:00 26 3 1503 443 7 850 198 38 165 3233
13:00
to
14:00 26 0 194 302 28 803 208 66 139 2766
14:00
to
15:00 65 17 1134 297 14 806 224 88 134 2779
15:00
to
16:00 24 14 1205 318 8 810 202 152 145 2878
16:00
to
17:00 76 23 2320 657 259 1114 299 68 166 4982
17:00
to
18:00 119 13 3309 715 22 1135 201 82 124 5720
18:00
to
19:00 131 5 3284 623 19 1197 190 92 123 5664
19:00
to
20:00 121 13 2792 460 15 963 198 71 91 4724
20:00
to
21:00 69 8 2235 335 24 721 115 85 65 3657
21:00
to
22:00 27 7 1232 219 10 504 89 59 68 2215
22:00
to
23:00 6 1 644 119 8 300 64 91 44 1277
23:00
to
24:00 2 2 286 55 0 241 38 118 47 789
24:00
to
1:00 1 5 156 39 0 158 21 73 83 536
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1:00 to

2:00 0 1 37 14 0 108 15 31 68 274

2:00 to
3:00
2:00 0 0 29 13 0 79 13 31 45 210
3:00 to

4:00 0 2 22 11 0 79 29 41 57 241
4:00 to

5:00 1 8 57 35 2 74 39 81 57 354
5:00 to

6:00 11 12 132 75 7 171 36 99 53 596

6:00 to

7:00 91 10 361 255 1 312 47 117 80 1274

7:00 to

8:00 42 39 642 293 17 347 49 101 55 1585

303 184 228
Total 937 198 28317 7164 629 13966 2 3 3 58369
% 1.61 0.34 48.51 12.27 1.08 23.93 5.19 3.16 3.91 100

Hourly Variation of Traffic Volume in PCU/hr (Mode wise) onDate:20/08/2010 at

Kamrej Char Rasta Junction
Time Cycl Cart 2- 3- Other 4- LCV Bus Truc Total
e Wheelere Wheelere s Wheelere k
s s s
Veh./h
r
8:00
to 16.5 256. 169. 226. 26661
9:00 16.0 763.5 654.0 56.0 503.0 2 4 6 .2
9:00
to 268. 147. 266. 3583.
10:00 9.5 8.0 1077.0 918.0 32.0 857.0 8 4 2 9
10:00
to 282. 123. 264. 3920.
11:00 7.0 4.0 1079.3 1048.0 280.0 832.0 8 2 0 3
11:00
to 252. 129. 286. 4235.
12:00 16.5 2.0 1387.5 1152.0 8.0 1002.0 0 8 0 8
12:00
to 277. 363. 3620.
13:00 13.0 6.0 1127.3 886.0 14.0 850.0 2 83.6 0 1
13:00
to 291. 145. 305. 3113.
14:00 13.0 0.0 895.5 604.0 56.0 803.0 2 2 8 7
14:00
to 313. 193. 294. 3147.
15:00 32.5 34.0 850.5 594.0 28.0 806.0 6 6 8 0
15:00
to 282. 334. 319. 3342.
16:00 12.0 28.0 903.8 636.0 16.0 810.0 6 4 0 0
16:00
to 418. 149. 365. 5703.
17:00 38.0 46.0 1740.0 1314.0 518.0 1114.0 6 6 2 4
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17:00
to 281. 180. 272. 5910.
18:00 59.5 26.0 2481.8 1430.0 44.0 1135.0 4 4 8 9
18:00
to 266. 202. 270. 5758.
19:00 65.5 10.0 2463.0 1246.0 38.0 1197.0 0 4 6 5
19:00
to 277. 156. 200. 4727.
20:00 60.5 26.0 2094.0 920.0 30.0 963.0 2 2 2 1
20:00
to 161. 187. 143. 3656.
21:00 34.5 16.0 1676.3 670.0 48.0 721.0 0 0 0 8
21:00
to 124. 129. 149. 2317.
22:00 13.5 14.0 924.0 438.0 20.0 504.0 6 8 6 5
22:00
to 200. 1428.
23:00 3.0 2.0 483.0 238.0 16.0 300.0 89.6 2 96.8 6
23:00
to 259. 103.
24:00 1.0 4.0 214.5 110.0 0.0 241.0 53.2 6 4 986.7
24:00
to 160. 182.
1:00 0.5 10.0 117.0 78.0 0.0 158.0 29.4 6 6 736.1
1:00
to 149.
2:00 0.0 2.0 27.8 28.0 0.0 108.0 21.0 68.2 6 404.6
2:00
to
3:00
00.0 0.0 21.8 26.0 0.0 79.0 18.2 68.2 99.0 312.2
3:00
to 125.
4:00 0.0 4.0 16.5 22.0 0.0 79.0 40.6 90.2 4 377.7
4:00
to 178. 125.
5:00 0.5 16.0 42.8 70.0 4.0 74.0 54.6 2 4 565.5
5:00
to 217. 116.
6:00 5.5 24.0 99.0 150.0 14.0 171.0 50.4 8 0 848.3
6:00
to 257. 176. 1659.
7:00 45.5 20.0 270.8 510.0 2.0 312.0 65.8 4 0 5
7:00
to 222. 121. 1959.
8:00 21.0 78.0 481.5 586.0 34.0 347.0 68.6 2 0 3
468. 396. 1258. 4244 4054 5022 64976
Total 5 0 21237.8 14328.0 0 13966.0 .8 .6 .6 .3
% 0.72 0.61 32.69 22.05 1.94 21.49 6.53 6.24 7.73 100.0

