CETRAN30: Principles of Transportation Engineering

Unit 2| Fundamentals of
Traffic Flow
Learning Objectives
At the end of this module, the students will be able to:
• Describe and estimate traffic characteristics, including
flow, headway, density, spacing, time mean speed,
and space mean speed.
• Understand the fundamental relationship between
flow, speed, and density.
TRAFFIC FLOW
TRAFFIC FLOW
INTERRUPTED FLOW
Flow occurring at long sections of road
where vehicles are required to stop by
any cause outside the traffic stream such
as traffic signs, traffic signal lights.

UNINTERRUPTED FLOW
Flow occurring at long sections of road
where vehicles are not required to stop by
any cause external to the traffic stream.
TRAFFIC STREAM PARAMETERS
TRAFFIC FLOW TIME HEADWAY
Flow is number of vehicles passing a It is the time between passage of the front
point for a specified period of time. It is bumpers of successive vehicles, at some
referred as volume when measured over designated highway point.
an hour.
1
𝑛 ℎ% =
𝑞= 𝑞
𝑡
Headway

Where:
𝑞 = traffic flow (veh/hr)
𝑛 = number of vehicles passing some designated
Gap
roadway point during time 𝑡 (veh)
𝑡 = duration of time travel (hr)
ℎ% = average time headway in unit time per vehicle
TRAFFIC STREAM PARAMETERS
TIME-MEAN SPEED SPACE MEAN SPEED
It is the arithmetic mean of the vehicle It is the harmonic mean of speed of
speeds observed at some designated vehicles occupying a relatively long
point along the roadway. section of street or highway at a given
instant. It is the average of vehicle speeds
∑+()* 𝑢( weighted according to how long they
𝑢' = remain on the section of the road.
𝑛
𝑙 1
𝑢, = 𝑢, =
1 + 1 + 1
∑ ∑()*
Where: 𝑛 ()* 𝑡( 𝑛 𝑙/𝑡(
𝑢! = time-mean speed (km/hr)
𝑢" = space-mean speed (km/hr) 1
𝑛 = number of measured vehicle spot speeds (veh) 𝑢, =
1 + 1
𝑙 = length of roadway used for travel time measurement of vehicles (km) ∑()*
𝑢# = spot speed of the 𝑖th vehicle (km/hr)
𝑛 𝑢(
𝑡# = time necessary for vehicle 𝑖 to travel roadway section of length 𝑙 (hr)
TRAFFIC STREAM PARAMETERS
TRAFFIC DENSITY SPACE HEADWAY/SPACING
It is the number of vehicles in a given It is the individual spacing/distance
length of road at an instant of time. between successive vehicles, measured
from front bumper to front bumper.
𝑛
𝑘= 1
𝑙 𝑠̅ =
𝑘
TRAFFIC FLOW, SPEED, AND DENSITY

𝑞 = 𝑢, 𝑘

Where:
𝑘 = traffic density in vehicles per unit distance (veh/km)
𝑛 = number of measured vehicle spot speeds (veh)
𝑙 = length of roadway used for travel time measurement of vehicles (km)
𝑠̅ = average spacing (km/veh)
SAMPLE PROBLEM
Given below is a 15-minute count of vehicles bound for Manila conducted at
a particular location on Quezon City, estimate the flow rate of vehicle per
minute.
Type 15-minute Count
Car/Van 420
Jeepney 300
𝑛 = 764
Bus 16
Truck 28

𝑛 764 veh
𝑞= =
𝑡 15 min

𝑞 = 50.933 veh/min
SAMPLE PROBLEM
The speed of 25 cars were observed. 10 cars were noted to travel at 35 kph,
8 cars at 40 kph, 2 cars at 50 kph, and 5 cars at 45 kph. Assuming that each
car was traveling at a constant speed, determine the time-mean speed and
space-mean speed.
Time Mean Speed
No. of Vehicles Speed (kph ∑%"#$ 𝑢"
𝑢! =
10 35 𝑛
8 40 10×35 + 8×40 + 2×50 + 5×45
=
2 50 25
5 45 𝑢! = 39.800 kph
𝑛 = 25
SAMPLE PROBLEM
The speed of 25 cars were observed. 10 cars were noted to travel at 35 kph,
8 cars at 40 kph, 2 cars at 50 kph, and 5 cars at 45 kph. Assuming that each
car was traveling at a constant speed, determine the time-mean speed and
space-mean speed.
Space Mean Speed
No. of Vehicles Speed (kph 𝐿 1
𝑢& = 𝑢& =
10 35 1 % 1 % 1
∑ 𝑡 ∑
𝑛 "#$ " 𝑛 "#$ 𝑢"
8 40
2 50 1
=
5 45 1 1 1 1 1
×10 + ×8 + ×2 + ×5
25 35 40 50 45
𝑛 = 25
𝑢& = 39.257 kph
SAMPLE PROBLEM
The following data were taken on five cars traversing a 2.6 – km highway.
Compute the space mean speed.
𝐿
Car Minutes 𝑢& =
1 %
∑ 𝑡
A 1.1 𝑛 "#$ "
B 1.4 2.6 km
𝑢& = 1 hr
C 1.3 1
×
5 1.1+1.4 +1.3+1.2 +1.5 min 60 min
D 1.2
E 1.5 𝑢& = 120 kph
SAMPLE PROBLEM
Six vehicles are observed in a 200 m. section of a highway. Average time
headway is 4 sec. Determine the density in veh/km, traffic flow in veh/hr,
and space-mean speed in kph.
𝑛 = 6 veh Density Space Mean Speed
𝑛 6 veh 𝑞 = 𝑢& 𝑘
𝐿 = 200 m 𝑘= = 1 km
𝐿 200 m ×
ℎ@ = 4 sec 1000 m veh veh
900 = 𝑢& 30
𝑘 = 30 veh/km hr km
𝑢& = 30 kph
Flow
𝑛 1 1 veh
𝑞= 𝑞= = 1 hr
𝑡 @
ℎ 4 sec ×
3600 sec
𝑞 = 900 veh/hr
SAMPLE PROBLEM
Vehicle time headways and spacings were measured at a point along a
highway, from a single lane, over the course of an hour. The average values
were calculated as 2.5 s/veh for headway and 61 m/veh for spacing.
Calculate the average speed of the traffic.
ℎ@ = 2.5 sec/veh 1 1
𝑞= 𝑘=
ℎ@ 𝑠̅
𝑠̅ = 61 m/veh
1 1
𝑞= 𝑘=
2.5 sec/veh 61 m/veh
𝑞 = 0.4 veh/s 𝑘 = 0.016 veh/m

𝑞 = 𝑢& 𝑘
veh veh
0.4 = 𝑢& 0.016
s m
𝑢& = 24.4 m/s