CHAPTER 6

Fundamental Principles
of Traffic Flow

T
raffic flow theory involves the development of mathematical relationships among
the primary elements of a traffic stream: flow, density, and speed. These relation-
ships help the traffic engineer in planning, designing, and evaluating the effec-
tiveness of implementing traffic engineering measures on a highway system. Traffic
flow theory is used in design to determine adequate lane lengths for storing left-turn
vehicles on separate left-turn lanes, the average delay at intersections and freeway
ramp merging areas, and changes in the level of freeway performance due to the
installation of improved vehicular control devices on ramps. Another important
application of traffic flow theory is simulation where mathematical algorithms are
used to study the complex interrelationships that exist among the elements of a traffic
stream or network and to estimate the effect of changes in traffic flow on factors such
as crashes, travel time, air pollution, and gasoline consumption.
Methods ranging from physical to empirical have been used in studies related to
the description and quantification of traffic flow. This chapter, however, will introduce
only those aspects of traffic flow theory that can be used in the planning, design, and
operation of highway systems.

6.1 TRAFFIC FLOW ELEMENTS

Let us first define the elements of traffic flow before discussing the relationships
among them. However, before we do that, we will describe the time-space diagram
which serves as a useful device for defining the elements of traffic flow.

6.1.1 Time-Space Diagram

The time-space diagram is a graph that describes the relationship between the loca-
tion of vehicles in a traffic stream and the time as the vehicles progress along the
213
214 Part 2 Traffic Operations

Figure 6.1 Time-Space Diagram

highway. Figure 6.1 shows a time-space diagram for six vehicles with distance plotted
on the vertical axis and time on the horizontal axis. At time zero, vehicles 1, 2, 3, and
4 are at respective distances d1, d2, d3, and d4 from a reference point whereas vehicles
5 and 6 cross the reference point later at times t5 and t6, respectively.

6.1.2 Primary Elements of Traffic Flow

The primary elements of traffic flow are flow, density, and speed. Another element,
associated with density, is the gap or headway between two vehicles in a traffic stream.
The definitions of these elements follow.

Flow
Flow (q) is the equivalent hourly rate at which vehicles pass a point on a highway
during a time period less than 1 hour. It can be determined by:
n  3600
q veh>h (6.1)
T
where
n  the number of vehicles passing a point in the roadway in T sec
q  the equivalent hourly flow

Density
Density (k), sometimes referred to as concentration, is the number of vehicles trav-
eling over a unit length of highway at an instant in time. The unit length is usually
1 mile (mi) thereby making vehicles per mile (veh/mi) the unit of density.

Speed
Speed (u) is the distance traveled by a vehicle during a unit of time. It can be expressed
in miles per hour (mi/h), kilometers per hour (km/h), or feet per second (ft /sec).
 Chapter 6 Fundamental Principles of Traffic Flow 215

The speed of a vehicle at any time t is the slope of the time space diagram for that
vehicle at time t. Vehicles 1 and 2 in Figure 6.1, for example, are moving at constant
speeds because the slopes of the associated graphs are constant. Vehicle 3 moves at a
constant speed between time zero and time t3, then stops for the period t3 to t"3 (the
slope of graph equals 0), and then accelerates and eventually moves at a constant
speed. There are two types of mean speeds: time mean speed and space mean speed.
Time mean speed (ut) is the arithmetic mean of the speeds of vehicles passing a point
on a highway during an interval of time. The time mean speed is found by:
1 n
ut  a ui (6.2)
n i1
where
n  number of vehicles passing a point on the highway
ui  speed of the ith vehicle (ft /sec)
Space mean speed (us) is the harmonic mean of the speeds of vehicles passing a point
on a highway during an interval of time. It is obtained by dividing the total distance
traveled by two or more vehicles on a section of highway by the total time required by
these vehicles to travel that distance. This is the speed that is involved in flow-density
relationships. The space mean speed is found by
n
us  n

a 11>ui 2
i1
nL
 n (6.3)
a ti
i1

where
us  space mean speed (ft /sec)
n  number of vehicles
ti  the time it takes the ith vehicle to travel across a section of highway (sec)
ui  speed of the ith vehicle (ft /sec)
L  length of section of highway (ft)
The time mean speed is always higher than the space mean speed. The difference
between these speeds tends to decrease as the absolute values of speeds increase. It
has been shown from field data that the relationship between time mean speed and
space mean speed can be given as
s2
ut  us  (6.4)
us
Eq. 6.5 shows a more direct relationship developed by Garber and Sankar using data
collected at several sites on freeways. Figure 6.2 also shows a plot of time mean speeds
against space mean speeds using the same data.
ut  0.966us  3.541 (6.5)
216 Part 2 Traffic Operations

Figure 6.2 Space Mean Speed versus Time Mean Speed

where

ut  time mean speed, km/h

us  space mean speed, km/h

Time Headway
Time headway (h) is the difference between the time the front of a vehicle arrives at a
point on the highway and the time the front of the next vehicle arrives at that same
point. Time headway is usually expressed in seconds. For example, in the time space
diagram (Figure 6.1), the time headway between vehicles 3 and 4 at d1 is h3 – 4.

Space Headways
Space headway (d) is the distance between the front of a vehicle and the front of the
following vehicle and is usually expressed in feet. The space headway between vehi-
cles 3 and 4 at time t5 is d3 – 4 (see Figure 6.1).

Example 6.1 Determining Flow, Density, Time Mean Speed, and Space Mean Speed
Figure 6.3 shows vehicles traveling at constant speeds on a two-lane highway
between sections X and Y with their positions and speeds obtained at an instant of
time by photography. An observer located at point X observes the four vehicles
passing point X during a period of T sec. The velocities of the vehicles are measured
as 45, 45, 40, and 30 mi/h, respectively. Calculate the flow, density, time mean speed,
and space mean speed.
 Chapter 6 Fundamental Principles of Traffic Flow 217

Figure 6.3 Locations and Speeds of Four Vehicles on a Two-Lane Highway at an Instant
of Time

Solution: The flow is calculated by

n  3600
q
T (6.6)
4  3600 14,400
  veh>h
T T
With L equal to the distance between X and Y (ft), density is obtained by
n
k
L
4
  5280  70.4 veh>mi
300
The time mean speed is found by
1 n
ut  a ui
n i1
30  40  45  45
  40 mi>h
4
The space mean speed is found by
n
us  n

a 11>ui 2
i1

Ln
 n

a ti
i1

300n
 n

a ti
i1
218 Part 2 Traffic Operations

where ti is the time it takes the ith vehicle to travel from X to Y at speed ui, and L (ft)
is the distance between X and Y.
L
ti  sec
1.47ui
300
tA   4.54 sec
1.47  45
300
tB   4.54 sec
1.47  45
300
tC   5.10 sec
1.47  40
300
tD   6.80 sec
1.47  30
4  300
us   57 ft>sec
4.54  4.54  5.10  6.80
 39.0 mi>h

6.2 FLOW-DENSITY RELATIONSHIPS

The general equation relating flow, density, and space mean speed is given as
Flow  density  space mean speed
(6.7)
q  kus
Each of the variables in Eq. 6.7 also depends on several other factors including the
characteristics of the roadway, characteristics of the vehicle, characteristics of the
driver, and environmental factors such as the weather.
Other relationships that exist among the traffic flow variables are given here.
Space mean speed  1flow2  1space headway2
(6.8)
us  qd
where
d  11>k2  average space headway (6.9)

Density  1flow2  1travel time for unit distance2

k  qt (6.10)
where t is the average time for unit distance.
Average space headway  1space mean speed2  1average time headway2
d  us h (6.11)