© 2016 IJSRSET | Volume 2 | Issue 3 | Print ISSN : 2395-1990 | Online ISSN : 2394-4099

Themed Section: Engineering and Technology

Evaluation of Capacity and Level of Service of Roads

C. V. Yeramwar*, A. A. Kaley, K. M. Bambode
Transportation Engineering Management, DRGIT & R, Amravati, Maharashtra, India

ABSTRACT

The road networks of any city are its lifeline and the evaluation of their performance is very necessary for future
traffic planning, design, operation and maintenance etc. Traffic flow in most cities of India is a mixed traffic
characteristics and also the traffic congestion is the common problem in most major cities in India. The objective of
the present study is to improve the performance operation of the urban road network by proposing the proper
alternatives to enhance the traffic capacity. To achieve this objective, a complete methodology for analyzing the
mixed traffic flow in 50m long stretch is selected and analyzed. Intersections are considered as the critical points of
network and estimation of their performance is very necessary. The road networks are also considered as a lifeline
for a city.The largest city in vidharbha is Nagpur, the second largest city is Amravati. Traffic congestion has become
a major problem in many cities like Amravati. Amravati is 8th most populous metropolitan area in the state.
Population of city was 7,45,000 in 2015. It has flyovers slowly coming up and enhancing the beauty of the city. The
objective of study is to improve the performance operation of road. Traffic surveys are conducted to collect data on
vehicular volume and speed selected road section. Traffic volume study is carried out and existing level of service is
calculated. The data is analysed for peak hour traffic. Traffic surveys are conducted on working days during
morning and evening peak hours. Manual technique is used for traffic surveys. Synchro software is used for analysis
of road network. Synchro software is easy to use. It is optimization software & user can optimize the entire network.
The results are useful for evaluation of capacity and level of service of road.
Keywords: Capacity, Highway Capacity Manual, level of service, saturation headway, spot speed, Traffic Volume
study, Volume Count.

I. INTRODUCTION demand of traffic and leading to congestion. The

population of country is growing day by day. The
E-commerce has become one of the vital parts of the intensity of the traffic and pedestrians crossing has
modern life. Online payment is the supportive increased significantly and there is no scope for
application for the payment of money for the products increasing the road length and widening due to land
we buy. For the past years online security breach created acquisition problem especially at junctions in multiple
a major problem and lots of money had been stolen. The directions. Recent rapid urban development in India has
proposed document deals by securing the payment resulted in transport problems, such as traffic congestion,
through iris recognition [1]. This method also adds the increasing delay and increase in traffic accidents in all
method of using visual cryptography for securing the the cities. Present study is carried on Amravati city.
user credentials. This visual cryptography method was Amravati city faces the prospect of living with too many
formerly invented by Moni Naor and Adi Shamir in traffic signals. Since every signal has its own routine
1994[6]. Scope of transportation system has developed even on a 50-metre stretch, traffic stumbles every few
very largely. This led to the increase in vehicular traffic seconds. If there were optimization of traffic signals and
especially in private transport network. Thus road space synchronization, then a volume of traffic can have
available is becoming insufficient to meet the growing uninterrupted flow on a particular stretch. Urban traffic
problem is an important factor that affects the

IJSRSET162387 | Received : 19 May 2016 | Accepted : 25 May 2016 | May-June 2016 [(2)3: 296-299]
296
development and restricts the economic construction of III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
cities. In appropriate signal timing plans can cause not
only discomfort (extra delay) to drivers but also A. Capacity and Level of Service
increased emissions and fuel consumption. Thus, it is
important to investigate the practice of signal Capacity at signalized intersections is based on the
optimization methodology to ensure that newly concept of saturation flow and defined as saturation flow
developed timing plans will improve the system rate. Intersection LOS is directly related to v/c ratio.
performance. Signal timing optimization is most Any v/c ratio greater than 1.0 is an indication of actual
important method that can be improve intersection or potential breakdown. Volume capacity ratio (V/C) is
service level. Good intersection management is the key one of the most used index to assess traffic status in
in improving for improving urban transportation cities, in which V is the total number of vehicles passing
efficiency. Research and experience has shown that a point in one hour and C for the maximum number of
retiming and optimizing traffic signals is one of the most cars that can pass a certain point at the reasonable traffic
effective tasks that can improve the traffic flow. condition. Capacity is independent of the demand.

For a variety of reasons such as population, economic Highway capacity manual provides some procedure to
and auto ownership growth, increasing traffic demand determine level of service. It divides the quality of
can exceed the carrying capacity of the road during peak traffic into six levels ranging from level A to level F.
periods. As a consequence, traffic condition deteriorates Level A represents the best quality of traffic where the
and safety risk worsens. Capacity of a road is driver has the freedom to drive with free flow speed and
represented by the maximum rate at which vehicles can level F represents the worst quality of traffic. Service A
pass through a given point in an hour. Intersection represents free-flow conditions. Only the geometric
capacity or volume-to -capacity ratio is one of the design features of the highway may limit the speed of
operational measures of effectiveness used in measuring the car. Comfort and convenience levels for road users
LOS under prevailing operational conditions. Present are very high as vehicles have almost complete freedom
study is carried out to determine peak hour traffic and to maneuver. Service B represents reasonable free-flow
also to determine capacity of road. Also it is carried out conditions. Service C delivers stable flow conditions.
to determine level of service of road. The results are Service D is operating at high- density levels but stable
very useful for evaluation of traffic quality. flow still prevails. Service E represents the level at
which the capacity of the highway has been reached.
II. METHODS AND MATERIAL Service F describes a state of breakdown or forced flow
with flows exceeding capacity. Capacity at signalized
The signalized intersection method involves five basic intersections is based on the concept of saturation flow
steps: and defined saturation flow rate. The flow ratio for a
1. Collection of data. given lane group is defined as the ratio of the actual or
2. Analysis of data. projected demand flow rate for the lane group and the
3. Find out LOS by analytically and by using saturation flow rate. The flow ratio is given the symbol
4. SYNCHRO software. for lane group. Capacity at signalized I/S is based on the
5. Validation of data. saturation flow and saturation flow rate.

