Scribd
Upload
571 views

Chapter 4 Traffic Parameters

This document summarizes Lecture No. 4 on traffic engineering. It discusses key traffic engineering concepts like safety and accident analysis, calculating accident and severity rates, and traffic parameters including density, flow rate, speed, and the peak hour factor. It provides definitions and formulas for these parameters. Sample problems demonstrate how to apply the formulas to calculate values like accident rates, spacing between vehicles, traffic density, time and space mean speeds, and the peak hour factor.

Uploaded by

John Vincent Pineda
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
571 views

Chapter 4 Traffic Parameters

This document summarizes Lecture No. 4 on traffic engineering. It discusses key traffic engineering concepts like safety and accident analysis, calculating accident and severity rates, and traffic parameters including density, flow rate, speed, and the peak hour factor. It provides definitions and formulas for these parameters. Sample problems demonstrate how to apply the formulas to calculate values like accident rates, spacing between vehicles, traffic density, time and space mean speeds, and the peak hour factor.

Uploaded by

John Vincent Pineda
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 6

Lecture No.

4 – Traffic Engineering Holy Angel University


School of Engineering and Architecture
Department of Civil Engineering

Traffic Engineering

Lecture No. 4 – Traffic Engineering

Objective Traffic engineering pertains to the analysis of the behavior of traffic and to
design the facilities for a smooth, safe and economical operation of traffic.
Traffic flow, like the flow of water, has several parameters associated with it.
The traffic stream parameters provide information regarding the nature of
traffic flow, which helps the analyst in detecting any variation in flow
characteristics. Understanding traffic behavior requires a thorough
knowledge of traffic stream parameters and their mutual relationships. In
this chapter the basic concepts of traffic flow is presented.

Content  Safety and Accident Analysis


 Accident Rates
 Severity
 Traffic Parameters (Formulas and Problems)
 Peak Hour Factor

Lecture No. 4 – Traffic Engineering Page 1 of


#
Lecture No. 4 – Traffic Engineering

 Highway Safety and Accident Analysis

1. Accident rates for 100 million vehicle miles of travel (HMVM) for a segment of a highway:
𝐴(100,000,000)
𝑅=
ADT x N x 365 x L
 R = the accident rate for 100 million vehicle miles
 A = the number of accidents during period of analysis
 ADT = average daily traffic
 N = time period in years
 L = length of segment in miles

2. Accident rates per million entering vehicles (MEV) for an intersection:


𝐴(1, 000, 000)
𝑅=
ADT x N x 365
 R = the accident rate for one million entering vehicles
 ADT = the average daily traffic entering the intersection from all legs
 N = time period in years

3. Severity ratio

fatal + injury accidents


𝑠𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 =
fatal + injury + property damage

4. Space mean speed of a vehicle:


𝑛𝑑
𝜇𝑠 =
∑ 𝑡𝑖

 ∑ 𝑡𝑖 = sum of all time observations


 n = no. of vehicles
 d = length of a segment of the road
 𝜇𝑠 = space mean speed

5. Space mean speed of a vehicle:

𝑑
∑
𝑡𝑖
𝜇𝑠 =
𝑛

 d = length of a segment of the road


 ti = time of observation
 n = no. of vehicles

Lecture No. 4 – Traffic Engineering Page 2 of


#
Lecture No. 4 – Traffic Engineering

6. Rate of flow:

𝑞 = 𝐾𝜇𝑠

 q = rate of flow in vehicles/hour


 K = density in vehicles/hour/mile
 𝜇𝑠 = space mean speed

7. Spacing of vehicles:

𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠/ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟


𝑁𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑘𝑚 =
𝑎𝑣𝑒. 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑎𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑘𝑚/ℎ𝑟
 Average density = no. of vehicles per km
1000
 Spacing of vehicles =
𝑎𝑣𝑒. 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦
NOTE: 1 km = 1000 m

8. Capacity of a single lane in vehicles per hour:

𝑆 = 𝑉𝑡 + 𝐿
 S = ave. center to center spacing of cars in meters
 V = ave. speed of cars in meters
 t = reaction time in seconds
 L = length of one car in meters
1000 (𝑉)
 C=
𝑆
 C = capacity of a single lane in vehicles/hour

