TRAFFIC ENGINEERING(21CV652)

MODULE 1

TRAFFIC PLANNING AND CHARACTERISTICS

Traffic Planning and Characteristics: Road Characteristics-Road user characteristics,

PIEV theory, Vehicle Performance characteristics, Fundamentals of Traffic Flow,
Urban Traffic problems in India, Integrated planning of town, country, regional and
all urban infrastructures, Sustainable approach- land use & transport and modal
integration

INTRODUCTION:

Traffic engineering is a branch of civil engineering that uses engineering techniques to

achieve the safe and efficient movement of people and goods on roadways

It focuses mainly on research and construction of the infrastructure necessary for safe and
efficient traffic flow, such as road geometry, sidewalks and crosswalks, segregated cycle
facilities, shared lane marking, traffic signs, road surface markings and traffic lights.

It is the phase of transportation engineering that deals with the planning, geometric design
and traffic operations of roads, streets and highways, their networks, terminals, abutting
lands, and relationships with other modes of transportation.

 Transportation Engineering is defined as a discipline applying technology and

scientific principles to the planning, functional design, operation, and management of
facilities for all modes of transportation.

 Transportation mode includes: land, rail, water, air and pipe.

 The focus of this course is on surface (land) transportation and connection with other
modes.

 It is the science of measuring traffic and travel, the study of the basic laws relating to
traffic flow and generation and application of this knowledge to the professional
practice of planning, designing and operating traffic systems to achieve safe and
efficient movement of persons and goods.

 It is the phase of transportation engineering that deals with the planning, geometric
design and traffic operations of roads, streets and highways, their networks, terminals,
abutting lands, and relationships with other modes of transportation.

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Goal of Traffic Engineering: Explore how to provide for the safe, rapid, comfortable,
convenient, economical, and environmentally compatible movement of people and goods.

• Safe --- public safety

• Rapid --- time value and customer service

• Comfortable/convenient --- Level of service

• Economical --- Social cost

• Environmental --- Clean air and sustainability

• Movement --- Mobility

Objective of traffic engineering:

o Achieve efficient ‘free and rapid’ flow of traffic : the main objective of traffic engineering
should be to attain free and rapid flow of traffic by proper planning and design of the various
components of the roads.

Reduce the number of accidents: even care should be taken that while planning and
designing importance should be given to reduce the accidental rate to the minimum number by
taking suitable measures.

SCOPE AND SIGNIFICANCE: Traffic engineering covers a broad range of engineering

applications with a focus on the safety of the public, the efficient use of transportation
resources, and the mobility of people and goods.

Traffic engineering involves a variety of engineering and management skills, including design,
operation, and system optimization. In order to address the above requirement, the traffic
engineer must first understand the traffic flow behavior and characteristics by extensive
collection of traffic flow data and analysis. Based on this analysis, traffic flow is controlled so
that the transport infrastructure is used optimally as well as with good service quality.

In short, the role of traffic engineer is to protect the environment while providing mobility, to
preserve scarce resources while assuring economic activity, and to assure safety and security to
people and vehicles, through both acceptable practices and high-tech communications.

Traffic characteristics:-improvement of traffic facilities( vehicle , human[road user])

Traffic studies and analysis

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Traffic operation-control and regulation:- laws of speed limit, installation of traffic control
device

Planning and analysis

Geometric design:-Horizontal and vertical curve design

Administration and management:- ‘3E’concept.

The study of traffic engineering may be divided into six major sections:

1. Traffic characteristics

2. Traffic surveys and analysis

3. Traffic operation control and regulations

4. Planning and analysis

5. Geometric design

6. Traffic management

5E’S OF TRAFFIC ENGINNERING:

1. Engineering

2. Enforcement

3. Education

4. Economics

5. Environmental

COMPONENTS OF TRAFFIC ENGINEERING The components of traffic engineering

classified into three types.

1. Road users including drivers, cyclists and pedestrians

2. Vehicle

3. Roads and Highways

4. Control devices

5. Land use characteristics

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Road User Characteristics:

 Visual
 Fields of Vision
 Acute or clear vision cone
 Fairly clear vision cone
 Peripheral vision
 Perception-reaction time (PRT)
 Detection
 Identification

 Decision.