Hourly Variation of Traffic Volume in Vehicle/hr (Mode wise) onDate:21/08/2010 at

Kamrej Char Rasta Junction
Time Cycl Cart 2- 3- Other 4- LCV Bus Truc Total
e Wheelere Wheelere s Wheelere k
s s s
Veh./h
r
 TRAFFIC VOLUME STUDY 201
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8:00 to

9:00 48 2 1117 436 40 706 162 69 149 2729

9:00 to

10:00 25 3 1357 413 14 948 190 63 113 3126

10:00
to
11:00 24 1 1866 647 11 1087 230 51 102 4019
11:00
to
12:00 32 1 1964 557 19 1189 246 68 138 4214
12:00
to
13:00 37 2 1793 393 13 852 182 51 117 3440
13:00
to
14:00 19 0 1498 405 12 915 229 72 140 3290
14:00
to
15:00 12 0 1515 422 20 833 196 67 151 3216
15:00
to
16:00 44 5 1405 431 23 865 157 84 132 3146
16:00
to
17:00 81 17 2447 622 15 1159 279 65 152 4837
17:00
to
18:00 97 14 3062 599 14 1315 194 93 101 5489
18:00
to
19:00 158 13 3485 650 27 1253 210 89 141 6026
19:00
to
20:00 93 9 3110 522 13 1191 162 96 106 5302
20:00
to
21:00 58 28 2381 411 0 830 112 105 70 3995
21:00
to
22:00 21 12 1178 276 3 625 104 150 67 2436
22:00
to
23:00 10 8 552 120 10 434 46 97 48 1325
23:00
to
24:00 4 0 303 59 2 310 30 111 48 867
24:00
to
1:00 0 0 86 26 0 181 22 90 79 484
1:00 to

2:00 0 0 64 25 0 138 18 39 61 345

2:00 to
3:00
2:00 0 0 36 14 0 87 16 39 50 242
3:00 to

4:00 0 0 46 30 0 102 41 3 65 337

4:00 to

5:00 4 0 69 42 1 95 18 87 48 364
5:00 to 3 2 102 77 0 138 25 106 59 512
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6:00
6:00 to

7:00 35 5 332 120 13 331 42 109 70 1057

7:00 to

8:00 73 5 508 297 5 325 47 92 69 1421

295 194 227
Total 887 127 330276 7594 225 15909 8 6 6 62219
% 1.41 0.20 48.66 12.21 0.41 25.57 4.75 3.13 3.66 100.0

