LECTURE 2

EXAMPLES TRAFFIC FLOW STUDIES

Observers stationed at two sections XX and YY, 200 m apart on a highway, record the arrival
times of four vehicles as shown in Table EX1. If the total time of observation at XX was 15
sec, determine…

(a) the flow (b) the time mean speed

Table EX1
Time of Arrival Travel Time
Vehicle Section XX Section YY (sec)
A 09:30:00.00 09:30:07.58 7.58
B 09:30:03.00 09:30:09.18 6.18
C 09:30:06.00 09:30:12.36 6.36
D 09:30:12.00 09:30:21.74 9.74

SOLUTION

a.) q  (n * 3600) / T  (4 * 3600) / 15  960 veh / hr

1 n
b.) ut   ui
n i 1
uA = (200 m)/(7.58 sec) = 26.38 m/sec

uB = (200 m)/(6.18 sec) = 32.36 m/sec

1 n
ui  26.38  32.36  31.45  20.53  27.68 m / sec  99.65km / h
1
ut  
n i 1 4

nL (4)(200)
c.) us    26.79 m / sec  96.45 km / h
(7.58  6.18  6.36  9.74)
t i
EXAMPLE 2

A section of highway is known to have a free-flow speed of 90 km/h and a capacity of 3300
veh/h. In a given hour, 2100 vehicles were counted at a specified point along this highway
section. If the linear Greenshield’s model applies, what would be the estimated space-mean
speed of these 2100 vehicles?

SOLUTION

Given…..uf = 90 km/h qmax = 3300 veh/hr

Find…… u s @ q = 2100 veh/hr

uf k ju f 4q max (4)(3300)
us  u f  k q max  kj    146.7 veh / km
kj 4 uf 90

q uf  q   
k us  u f     90  90  2100   90  1288.3
us k j  u s 
 146.7  u s 
 us

90u s  1288.3
us  u s2  90u s  1288.3
us

u s  17.86 km / hr or 72.14 km / hr

qmax=3300

q=2100

k
EXAMPLE 3

From a point beside a road, a one way traffic stream is observed to consist of the following:
 A stream of passenger cars traveling at 75 km/h at 20 second headways
 A stream of lorries traveling at 60 km/h at 35 second headways
 A stream of buses traveling at 70 km/h at 50 second headways

a. Determine the total traffic flow

SOLUTION

a. Determine the total traffic flow q  3600 / h

3600
Flow of cars =  180 veh / hr
20

3600
Flow of lorries =  103 veh / hr
35

3600
Flow of buses =  72 veh / hr
50

Total traffic flow = 180  103  72  355 veh/ hr

b. Determine the total concentration k  1000 / d

us
Speed of cars = (75)(1000)/3600 = 20.83 m/s
Speed of lorries = (60)(1000)/3600 = 16.67 m/s
Speed of buses = (70)(1000)/3600 = 19.44 m/s

d  us h
Space headway of cars = (20.83)(20) = 416.6 m
Space headway of lorries = (16.67)(35) = 583.4 m
Space headway of buses = (19.44)(50) = 972.0 m
 1,000
𝑘=
ℎ̅

1000
Concentration of cars =  2.40 veh / km
416.6

1000
Concentration of lorries =  1.71 veh / km
583.4

1000
Concentration of buses =  1.03 veh / km
972

Total concentration = 2.40  1.71  1.03  5.14 veh/ km

c. Determine the space mean speed of the traffic streams

1 km
t car   0.013 hr
75 km / hr
1 km
t lorry   0.017 hr
60 km / hr
1 km
t bus   0.014 hr
70 km / hr

nL 3(1)
SMS , u s    68.18 kph
n
(0.013  0.017  0.014)
t
j 1
j