 Response

 Reaction Time
 Reaction Distance
 Expectancy
 Age
 Complexity of reaction
 Presence of alcohol and/or drugs in the driver's system

Visual:
The test is a standard chart-reading exercise that measures static visual acuity - that is, the
ability to see small stationary details c
Physical characteristics The physical characteristics of the road users may be either permanent
or temporary. The physical characteristics are the vision, hearing, strength and the general
reaction to traffic situations. Vision: The perception-reaction time depends greatly on the
effectiveness of drivers vision in perceiving the objects and traffic control measure

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Fields of Vision
Acute or clear vision cone-3° to 10° around the line of sight; legend can be readonly within
this narrow field of vision.
Fairly clear vision cone-10° to 12° around the line of sight; colour and shape can be
identified in this field.
Peripheral vision -This field may extend up to 90° to the right and left of the centreline of
the pupil, and up to 60° above and 70° below the line of sight. Stationary objects are
generally not seen in the peripheral vision field, but the movement of objects through this
field is detected.

Perception-reaction time (PRT):

The perception time includes the detection, identification, and decision elements involved
responding to a action, whereas the reaction time is the time it takes to initiate the physical
response. Some references refer it to the Perception Identification Emotion Volition time or
PIEV, which is comparable in concept tothe PRT.

The time of critical driver characteristic is perception-reaction time (PRT). During perception
and reaction, the driver must perform four distinct processes

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• Detection. In this phase, an object or condition of concern enters the driver's field of
vision, and the road user’s driver becomes consciously aware that something requiring a
response is present.
• Identification. In this phase, the driver acquires sufficient information concerning the
object or condition to allow the consideration of an appropriate response.
• Decision. Once identification of the object or condition is sufficiently completed, the
driver must analyse the information and make a decision about how to respond.
• Response. After a decision has been reached, the response is now physically implemented
by the driver.
PIEV Theory:
1) Perception time: is time required for the sensations received by the eyes or ears of the
driver to be transmitted to the brain through the nervous system & spinal cord or it is the time
required to perceive an object or situation.
2) Intellection time: is the time require for the driver to understand the situationit is also the
time required for comparing the different thoughts.
3) Emotion time: is the time elapsed during emotional sensational and other mental
disturbance such as fear, anger or any other emotional feeling superstitionetc
4) Volition time: is the time taken by the driver for the final action such as brakeapplication.

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Reaction Time
For signal timing purposes, the Institute of Transportation Engineers recommends a PRT
time of 1.0 seconds
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
mandates the use of 2.5 seconds for most computations involving braking reactions

Reaction Distance
Reaction time is the distance the vehicle travels while the driver goes through theprocess. In
the example of a simple braking reaction, the PRT begins when the driver first becomes
aware of an event or object in his or her field of vision and ends when his or her foot is
applied to the brake. During this time, the vehicle continues along its original course at its
initial speed. Only after the foot is applied to the brake pedal the vehicle begin to slow down in
response to the stimulus. Thereaction distance is simply the PRT multiplied by the initial speed
of the vehicle.
Expectancy
• Continuity. Experiences of the immediate past are generally expected to continue.
Drivers do not, for example, expect the vehicle they are following tosuddenly slow down.
• Event. Things that have not happened previously will not happen. If no vehicles have
been observed entering the roadway from a small driveway over a reasonable period of
time, then the driver will assume that none will enter now.
• Temporal. When events are cyclic, such as a traffic signal, the longer a given state is
observed, drivers will assume that it is more likely a change will occur.
Other Factors Affecting PRTAge,
Fatigue,
Complexity of reaction, and
Presence of alcohol and/or drugs in the driver's system

VEHICLE CHARACTERISTICS
Size Weight
Axle configuration
Power to weight ratio
Turning ratio Turning
path Pollution created
Design vehicle