Hourly Variation of Traffic Volume in PCU/hr (Mode wise) onDate:21/08/2010 at

Kamrej Char Rasta Junction
Time Cycl Cart 2- 3- Other 4- LCV Bus Truc Total
e Wheelere Wheelere s Wheeler k
s s es
Veh./h
r
8:00
to 226. 151. 327. 3230.
9:00 24.0 4.0 837.8 872.0 80.0 706.0 8 8 8 2
9:00
to 266. 138. 248. 3491.
10:00 12.5 6.0 1017.8 826.0 28.0 948.0 0 6 6 5
10:00
to 322. 112. 224. 4475.
11:00 12.0 2.0 1399.5 1294.0 22.0 1087.0 0 2 4 1
11:00
to 149. 303. 4629.
12:00 16.0 2.0 1473.0 1114.0 38.0 1189.0 3444 6 6 6
12:00
to 254. 112. 257. 3655.
13:00 18.5 4.0 1344.8 786.0 26.0 852.0 8 2 4 7
13:00
to 320. 158. 308. 3669.
14:00 9.5 0.0 1123.5 810.0 24.0 915.0 6 4 0 0
14:00
to 274. 147. 332. 3613.
15:00 6.0 0.0 1136.6 844.0 40.0 833.0 4 4 2 3
15:00
to 219. 184. 290. 3553.
16:00 22.0 10.0 1053.8 862.0 46.0 865.0 8 8 4 8
16:00
to 390. 143. 334. 5210.
17:00 40.5 34.0 1835.3 1244.0 30.0 1159.0 6 0 4 8
17:00
to 271. 204. 222. 5612.
18:00 48.5 28.0 2296.5 1198.0 28.0 1315.0 6 6 2 4
18:00
to 294. 195. 310. 6125.
19:00 79.0 26.0 2613.8 1300.0 54.0 1253.0 0 8 2 8
19:00
to 226. 211. 233. 5329.
20:00 46.5 18.0 2332.5 1044.0 26.0 1191.0 8 2 2 2
20:00
to 156. 231. 154. 4064.
21:00 29.0 56.0 1785.8 822.0 0.0 830.0 8 0 0 6
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21:00
to 145. 330. 147. 2724.
22:00 10.5 24.0 883.5 552.0 6.0 625.0 6 0 4 0
22:00
to 213. 105. 1512.
23:00 5.0 16.0 414.0 240.0 20.0 434.0 64.4 4 6 4
23:00
to 244. 105. 1053.
24:00 2.0 0.0 227.3 118.0 4.0 310.0 42.0 2 6 1
24:00
to 198. 173.
1:00 0.0 0.0 64.5 52.0 0.0 181.0 30.8 0 8 700.1
1:00
to 134.
2:00 0.0 0.0 48.0 50.0 0.0 138.0 25.5 85.8 2 481.2
2:00
to
3:00 110.
0.0 0.0 27.0 28.0 0.0 87.0 22.4 85.8 0 360.2
3:00
to 116. 143.
4:00 0.0 0.0 34.5 60.0 0.0 1020 57.4 6 0 513.5
4:00
to 191. 105.
5:00 2.0 0.0 51.8 84.0 2.0 95.0 25.2 4 6 557.0
5:00
to 233. 129.
6:00 1.5 4.0 76.5 154.0 0.0 138.0 35.0 2 8 772.0
6:00
to 239. 154. 1326.
7:00 17.5 10.0 249.0 240.0 26.0 331.0 58.8 8 0 1
7:00
to 202. 151. 1776.
8:00 36.5 10.0 381.0 594.0 10.0 325.0 65.8 4 8 5
439. 254. 4141 4281 5007 68436
Total 0 00 22707.0 15188.0 510. 15909.0 .2 .2 .2 .6
% 0.64 0.37 33.18 22.19 0.75 23.25 6.05 6.26 7.32 100.0

(3)Traffic Volume Survey Analysis:

3.1 Analysis of Traffic Volume Composition:The summary of collected data is as

following.

Sr.N Type of % of Total Vehicle % of Total Volume in

o. Vehicle PCU/day
20/08/20 21/08/20 20/08/20 21/08/20
10 10 10 10
A Cycle 1.61 1.41 0.72 0.64
B Cart 0.34 0.2 0.61 0.37
C 2-Wheelers 48.51 48.66 32.69 33.18
D 3-Wheelers 12.27 12.21 22.05 22.19
E 4-Wheelers 1.08 0.41 1.94 0.75
F LCV 23.93 25.57 21.49 23.25
G Bus 5.19 4.75 6.53 6.05
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H Truck 3.16 3.13 6.24 6.26
I Others 3.91 3.66 7.73 7.32

3.2 Hourly Variation of Traffic Volume in PCU/hr(DIRECTION WISE)

• FROM SURAT SIDE:

• FROM KIM SIDE:

• FROM KADODARA SIDE:

• FROM KAMREJ SIDE:

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3.3 Hourly Variation of Traffic Volume in PCU/hr(MODEWISE)