9. Min. time headway:


3600
𝐻𝑡 =
𝐶
 Ht = time headway in sec.
 C = capacity in sec.
1000𝑉
 C=
𝑆
 V = average velocity in kph
 S = spacing between cars
 S = Vt + L
 t = reaction time in sec.
 L = length of one car in meters

Lecture No. 4 – Traffic Engineering Page 3 of


#
Lecture No. 4 – Traffic Engineering

10. Time mean speed:


∑ 𝜇𝑖
𝜇𝑡 =
𝑛
 𝜇𝑡 = time mean speed
 ∑ 𝜇𝑖 = sum of all spot speeds (kph)
 n = no. of vehicles

11. Space mean speed:


𝑛
𝜇𝑠 =
1
∑
𝜇1
1
 ∑ = sum of the reciprocal of spot speeds
𝜇1
 n = no. of vehicles
 𝜇𝑠 = space mean speed

12. Density of traffic:


𝑞
𝐾=
𝜇𝑠
 K = density of traffic in vehicles/km
 q = flow of traffic in vehicles/hr
 𝜇𝑠 = space mean speed in kph

13. Density of traffic:


𝑅1
𝐾=
𝑎𝑣𝑒. 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠
 K = density of traffic in vehicles/km
𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ𝑠
 R1 =
𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

14. Variance about the space means speed:


𝜎𝑠 2
𝜇𝑡 + 𝜇𝑠 =
𝜇𝑠
 𝜎𝑠2 = variance about the space mean speed
 𝜇𝑡 = time means speed
 𝜇𝑠 = space mean speed

15. 5 min. peak hour factor:

𝑃𝐻𝐹 = 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟


𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟
PHF = 60
𝑚𝑎𝑥.𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑥
5

Lecture No. 4 – Traffic Engineering Page 4 of


#
Lecture No. 4 – Traffic Engineering

SAMPLE PROBLEM 1
Data on a traffic accident recorded on a certain intersection for the past 5 years has
an accident rate of 4160 per million entering vehicles (ARMV). If the average daily
traffic entering the intersection is 504, find the total number of accidents during the
5-year period.
ANS. A=3826 (number of accidents)

SAMPLE PROBLEM 2
Data on a traffic accident recorded for the past 5 years on a certain stretch of a two
lane highway is tabulated as follows.

YEAR PROPERTY DAMAGE INJURY FATAL


1960 110 42 4
1961 210 54 2
1962 182 60 5
1963 240 74 7
1964 175 94 6

Compute the severity ratio


ANS. Severity Ratio = 0.275

SAMPLE PROBLEM 3
If 2340 vehicles per hour passes a certain lane of road with the average speed of 52
kph, determine the appropriate spacing between these vehicles.
ANS. 22.22 m

SAMPLE PROBLEM 4
During peak hours, 3800 vehicles pass thru a certain highway from 9:00 AM to 11:00
AM with a space mean speed of 20 kph. What is the traffic density in vehicles per km?
ANS. K = 95 veh/km

SAMPLE PROBLEM 5
In an observation post it shows that 5 vehicles pass through the post at intervals of 8
sec, 9 sec, 10 sec, 11 sec, and 13 sec respectively. The speeds of the vehicles were 80
kph, 76 kph, 70 kph, 60 kph, and 50 kph respectively.
a. Compute the time mean speed. ANS. 67.2 kph
b. Compute the space mean speed if the distance travelled by the vehicles is 250 m.
ANS. 88.24 kph
c. If the density of traffic is 20 veh/km, compute the rate of flow of traffic in veh/hour.
ANS. 1765 veh/hr

Lecture No. 4 – Traffic Engineering Page 5 of


#
Lecture No. 4 – Traffic Engineering

SAMPLE PROBLEM 6
What is the peak hour factor (PHF) if the volume of the traffic is 1500 vehicles per hour
and the highest 5 minute volume is 210. ANS. 0.595

SAMPLE PROBLEM 7
The table shows a 15 minute volume count during the peak hour on an approach of
an intersection.

TIME VOLUME OF TRAFFIC


6:00 – 6:15 PM 375
6:15 – 6:30 PM 380
6:30 – 6:45 PM 412
6:45 – 7:00 PM 390

a. Determine the peak hour volume ANS. 1557 veh


b. Determine the peak hour factor ANS. PHF = 0.945
c. Determine the design hourly volume (DHV) of the approach ANS. 1648

Lecture No. 4 – Traffic Engineering Page 6 of


#

You might also like