1. Size, Weight, Axle Configuration

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A vehicle has three dimensions: length, width, height. The height of vehicles is more
important considered in placing of signals and designing over passes and under passes.
Weight of the vehicle plays an important role in design of both flexible and rigid
pavement. The weight of vehicle is transferred through axle, it is important to design a
pavement.
Power to Weight ratio of vehicle
Human powered vehicles – cycles, rickshaw have low powered to weightratio and their
acceleration characteristic, speed on slopes are low.
Motorized vehicle - have high power to weight ratio
Heavy vehicles- have poor power to weight ratio. Power to Weight ratio isimportant factors
as it relates to operating efficiency of vehicles.
Turning radius and turning path

MINIMUM TURNING RADIUS

Minimum turning radius is the radius of the circle that will be traced by the front wheel if
the vehicle moved with its steering maximum extend Big vehiclehave bigger turning radius
and small vehicle have smaller radius.
Turning path
Since wheel turns the rear wheel are fixed and the vehicle body extend beyondthe tyres, the
effective width of vehicle on a turn is increases the width of the road on curves is increased
in order to accommodate the increase effective width of vehicle.
Vehicle Pollution Release
hydrocarbons.

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Hydrocarbons react with nitrogen oxide in the presence of sunlight toproduce ozone
It releases major components of nitrogen which is the main causes of acidrain
Carbon monoxide reduces the flow of blood streams
Greenhouse gases also emitted-carbon dioxide Noise
pollution-age of vehicle, tyre type etc.
Physiological problems-sleep, concentration
DESIGN VEHICLE
TYPES OF VEHICLES:
Motorized two wheeler
Motorized three wheeler
Passenger cars
Buses
Trucks
Slow non motorized vehicle like cycles
Engineer needs to choose a type of vehicle based on the characteristic of vehiclethe road
must be designed
IRC –Indian Road Congress, AASHTO- The American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials (AASHTO) gives the design of roads

Vehicle characteristic
• Design vehicle
Selection of design vehicle can have a good effect on use of roadway facilities such as
turning radius, turning pocket length, U-turn from left-turn-bay, and design of parking.
• Acceleration performance of vehicle
Determination of length of acceleration lane when merging, dual objectives of greater
power and improved fuel efficiency

Power performance of vehicle

Resistance to motion of a vehicle
The power developed by the engine should be sufficient to over come all resistance to
motion at desired speed and to accelerate an any desired rate to the desired speed
Rolling resistance
Air resistance Grade
resistance
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Inertia force during acceleration and de acceleration

Transmission losses
Tractive resistance Pp= Pf+ Pa+Pi+Pj

Forces acting on a moving vehicle

ROLLING RESISTANCE
When the vehicle wheels rolls over the road surface, the irregularities and roughness of the
surface causes deformation of the tyres, and sometimes the road surface may go
deformation
Rolling resistance Pf = m x f x gm =
mass of the vehicle in kg
f = coefficient of rolling resistance
Pf = rolling resistance in N
G = acceleration due to gravity in m /sec2

VALUES OF ROLLING RESISTANCE

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Types of surfacing Co efficient of

rolling resistance

CEMENT CONCRETE AND ASPHALT SURFACING 0.01 to 0.02

ROAD WITH SMOOTH CHIPPING, GRAVEL SURFACE 0.02 to 0.0025

TREATED WITH BITUMINOUS BINDER
ROAD WITH SMOOTH CHIPPING, GRAVEL 0.03 to 0.04
SURFACE NOT TREATED WITH BITUMINOUS
BINDER
COBBLESTONE PAVEMENT 0.04 to 0.05

EARTH ROADS, SMOOTH AND COMPACT 0.03 to 0.06

PLOUGHED FIELD, SWAMPY GROUND 0.15 to 0.30

VALUES OF ROLLING RESISTANCE INDIAN STANDARD

TYPES OF SURFACING CO EFFICIENT OF

ROLLINGRESISTANCE

ASPHATIC CONCRETE 0.01

PREMIXED CARPET IN GOOD 0.016
CONDITION
PREMIXED CARPET IN BAD 0.022
CONDITION
WATER BOUND MACADAM IN GOOD 0.025
CONDITION
WATER BOUND MACADAM IN 0.037
BADCONDITION
GRAVEL 0.046
EARTH 0.055
Rolling resistance depend on speed alsofv = fo
[ 1 + 0.01 (V-50)]
Where fv = coefficient of rolling resistance at speed VV = speed
in K.P.H
fo = coefficient of rolling resistance
AIR RESISTANCE
Resistance caused against side of vehicles bodyWheel causes
power loss
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It exerts reaction pressure against the front of the vehicle
Pa = Ca x A x V2
Pa = air resistance in NA=
projected front area
V= velocity of speed in m/sec Ca =
coefficient of air resistance
G = acceleration due to gravity 9.81 m/sec2

