Part-I

Prepared By : Centre For Research And Professional Training & Services

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 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.
 Traffic studies provide insightful information during the
planning and design phases of projects. These studies can
help determine the impact of phased developments,
determine if traffic signals are needed, and determine if
service and emergency vehicles can properly access the
site.
Purpose of Traffic Studies

 Establish relative importance of any road

 Planning, designing and regulation of traffic
 Structural design of road
 Planning and design of new streets
 Establishment properties and schedules for traffic
improvements.
 Design of intersection and other control devices
 Traffic studies may be grouped into three main categories:
◦ (1) Inventories,
◦ (2) Administrative studies
◦ (3) Dynamic studies.
(1) Inventories:
provide a list or graphic display of existing
information, such as:
◦ street widths,
◦ parking spaces,
◦ transit routes,
◦ traffic regulations.
(2) Administrative studies
 use existing engineering records, available in government agencies and
departments.
 include the results of surveys, which may involve:
◦ field measurements and/or
◦ aerial photography.
(3) Dynamic traffic studies
 involve the collection of data under operational conditions and include
studies of:
◦ speed,
◦ traffic volume,
◦ travel time and delay,
◦ parking, and
◦ crashes.
They are described in detail in this chapter.
 Traffic Volume Study
 Spot Speed Study
 Speed Delay Study
 Traffic Capacity Study & LoS
 Origin Destination Study
 Parking Study
 Accident Study
 Counting of vehicles & passengers is the most fundamental
measurement of traffic Engineering.
 We can produce the estimates of
I. Traffic volume
II. Rate of flow
III. Demand & capacity
 Volume is the number of vehicles of passengers passing a point during
a specific time period.
 Rate of flow is vehicles or persons passing a point in a specific period
expressed as an equivalent hourly rate
 Demand is the number vehicles desire to travel past a point during a
specified time period.
 Capacity is the maximum rate at which vehicles can traverse a
segment during a specific time period.
 Volume studies are done at mid- block locations & intersection
Block.
 Period of volume study: 7 day, 72 hour,24 hour, 12 hour or peak
period depending on the purpose.
1. Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT)
the average of 24-hour counts collected every day of
the year.
2. Average Daily Traffic (ADT)
the average of 24-hour counts collected over a
number of days greater than one but less than a year.
3. Peak Hour Volume (PHV)
the maximum number of vehicles that pas a point on a
highway during a period of 60 consecutive minutes.
4. Vehicle Classification (VC) with respect to the type
of vehicles for cars, two-axle trucks, or three-axle
trucks.
5. Vehicle Miles of Travel (VMT)
 Methods of Conducting Volume Counts
◦ Manual Method
(Paper-Pen Method, Mechanical Hand counters)
◦ Automatic Method
(pneumatic tube traffic counter, Satellite base traffic
count system)
 pneumatic tube traffic counter
Paper-Pencil Method

Mechanical Hand Counters

Satellite base traffic count system
 Depending on the anticipated use of the data to be
collected.
 Intersection Counts
◦ vehicle classifications,
◦ through movements,
◦ turning movements.
◦ Pedestrian Volume Counts
◦ Periodic Volume Counts (AADT)
 Average Daily Traffic
 Traffic Composition
 Hourly Variation chart
 Turning Movement Diagram
Traffic Flow Maps
Turning Movement
Variations Chart
Traffic Composition
 ◦ Spot speed studies are conducted to estimate the
distribution of speeds of vehicles in a stream of traffic at
a particular location on a highway.
◦ carried out by recording the speeds of a sample of
vehicles at a specified location.
Used to:
◦ Establish parameters for
traffic operation and control, such as:
 speed zones,
 speed limits (85th-percentile speed)
◦ Represent different traffic conditions on a highway for basic
data collection.
◦ Mid-blocks of urban highways and straight, level sections of
rural highways for speed trend analyses.
◦ Any location may be used for solution of a specific traffic
engineering problem.
Should be selected to achieve the following:
◦ Unbiased data
◦ Drivers be unaware
◦ Equipment concealed from the driver,
◦ Observers inconspicuous.
◦ statistical analysis
◦ statistically adequate number of vehicle speeds be recorded.
 Time of Day and Duration of Spot Speed Studies
◦ depends on the purpose of the study.
◦ recommended when traffic is free-flowing,
◦ during off-peak hours.
◦ typically:
 the duration is at least 1 hour and
 the sample size is at least 30 vehicles.

 Sample Size for Spot Speed Studies

◦ The larger the sample size, will give an estimated mean
within acceptable error limits.
 Average Speed
 Median Speed
 Modal Speed
 The 85th-percentile Spot Speed
 Pace
 Standard Deviation of Speeds
◦ manual and automatic
◦ manual method is seldom used
◦ automatic devices
1. road detectors
2. radar-based
3. the principles of electronics.
 Road Detectors
 pneumatic road tubes & induction loops collect data
on speeds & volume at the same time
 Advantage:
 Human errors are considerably reduced
 Disadvantages:
 expensive
 may, affect driver behavior
 Pneumatic road tubes
◦ laid across the lane in which data are to be collected.
◦ When moving vehicle passes over, an air impulse is
transmitted to the counter.
◦ two tubes are placed across the lane, 2 m apart.
◦ An impulse is recorded when the front wheels of a
moving vehicle pass over the first tube
◦ a second impulse is recorded when the front wheels
pass over the second tube.
◦ The time elapsed between the two impulses and the
distance between the tubes are used to compute the
speed of the vehicle.
 Inductive loop
 a rectangular wire loop buried under the roadway surface.
 It operates on the principle that a disturbance in the electrical field
is created when a motor vehicle passes across it.
 Radar-Based Traffic Sensors
 Electronic-Principle Detectors
◦ traffic characteristics, such as speed, volume, queues, and
headways are computed.
◦ Using video image processing
◦ Statistical methods
◦ Analyzing data
◦ frequency histogram
◦ cumulative frequency distribution curve
Centre for Research And Professional Training & Services
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Bhubaneswar, Odisha, 751022

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