Solution of Assignment # 3

Q.1 .A traffic stream has average vehicle headways of 2.2 seconds at 70 km/hr.

(a) The rate of flow for this traffic stream (vehicle/hr) is

v =n/t → v (veh/hr) = 3600/headway (sec)
Veh 2 Veh 1
D = n/l → D (veh/mile) =5280 / spacing(ft)
v= 3600/2.2= 1636.36 veh/hr
Headway (sec)
 1736
 1836 Spacing (ft)
 1536
 1636
(b) The traffic density (veh/km) is
D= v/s
D= 1636.36/70 = 23.38 veh/km
 114545
 23.40
 114560
 20.40
Q.2.A traffic stream has a traffic flow rate of 1000 vehicle/hr.

(a) The average headway (in seconds) for this traffic stream is
Headway= 3600/v= 3600/1000=3.6 sec
 4.6
 3.6
 0.001
 0.002
Q.3.For the intersection shown in Figure 1
(a) The length of the storage left turn lane (in vehicles) for the NB approach is ...

Traffic volume left turn for NB = 50 vph

( t ) x ( e   t )
P  X  x 
x!

t =2 minutes
Lambda = 50 vph
Use Poisson Distribution
Number of probablity of probablity of cumulative
vehicles (x) have X have X
vehicle in vehicle in
time t (using time t (using
Excle Lec.
function) Equation)
0 0.188875603 0.188875603 0.188876
1 0.314792671 0.314792671 0.503668
2 0.262327226 0.262327226 0.765996
3 0.145737348 0.145737348 0.911733
4 0.060723895 0.060723895 0.972457
 5 0.020241298 0.020241298 0.992698
6 0.005622583 0.005622583 0.998321
7 0.00133871 0.00133871 0.999659
8 0.000278898 0.000278898 0.999938
9 5.16478E-05 5.16478E-05 0.99999

Then the required length 4 vehicles

should satisfy at least

 7 vehicles
 4 vehicles
 6 vehicles
 5 vehicles

(b) The length of the storage left turn lane (in vehicles) for the WB approach is ... *
Traffic volume left turn for WB = 100 vph
t =2 minutes
Lambda =100 vph
Use Poisson Distribution
Number of probablity of probablity of cumulative
vehicles (x) have X vehicle have X
in time t (using vehicle in
Excle function) time t (using
Lec.
Equation)
0 0.035673993 0.035673993 0.035674
1 0.118913311 0.118913311 0.154587
2 0.198188852 0.198188852 0.352776
3 0.220209835 0.220209835 0.572986
4 0.183508196 0.183508196 0.756494
5 0.122338797 0.122338797 0.878833
6 0.067965999 0.067965999 0.946799
7 0.032364761 0.032364761 0.979164
8 0.013485317 0.013485317 0.992649
9 0.004994562 0.004994562 0.997644

Then the required length should 7 vehicles

satisfy at least
  4 vehicles
 7 vehicles
 9 vehicles
 5 vehicles

Q.4. Traffic in a congested multi-lane highway, a lane is observed to have an average spacing of
200 ft, and an average headway of 3.8 seconds. For this lane:
(a) The rate of flow (vehicle/hr) is ..
V= 3600/headway(sec)= 3600/3.8= 947.37 vph
 0.26
 16
 947
 13680
(b) The density (vehicle/mile) is ... *
D= 5280/spacing (ft) =5280/200=26.4 veh/km

 1389.50
 26.40
 263.20
 5.0
(c) The speed (mile/hr) is ...
S= V/D= 947.37/26.4= 35.89 km/hr
 14
 50
 36
 15
Q.5. A traffic stream (in a single lane) is observed to have average headways of 2.6 s/veh and
average spacing of 72 meter between vehicles. For this lane:
(a) The rate of flow (vehicle/hr) is ... *
V=3600/2.6=1384.62 vph
  0.38
 9360
 1385
 23

(b) The density (vehicle/km) is ... *

D (veh/km)= 1/spacing (km)= 1/(72/1000)=13.89veh/km
 5.0
 1389.50
 14
 263.20
(c) The speed (km/hr) is ... *
S=V/D=1384.62/13.89=99.6 km/hr
 15
 14
 50
 100

Q.6. Traffic on a road has been counted a "465" vehicles during the afternoon peak hour. A
bicycle path crosses this road about midway between two intersections that are one-half mile
apart.
(a) What is the mean time (in seconds) between the arrivals of vehicles at the bicycle crossing?
The mean time (in seconds) between the arrivals of vehicles at the bicycle crossing =headway
Headway=3600/v=3600/465= 7.74 sec
 15.50 465 vph
 10.20
 0.13
 7.74
BICYCLE PATH
(b) It has been determined by observation that the average bicyclist needs at least 7.3 seconds
between vehicles before he/she will attempt to ride across the road. What is the probability that

P(T  7.3)  e t

7.3
465*
  4656vph, t  7.3sec → P(T  7.3)  e  0.39
3600

 0.39
 0.0
 181
 465
(c) How many headyways will be at least 7.30 seconds?
No. headyways = probability that headway is larger than 7.3 * hourly volume= 0.39*465=181
headway
 0.0
 infinity
 181
 465
(d) Find the time (in seconds) between vehicles such that P(T ≥ t) = 0.90 *

P(T ≥ t) = e  t = 0.90 → λ=465 vph t= 0.8156 sec

 7.74
 7.3
 0.82
 1.0
(e) What vehicle flow rate (in vehicle/hr) does the time in point "d" correspond?
 821
 735
 52
 465
(e) The maximum vehicle flow rate (vph) such that P(T> 7.3 sec) = 0.90 is .
 t
. P(T ≥ t) = e = 0.90 t= 7.3 sec→ λ=51.96 vph
 52
  735
 821
 465

Q.7. Vehicle counts were made on one direction of a 2-lane roadway three different times last
Thursday. The person who made the counts produced the data that appear in the table below for
your analysis. Convert the counts in the table into flow rates and average headways for each of
the three time periods.