COEFFICIENT OF AIR RESISTANCE

TYPE OF FRONTAL MASS in kg COEFFICIENT

VECHICLE AREA m2
CAR 1.63 1065 0.42

AMBASSADOR 2.15 1365 0.39

CAR
JEEP 2.38 1200 0.37

TATA TRUCK 5.37 6120 0.48

ASHOK 5.37 8125 0.48

LEYLAND
MARUTI CAR 1.54 880 0.40

GRADE RESISTANCE
When a vehicle which has to moving on a level stretch at a particular speedhas to move up
in incline, addition work has to be done.
Pi= (m x i x g) /100 (+ or -)
Pi = grade resistance

INERTIA FORCE DURING ACCELERATION AND REACCELERATION

Inertia force
Force = mass x accelerationPj =
m x a = m x (dv/dt)
m = mass of vehicle in kgPj =
Inertia force

TRANSMISSION LOSSES
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Losses in power from the engine to gear system. The vehicle has a system ofgear to alter
the speed.
At starting of vehicle high power is needed and speed is low. For high
power engine for climbing a hill the speed is reduced

POWER REQUIREMENT OF A VEHICLE

The mechanical power developed by the engine is transmitted to the driving wheels by
transmission system.
Rear axle torque.

Ta = k x Tc x Gt x Ga
Where Tc = engine torque
Gt = transmission gear ratio
Ga =rear axle gear ratio = 0.80 to 0.90 K =
efficiency of transmission system

Pp = (rear axle torque/radius of rolling tyre) Pp =

tractive force
Pp = (K x Te x Gt x Ge) / rw
Power output = Pp x v
v= speed in m/sec
v = (V x 1000)/3600=V/3.6
Power output = (Pp x V)/3.6
Power output = (Pv x 0.377 x rw x n)/(Gt x Ga)
Engine power in watts = (Pv x 0.377 x rw x n)/(Gt x Ga x k)

Tractive resistance
Pp= Pf+ Pa+Pi+Pj
WHERE Pa = Air resistance in N
Pf = Rolling resistance in NPi =
grade resistance
Pj=inertia force due to acceleration and de acceleration.

Problem

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A passenger car weighing 2 tonnes is requires to accelerate at a rate of 3 /sec 2in the first
gear from a speed of 10 K.P.H the gradient is + 1 percentage and theroad has a black topped
surface. The frontal projection area of the car is 2.0 m2.the car tyres have a radius of 0.33
m. The real axle gear ratio is 3.82 :1 andthe first gear ratio is 2.78 :1. Calculate the engine
horsepower needed and the speed of engine. Make suitable assumption
SOLUTION:
Tractive resistance
Pp= Pf+ Pa+Pi+Pj Pf
=mxfxg
f= 0.02 assume
Pf = 2000 x 9.81 x 0.02
= 392.4 N
Pa = Ca x A x v2

Ca = 0.39
A= 2.15 m2
V=10 KMPH
Pa = 0.39 x 2.15 x (15/3.6) x (15/3.6)
= 14.5 N

Pi = (m x i x g) /100
= 2000 x 9.81 x (1/100)
= 196.3 N
Pj= m x a
= 2000 x 3
= 6000N
Pp= Pf+ Pa+Pi+Pj
= 392.4 +14.5+196.2+6000
= 6603.1 N

Power output = Pp x v
= Pp x (V/3.6)
= 6603.1 x 10/3.6
= 183441.9 W
= 183441.9/735 = 24.95 hp
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Assume transmission efficiency of 0.90 The
engine horse power V
= 24.95/0.90 = 27.72 hp
V= 0.377 x rw x n/Gt x Garw =
ro x λ
λ= tyre deformation factor = 0.935
= 0.935 x 0.33
= 0.308 m
N = (10 x 2.78 x 3.82)/(0.377 x 0.308)
= 915 R.P.M