Selection of routes is done on the basis of congestion, Approach Capacity (C)/ Lane capacity
Traffic volumes. Rajkamal and near intersections are
flowing with maximum capacity in peak hours. Irwin The maximum rate at which vehicles can pass through
junction to Rajkamal and Rajkamal square to Rajapeth the intersection under prevailing conditions. It is also the
Square these routes are selected for the study. These ratio of time during which vehicles may enter the
routes passes from the MSH-6 respectively so, these intersection.
routes are designated as important routes as per Traffic Saturation flow times the proportion of effective green.
department of Amaravati City. C = s × g/c
Where,

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C is the capacity of lane in vehicle per hour optimization) tested for the pretimed control signal
s is the saturation flow rate in vehicle per hour per lane system, Level of Service is significantly improved.
c is the cycle time in seconds
D. Figures and Tables
B. Synchro 8
TABLE I
Synchro is software for signal optimization and The comparison LOS before and after the optimization
developed by trafficware. Optimization can be applied to For Irwin Square
cycle lengths,splits,offsets.
Intersection Irwin Square
Synchro is a complete software package for modeling,
optimizing, managing and simulating traffic systems. Directio EB WB SB
Synchro is a software suite that includes Synchro, a n
macroscopic analysis and optimization program; Conditi Befor Afte Befor Afte Befor Afte
SimTraffic, a powerful, easy-to-use traffic simulation on e r e r e r
software application; 3D Viewer, a three-dimensional Level F F F D D D
view of SimTraffic simulations; SimTraffic CI, an Of
application that interacts with a controller interface Service
device connected to a controller to simulate the
operation of the controller with simulated traffic. TABLE III
The comparison LOS before and after the optimization
C. Volume to Capacity ratio: For Rajkamal Square

The ratio of flow rate to capacity (v/c), often called the Intersection Rajkamal Square
volume to capacity ratio, is given the symbol X in Directio EB WB NB SB
intersection analysis. n
Conditio B A Bef Aft Bef Aft Bef Aft
n ef ft ore er ore er ore er
or er
e
where, = (v/c)i = ratio for lane group i, = actual or Level Of C A F F F F F F
projected demand flow rate for lane group i (veh/h), = Service
saturation flow rate for lane group i (veh/h), =
effective green time for lane group i (s) and C = cycle TABLE IIIII
length The comparison LOS before and after the optimization
For Rajapeth Square
For Irwin Square
Intersection Rajapeth Square
Morning peak hour volume=1050.28
Directio WB NB SB SEB
C= 565 vehicle per hour n
Conditio B Aft Bef Aft Bef Aft Bef Aft
Volume to Capacity ratio = 1050.28/565 n e er ore er ore er ore er
f
= 1.85 o
r
Level of service of road is F. e
It is found that after traffic signal optimization Level Of E D F E F F D B
(Intersection split, Cycle length, phase setting and offset Service

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 road user behaviour, and other traffic facilities.To
achieve optimal efficiency and maximize vehicular
throughput at the signalized intersection, traffic flow
must be sustained at or near saturation flow rate on each
approach.

V. REFERENCES

[1] Chang-qiao Shao, Jian Rong, Xiao-ming Liu, Study

on the Saturation Flow Rate and Its Influence Factors
Figure 1: Speed vs Frequency For Irwin Square at Signalized Intersections in China (2011)
[2] Ebin Joseph Nirmal and Dr.M.S.Nagakumar,
Evaluation of Capacity And Level of service of Urban
Roads (2014)
[3] Jan-Mou Li, Lee D. Han, Chung-Hao Chen,Impact of
data resolution on peak hour factor estimation for
transportation decisions(2013)
[4] Cristina Vilarinho , José Pedro Tavares,Real-time
traffic signal settings at an isolated signal control
intersection(2014)
[5] Pengdi Diao, Zhuo Wang, Zundong Zhang, Hua
Figure 2 : Speed vs Cum. % Freq. For Irwin Square Cheng ,Traffic Signal Coordinated Control
Optimization (2011)
[6] Partha Pratim Dey , Sumit Nandal , Rahul Kalyan,
IV. CONCLUSION
Queue Discharge Characteristics at Signalised
Intersections Under Mixed Traffic Conditions
The following conclusions are obtained from the present [7] Subhash Chand, Neelam J Gupta, Nimesh Kumar,
traffic conditions Signalized intersections typically form Analysis of Saturation Flow at Signalized
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India
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