CIVE 481 PROFESSOR LAKRORI

CIV E 481
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING

Fundamentals of Traffic Flow

Basic Traffic Stream Parameters and Models

Nensi Lakrori, P.E., M.S., LEED AP BD+C

Outline

Introduction

Traffic Stream Parameters

Traffic Flow, Speed and Density

Basic Traffic Stream Models

Poisson Model

Practice Problems

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CIVE 481 PROFESSOR LAKRORI

Introduction

Understanding traffic flow and

Highways seek high
queuing is the key to evaluating
mobility (speed) while
highway performance (mobility
considering safety.
provided)

By restricting the scope of analysis, we can take a much more Transportation

detailed look at how transportation facilities function. Network

Typical operations
questions:
• How long will people have
to wait to turn left from a
driveway?
• How much delay will
people face at this signal?
• How do heavy vehicles Food for thought!
affect traffic speeds?
• What is the “capacity” of a
freeway?

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CIVE 481 PROFESSOR LAKRORI

Traffic Flow Stream Parameters

Consider a long, uninterrupted, single ‐ lane roadway:

No passing, no opposing traffic,

no intersections, no stop signs, no traffic signals.

5.2.1 Traffic Flow, Speed and Density

Traffic Flow:

n
q = (5.1)
t

Where:
•q= traffic flow in vehicles per unit time,
•n= number of vehicles passing some designated roadway point during time t, and
•t= duration of time interval.

In addition to the total number of vehicles passing a Headway ‐ time between the passage of the front
point in some time interval, consider the time bumpers of successive vehicles, at some
between the passing of successive vehicles. designated highway point

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Time
n headways
t =  h (5.2)
i
are related
to t.
i=1

Defined in
Eq. 5.1

Where:
•t= duration of time interval,
• hi = time headway of the ith vehicle (the time that has transpired between the
arrival of vehicle i and i‐1),
•n= number of measured vehicle time headways at some designated roadway
point.

Substituting Eq. 5.2 into Eq. 5.1 gives

n
q= n

h i (5.3)
i=1

or

1
q=
h (5.4)

Where:

h is the average time headway, (  hi / n ), in unit time per vehicle.

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Example Problem: Time Headway

The capacity (maximum hourly flow rate) for one lane of a freeway facility is roughly
2400 veh/hr. What is the average time headway corresponding to this capacity?

Average
Time‐mean speed Traffic
Speed

(5.5)

Where:
u t = time-mean speed in unit distance per unit time,
ui = spot speed (the speed of the vehicle at the designated point on the highway, as
might be obtained using a radar gun) of the ith vehicle, and
n = number of measured vehicle spot speeds.

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CIVE 481 PROFESSOR LAKRORI

Average
Traffic
Speed
Space – mean speed

Example:

You own two cars, they are both driven an equal distance and one gets 20
mpg, the other 50mpg

Q: Is the average mpg (50+20)/2 = 35 mpg?

Hint: No, must use the harmonic mean.

(5.9)

Quiz: What is the average mpg (i.e. correct answer)?

Traffic Density

n
k = (5.10)
l

Where:
• k = traffic density in vehicles per unit distance,
• n = number of vehicles occupying some length of roadway at some specified
time, and
• l= length of roadway.

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Spacing

Front bumper to front bumper distance of successive vehicles.

Example Problem: Space Headway

Consider 500 feet of the inside and outside SB lanes in the following aerial photograph
of the I‐15 freeway. Calculate density and speed accordingly.

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The simple identity provides the basic

relationship among traffic flow, speed
(space‐mean speed), and density is,

q = uk (5.14)

Where:
• q= flow, typically in units of vehicles per hour (veh/h),
• u= speed (space mean speed), typically in units of mi/h, and
• k= density, typically in units of veh/mi.

Flow

Speed
5.3 Basic Traffic Stream Models Density
Model

(5.15)

Where:
u = space-mean speed in mi/h,
uf = free-flow speed in mi/h,
k = density in veh/mi, and
Figure 5.1: Illustration of a typical linear
speed‐density relationship. kj = jam density in veh/mi.

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CIVE 481 PROFESSOR LAKRORI

Using the assumption of a linear speed‐density relationship as

Flow shown in Eq. 5.15, a parabolic flow‐density model can be obtained
Density by substituting Eq. 5.15 into Eq. 5.14 (q = uk),
Model

(5.16)

Where: All terms as

defined previously

Figure 5.2: Illustration of the parabolic

flow‐density relationship.