Braking system
Braking system is more important for safety
The safe stopping distance is the distance travelled during the perception and reaction time
and the distance required to stop the vehicle after the brakes are applied.
The braking distances
d = V2/254f
V= speed in K.P.H

f = coefficient of friction between the tyres and the pavement

The braking character of the vehicle influence the skidding of the vehicle Acceleration rate
is governed by vehicle transmission system, weight and horsepower
Acceleration rate
Medium passenger car = 3-8 K.P.H per secTrucks
and busses = 1-4 K.P.H per sec

Deceleration rates
The maximum deceleration is related to the coefficient of friction between the tyres and the
pavement
Force required to decelerate= F=
mxd
F= force required to decelerate in NM =
mass of vehicle in kg
d = deceleration in m /sec 2d =
F/m
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But
f = F/(m x g)
f = coefficient of frictiond =
fxg
d =9.81 f

Deceleration rate

Deceleration in m/s2 f

Comfortable to 2.62 0.27

passenger
Undesirable but not 3.39 0.34
alarming to passenger
Severe and 4.26 0.43
uncomfortable to
passenger

When the vehicle is travelling at a particular speed is suddenly allowed to move by switch
off the engine and putting the gear neutral and deceleration in caused Pp = Pf +Pa +or -
Pi+or -Pj
Pp=0 and i=0
Pj=Pa+Pf
m(dv/dt)=Cv x A x v2 + (mxf xg)

(dv/dt)= (Cv x A x v2)/m + (f xg)

Problem
A ambassador car travelling at a speed of 60 K.M.H on a WBM road in good condition is
suddenly allowed to coast by switching off the engine and puttingthe gear in neutral. What
is the deceleration caused.
Solution:
(dv/dt) = (Cv x A x v2)/m + (f xg) Cv
=0.39 kg/m2
A =2.15 m2
M =1365 kg
For WBM f= 0.025
(dv/dt)=(0.39 x 2.15)/1365 x (60/3.6) x (60/3.6) + 0.025 X 9.81
=0.42 m sec2.
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FUNDAMENTALS OF TRAFFIC FLOW

Overview
Traffic engineering pertains to the analysis of the behaviour 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 behaviour requires a thorough
knowledgeof traffic stream parameters and their mutual relationships. In this chapter the
basic concepts of traffic flow is presented.

Speed
Speed is considered as a quality measurement of travel as the drivers and passengers will
be concerned more about the speed of the journey than the design aspects of the traffic. It
is defined as the rate of motion in distance per unit of time. Mathematically speed or
velocity v is given by,

where, v is the speed of the vehicle in m/s, d is distance travelled in m in timet seconds.
Speed of different vehicles will vary with respect to time and space. To represent these
variation, several types of speed can be defined. Important among them are spot speed,
running speed, journey speed, time mean speed and space mean speed. These are discussed
below.

Spot Speed
Spot speed is the instantaneous speed of a vehicle at a specified location. Spotspeed can be
used to design the geometry of road like horizontal and vertical curves, super elevation etc.

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Location and size of signs, design of signals, safe speed, and speed zone determination,
require the spot speed data.
Accident analysis, road maintenance, and congestion are the modern fields of traffic
engineer, which uses spot speed data as the basic input.
 Spot speed can be measured using an enoscope, pressure contact tubes or direct
timing procedure or radar speedometer or by time-lapse photographic methods. It
can be determined by speeds extracted from video images by recording the distance
traveling by all vehicles between a particular pair of frames.

Enoscope method

Stop watch method

Photographic method

Running speed

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Running speed is the average speed maintained over a particular course while the vehicle is
moving and is found by dividing the length of the course by the time duration the vehicle
was in motion. i.e. this speed doesn’t consider the time during which the vehicle is brought
to a stop, or has to wait till it has a clear road ahead. The running speed will always be
more than or equal to the journey speed, as delays are not considered in calculating the
running speed.