(a) The flow rate (vehicle/hr) for count ID "A" is

Flow rate = n/t= 511/(7:45:00-7:00:00) =681.33vph
 23
 681
 9360
 0.38
(b) The flow rate (vehicle/hr) for count ID "B" is ... *

Flow rate = n/t= 481/(17:33:30-17:06:45) =1079vph

 0.38
 23
 9360
 1079
(c) The flow rate (vehicle/hr) for count ID "C" is ... *
Flow rate = n/t= 249/(14:46:45-14:16:45) =498vph
 23
 498
 9360
 0.38
(d) The average time-headway (seconds) for count ID "A" is ... *
Headway= 3600/681=5.28
 9360
  0.38
 23
 5.28
(e) The average time-headway (seconds) for count ID "B" is ... *
Headway= 3600/1079=3.34
 23
 3.34
 0.38
 9360
(f) The average time-headway (seconds) for count ID "C" is ... *
Headway= 3600/498=7.23
 7.23
 23
 0.38
 9360
Q.8. A traffic engineer is trying to design a left turn bay on an EB approach to an intersection.
The signal timings for left turns will have ten seconds of “left turn only” green time and 50
seconds of red time each signal cycle. The green time will be sufficient to allow three left turns
to be made each signal cycle. An average of 2.5 left-turning vehicles are expected to approach
the intersection each signal cycle. Space is limited, so the engineer wants to minimize the storage
capacity of the turn bay, but insufficient capacity will cause the excess vehicles waiting for a
green light to block through traffic.
(Assume the cycle length consists of green and red lights only. No yellow :) ). (Hint: Poisson
Distribution )
(a) If the turn bay has capacity for only three vehicles, what percentage of the time will the
through lane adjacent to (‫ )بجوار‬the left turn bay be blocked? *
 Cycle length = 60 sec, 2.5 left-turning vehicles are expected to approach the intersection each
signal cycle
λt=2.5
Lane adjacent to the left turn bay be blocked when there are more than 6 vehicle turn left

Px 6  1  ( px6 )  1  (( PX 0 )  ( P X 1 )  ( PX 2 )  ( PX 3 )  ( PX 4 )  ( PX 5 )  ( PX 6 ))

Or

PX 7  1  ( PX 7 )  1  (( PX 0 )  ( P X 1 )  ( PX 2 )  ( PX 3 )  ( PX 4 )  ( PX 5 )  ( PX 6 ))

λt= 2.5
X probablity of have X vehicle in
time t (cumulative)
0 0.082084999
1 0.287297495
2 0.543813116
3 0.757576133
4 0.891178019
5 0.957978962
6 0.985812688
7 0.995753305
8 0.998859747
9 0.999722648

The through lane is blocked =1-0.9858=0.014

Q.9. The table below shows the arrival times of vehicles over a 2-minute period. (note: Arrive
time in seconds)
Vehicle# Arrive headway Vehicle# Arrive headway Vehicle# Arrive headway Vehicle# Arrive headway
time time time time
1 0.5 - 11 15.6 0.9 21 51.2 1.1 31 84.3 1.8
2 3.1 2.6 12 17.8 2.2 22 52.3 1.1 32 85.7 1.4
3 4.2 1.1 13 21.7 3.9 23 53.4 1.1 33 89.2 3.5
4 6.1 1.9 14 24.8 3.1 24 54.9 1.5 34 96.5 7.3
5 8.3 2.2 15 25.9 1.1 25 60.5 5.6 35 98.3 1.8
6 9.6 1.3 16 29 3.1 26 71.2 10.7 36 102.7 4.4
7 11.1 1.5 17 32.5 3.5 27 73.8 2.6 37 109.1 6.4
8 12.2 1.1 18 43.8 11.3 28 79.5 5.7 38 112.3 3.2
9 13.5 1.3 19 46.9 3.1 29 80.1 0.6 39 117.1 4.8
10 14.7 1.2 20 50.1 3.2 30 82.5 2.4 40 119.6 2.5

Avg. headway= sum of .headways/no. headways= 119.1/39=3.065sec

Average arrival rate =3600/3.056= 1178veh/hr

Q.10.
(a) The elapsed time between the front of a vehicle passing a location and the front of the
following vehicle passing the same location is ... *
 Veh 1
Veh 2
gap (sec)
clearance (ft)

Headway (sec)
Spacing (ft)

(b) The elapsed time between the rear of a lead vehicle passing a location and the front of the
following vehicle passing the same location is ... *
(c) The distance between the front of the lead vehicle and the front of the following vehicle
measured at a specific time is .... *

(d) The distance between the rear of the lead vehicle and the front of the following vehicle
measured at a specific time is ....