Again returning to the linear speed‐density model (Eq. 5.15), a

Speed corresponding speed‐flow model can be developed by rearranging
Flow Eq. 5.15 to
Model

(5.21)

and by substituting Eq. 5.21 into

Eq. 5.14,

(5.22)

Figure 5.3: Illustration of the parabolic

speed‐flow relationship.

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CIVE 481 PROFESSOR LAKRORI

Basic Traffic
Stream
Models
Combined

Figure 5.4: Flow‐density, speed‐density,

and speed‐flow relationships (assuming a
linear speed‐density model).

Models
of Traffic
Flow

Traffic is rarely uniformly

Must make some
distributed (equal time
assumption for arrival
between arriving
patterns (distribution)
vehicles)

Poisson Model
(approximation of non‐ P(n) 
tn e t (5.23)
uniform flow) n!
Where:
P(n) = probability of having n vehicles arrive in time t,
t= duration of the time interval over which vehicles are counted,
= average vehicle flow or arrival rate in vehicles per unit time, and
e= base of the natural logarithm (e = 2.718).

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Poisson
Distribution

•The assumption of Poisson vehicle arrivals

(5.24) also implies a distribution of the time
intervals between the arrivals of
successive vehicles (time headway).

Where:
= average vehicle arrival rate in veh/s,
q= flow in veh/h, and 3600 = number
of seconds per hour.

Substituting Eq. 5.24 into Eq. 5.23 gives Negative

Exponential
Distribution

Pn =
qt 3600 n e -qt 3600 (5.25)
n!

The probability of having no vehicles arrive in a time interval of length

t (P(0)) is equivalent to the probability of a vehicle headway, h, being
greater than or equal to the time interval t. So from Eq. 5.25,

P0 = Ph  t  = e-qt 3600 (5.26)

This distribution of vehicle headways is Limitations of the Poisson Model: Mean (average number
known as the negative exponential of cars per time period) must be equal to the variance
distribution and is often simply referred to (variance over all time period) or must use an alternate
as the exponential distribution. model (negative binomial, etc.).

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CIVE 481 PROFESSOR LAKRORI

TRAFFIC STREAM PARAMETERS & BASIC TRAFFIC STREAM MODELS

PRACTICE PROBLEMS

San Diego Union Tribune ranks the Northbound I‐805 at Clairemont Mesa
Boulevard first in the U‐T's sixth annual list of San Diego County's worst
freeway bottlenecks. Photo by John Gastaldo/U‐T San Diego.

Problem 5.1
Assume you are observing traffic in a single lane of a highway at a specific
location. You measure the average headway and average spacing of
passing vehicles at 3.2 seconds and 165 feet, respectively.

Calculate the flow, average speed, and density of the traffic stream in this
lane.

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Problem 5.2
Assume you are an observer standing at a point along a three lane
roadway. All vehicles in lane 1 are traveling at 30 mi/h, all vehicles in lane
2 are traveling at 45 mi/h, and all vehicles in lane 3 are traveling at 60
mi/h. There is also a constant spacing of 0.5 mile between vehicles.

If you collect spot speed data for all vehicles as they cross your
observation point, for 30 minutes, what will be the time‐mean speed and
space‐mean speed for this traffic stream?

Problem 5.3
On a specific westbound section of highway, studies show that the speed‐
density relationship is:

.
𝑘
𝑢 𝑢 1
𝑘

It is known that the capacity is 4200 veh/h and the jam density is 210
veh/mi. What is the space mean speed of the traffic at capacity, and what
is the free flow speed?

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Problem 5.4
Five minivans and three trucks are traveling on a 3.0 mile circular track
and complete a full lap in 98.0, 108.0, 113.0, 108.0, 102.0, 101.0, 85.0,
95.0 seconds, respectively. Assuming all the vehicles are traveling at
constant speeds, what is the time‐mean speed of the minivans? Pay
attention to rounding.

a) 102.332 mi/h
b) 107.417 mi/h
c) 102.079 mi/h
d) 102.400 mi/h

EIT Alert: possible mistakes

still have answers listed. Can
you identify them?

Problem 5.5
An observer has determined that the time headways between
successive vehicles on a section of highway are exponentially
distributed and that 65% of the headways between vehicles are 9
seconds or greater.

If the observer decides to count traffic in 30 second time intervals,

estimate the probability of the observer counting exactly four
vehicles in an interval.

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