Journey speed
Journey speed is the effective speed of the vehicle on a journey between two points and is
the distance between the two points divided by the total time taken for the vehicle to
complete the journey including any stopped time. If the journey speed is less than running
speed, it indicates that the journey follows a stop-go condition with enforced acceleration
and deceleration. The spot speedhere may vary from zero to some maximum in excess of
the running speed. A uniformity between journey and running speeds denotes comfortable
travel conditions.

Time mean speed and space mean speed

Time mean speed is defined as the average speed of all the vehicles passing a point on a
highway over some specified time period. Space mean speed is defined as the average
speed of all the vehicles occupying a given section of ahighway over some specified time
period. Both mean speeds will always be different from each other except in the unlikely
event that all vehicles are traveling at the same speed. Time mean speed is a point
measurement while space mean speed is a measure relating to length of highway or lane,
i.e. the mean speed of vehicles over a period of time at a point in space is time mean.

speed and the mean speed over a space at a given instant is the space mean speed.

Flow
There are practically two ways of counting the number of vehicles on a road. One is flow
or volume, which is defined as the number of vehicles that pass a point on a highway or a
given lane or direction of a highway during a specific time interval. The measurement is
carried out by counting the number of vehicles, nt, passing a particular point in one lane in
a defined period t. Then the flow q expressed in vehicles/hour is given by

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Variations of Volume
The variation of volume with time, i.e. month to month, day to day, hour to hour and
within a hour is also as important as volume calculation. Volume variations can also be
observed from season to season. Volume will be above average in a pleasant motoring
month of summer, but will be more pronouncedin rural than in urban area. But this is the
most consistent of all the variations and affects the traffic stream characteristics the least.
Weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays will also face difference in pattern. But comparing day
with day, patterns for routes of a similar nature often show a marked similarity, which is
useful in enabling predictions to be made.
The most significant variation is from hour to hour. The peak hour observed during
mornings and evenings of weekdays, which is usually 8 to 10 per cent of total daily flow or
2 to 3 times the average hourly volume. These trips are mainly the work trips, which are
relatively stable with time and more or less constant from day to day.
Types of volume measurements
Since there is considerable variation in the volume of traffic, several types of
measurements of volume are commonly adopted which will average these variations into a
single volume count to be used in many design purposes.
1. Average Annual Daily Traffic(AADT) : The average 24-hour traffic volume at a
given location over a full 365-day year, i.e. the total number of vehicles passing the site in
a year divided by 365.

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2. Average Annual Weekday Traffic(AAWT) : The average 24-hour traffic volume

occurring on weekdays over a full year. It is computed by dividing thetotal weekday traffic
volume for the year by 260.
3. Average Daily Traffic(ADT) : An average 24-hour traffic volume at a given location
for some period of time less than a year. It may be measured for six months, a season, a
month, a week, or as little as two days. An ADT is a valid number only for the period over
which it was measured.
4. Average Weekday Traffic(AWT) : An average 24-hour traffic volume occurring on
weekdays for some period of time less than one year, such as fora month or a season.
B A

Illustration of density

The relationship between AAWT and AWT is analogous to that between AADT and ADT.
Volume in general is measured using different ways like manual counting, detector/sensor
counting, moving-car observer method, etc. Mainly the volume study establishes the
importance of a particular route withrespect to the other routes, the distribution of traffic
on road, and the fluctuations in flow. All which eventually determines the design of a
highwayand the related facilities. Thus, volume is treated as the most important of all the
parameters of traffic stream.

Density
Density is defined as the number of vehicles occupying a given length of highway or lane
and is generally expressed as vehicles per km. One can photograph a length of road x,
count the number of vehicles, nx, in one lane of the road at that point of time and derive the
density k as,

This is illustrated in figure. From the figure, the density is the number of vehicles between
the point A and B divided by the distance between A and B. Density is also equally

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important as flow but from a different angle as it is the measure most directly related to
traffic demand. Again it measures the proximity of vehicles in the stream which in turn
affects the freedom to manoeuvre and comfortable driving.

Derived characteristics

From the fundamental traffic flow characteristics like flow, density, and speed,a few other
parameters of traffic flow can be derived. Significant among them are the time headway,
distance headway and travel time. They are discussed one by one below.
Time headway
The microscopic character related to volume is the time headway or simply headway. Time
headway is defined as the time difference between any two successive vehicles when they
cross a given point. Practically, it involves the measurement of time between the passage of

one rear bumper and the next pasta given point. If all headways h in time period, t, over
which flow has been measured are added then,
But the flow is defined as the number of vehicles nt measured in time interval
t, that is,

where, hav is the average headway. Thus, average headway is the inverse of flow. Time
headway is often referred to as simply the headway.

Distance headway
Another related parameter is the distance headway. It is defined as the distance between
corresponding points of two successive vehicles at any given time. It involves the
measurement from a photograph, the distance from rear bumper of lead vehicle to rear
bumper of following vehicle at a point of time. If all the space headways in distance x over
which the density has been measured are added,

But the density (k) is the number of vehicles nx at a distance of x, that is

Where, sav is average distance headway. The average distance headway is the inverse of
density and is sometimes called as spacing.

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Travel time

Travel time is defined as the time taken to complete a journey. As the speed increases,
travel time required to reach the destination also decreases and viceversa. Thus, travel time
is inversely proportional to the speed. However, in practice, the speed of a vehicle
fluctuates over time and the travel time represents an average measure.

Fundamentals diagrams of traffic flow

1. Flow-Density Curve
The flow and density varies with time and location. The relation between the density and the

corresponding flow on a given stretch of road is referred to as one of the fundamental diagram of
traffic flow. Some characteristics of an ideal flow-density relationship is listed below:
1. When the density is zero, flow will also be zero, since there is no vehicles on the road.
2. When the number of vehicles gradually increases the density as well as flow Increases.
3. When more and more vehicles are added, it reaches a situation where vehicles can't move. This
is referred to as the jam density or the maximum density. At jam density, flow will be zero
because the vehicles are not moving.
4. There will be some density between zero density and jam density, when the flow is maximum.

The relationship is normally represented by a parabolic curve as shown in figure. The point O
refers to the case with zero density and zero flow. The point B refers to the maximum flow and
the corresponding density is kmax. The point C refers to the maximum density kjam and the
corresponding flow is zero. OA is the tangent drawn to the parabola at O, and the slope of the line
OA gives the mean free flow

2. Speed-Density Curve
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Similar to the flow-density relationship, speed will be maximum, referred to as the free
flow speed, and when the density is maximum, the speed will be zero. The simplest
assumption is that this variation of speed with density is linear as shown by the solid line
in figure. Corresponding to the zero density, vehicles will be flowing with their desire
speed, or free flow speed. When the density is jam density, the speed Of the vehicles
becomes zero. It is also possible to have non-linear relationships as shown by the dotted
lines. These will be discussed later

Where, u-speed, k-density, kjam-jam density, uf-free flow speed

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3. Speed-Flow Curve
The relationship between the speed and flow can be postulated as follows. The flow is zero either
because there is no vehicles or there are too many vehicles so that they cannot move. At
maximum flow, the speed will be in between zero and free flow speed. This relationship is shown
in figure. The maximum flow qmax occurs at speed u. It is possible to have two different speeds
for a given below

Urban Traffic Problems in India

Growth of Towns
Urbanization and industrialization are two of the most important features of modern
civilization.

The urban population in 2014 accounted for 54% of the total global population,up from 34%
in 1960, and continues to grow. The urban population growth, in absolute numbers, is
concentrated in the less developed regions of the world. Itis estimated that by 2017, even in
less developed countries, a majority of people will be living in urban areas. The global
urban population is expected to grow

approximately 1.84% per year between 2015 and 2020, 1.63% per year between

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2020 and 2025, and 1.44% per year between 2025 and 2030. India is still one of the
countries having a low degree of urbanization. (32.3%, WHO statistics 2014)

Growth of Traffic
 private car usage increased
 poor Public Transport system
 leads to oil crisis
 poor traffic management
 CONJESTED roads
 Parking demand increases
 Driver stresses caused by frustration and delays

Measures to meet the problem

 Land use and city planning controls: limiting floor area ratio; restricting high rise
construction
 Transportation studies to be carried out and plans for new roads and
reorganization of the existing road network to be formulated
 Road pricings
 Parking restriction
 Promotion of public transport system
 Staggering of working hours
 Promotion of bi-cycle traffic.

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