Traffic Stream Flows

Highway and Railway Engineering

 Introduction
◼ While the primary function of a highway is mobility
(measured by various performance measures such as
vehicle speeds), safety must also play a prominent
role.
◼ The analysis of vehicle traffic (including traffic flow
and queuing theory) provides the basis for measuring
the operating performance of highways.
 Introduction
◼ Streams of traffic are comprised of individual
vehicles, piloted by individual drivers, interacting with
each other and the roadway environment (geometry,
traffic control devices, etc.)

◼ Because each driver behaves in a unique way (i.e.,

has its own brain), it is not possible to describe
traffic flow as theoretically concisely as other
purely physical phenomena.
 Introduction
◼ But we still need quantitative techniques to
assess operational measures of highway
performance, so we can analyze and evaluate
existing transportation facilities, and design
improvements for those facilities
 Introduction
◼ Two general types of
flow environments:
◼ Uninterrupted flow
– traffic flow
influenced by roadway
characteristics
and interactions
of vehicles within
traffic stream
 Introduction
◼ Two general types of flow
environments:
◼ Interrupted Flow stoplights, traffic enforcer, tollbooths, etc.

traffic streams
also operate
under the
influence of
traffic control
devices
 Introduction

◼ The three main variables

(parameters) that form the foundation
of traffic analysis are:
◼ Flow, q
◼ Speed, u
◼ Density, k
 Flow
◼ Traffic flow is defined as

n (Eq. 3.1)
q =
t
Where:
q = traffic flow in vehicles per unit time,
n = number of vehicles passing some designated
roadway point during time t
t = duration of time interval
 Flow
◼ The time between the passage of the front bumpers of
successive vehicles, at some designated highway point,
is known as the time headway. These time headways
are related to t, as defined in Eq. 3.1, by
n
t = h
i=1
i (Eq. 3.2)

Where: front/front or back/back basis

t = duration of time interval,
hi = time headway of the i th vehicle (the time
that has transpired between the arrival of
vehicle i and i -1), and
n = number of measured vehicle time
headways at some designated roadway point.
Flow
◼ Substituting Eq. 3.2 into Eq. 3.1 gives
n 1
q= n (Eq. 3.3) or q= (Eq. 3.4)
h
i =1
i h
Where:
h is the average time headway,  hi / n in unit time per vehicle
 Speed
◼ Average traffic speed is defined in two ways:
◼ Time (spot) mean speed – average speed of all vehicles passing
a point on a roadway over a specified time (instantaneous point
speed, as taken by a radar gun for example)
n

u
i =1
i
(Eq. 3.5)
ut =
n
Where:

u t = time-mean speed in unit distance per unit time,

ui = spot speed (the speed of the vehicle at the designated point on the highway, as might be
obtained using a radar gun) of the ith vehicle, and
n = number of measured vehicle spot speeds
 Speed
◼ Space mean speed – average speed of
all vehicles occupying a given section of
roadway over a specified time
(essentially, the inverse of travel time
for all vehicles over the specified section
length)
◼ This second definition of speed is more
useful in the context of traffic analysis
and is determined on the basis of the
time necessary for a vehicle to
travel some known length of
roadway.
Speed
l
us = (Eq. 3.6)
t
Where:
us = space-mean speed in unit distance per unit time,
l = length of roadway used for travel time measurement of vehicles,
t = average vehicle travel time, defined as

1 n
t =  ti (Eq. 3.7)
n i =1
Where:
ti = time necessary for vehicle i to travel roadway section of length l, and
n = number of measured vehicle travel times
 Speed
◼ Substituting Eq. 3.7 into Eq. 3.6 gives

l 1
us = (Eq. 5.8) or us = (Eq. 3.9)
1 n  1 

n
1

n i =1
ti  
n i =1  (l t i )

which is the harmonic mean of speed (space-mean speed).

Space-mean speed is the speed variable used in traffic models
 Density capacity of certain roadway/s

◼ Traffic density is defined as

n (Eq. 3.10)
k =
l
Where:
k = traffic density in vehicles per unit distance,
n = number of vehicles occupying some length of roadway
at some specified time
l = length of roadway
 Density
◼ The density can also be related to the individual
spacing between successive vehicles (measured
from front bumper to front bumper). The roadway
length, l, in Eq. 3.10 can be defined as
n
l=  si
i =1
(Eq. 3.11)

Where:
si = spacing of the i th vehicle (the distance between vehicle i and i -1,
measured from front bumper to front bumper)
n = number of measured vehicle spacings
Density
◼ Substituting Eq. 3.11 into Eq. 3.10 gives
n
k= n (Eq. 3.12) or 1 (Eq. 3.13)
s k=
i =1
i
s
Where:

s is the average spacing, s i /n in unit distance per vehicle.

 Variable Relationships
◼ Time headway and spacing are referred to as
microscopic measures because they describe
characteristics specific to individual pairs of vehicles
within the traffic stream.
◼ Measures that refer to the traffic stream as a whole,
such as flow, average speed, and density are
referred to as macroscopic measures because they
describe characteristics of the traffic stream as a
whole.
◼ As indicated by the above equations, the
microscopic measures can be aggregated and
thus related to the macroscopic measures
 Variable Relationships
◼ Based on the definitions presented above, a simple
identity provides the basic relationship among
traffic flow, speed (space-mean speed), and density
(denoting space-mean speed, u s , as simply u for
notational convenience),

q = uk (Eq. 3.14)
veh/hr = km/hr x veh/km

Where:
q = flow, typically in units of vehicles per hour (veh/h),
u = speed (space mean speed), typically in units of km/h, and
k = density, typically in units of veh/km.
 Example 1
The speeds of five vehicles were
measured (with radar) at the midpoint of
a 0.5-mile section of roadway. The
speeds for vehicles 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 were
44, 42, 51, 49, and 46 mi/h, respectively.
Assuming that all vehicles were traveling
at constant speed over this roadway
section, calculate the time-mean and
space-mean speeds.
Solution:
a) Time –mean speed
Solution:
b) Time –mean speed
 Example 2
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 200 ft/veh
for spacing. Calculate the average speed
of the traffic.
Solution:
Given:
= 2.5s/veh
= 200ft/veh

Required: u (average speed)

q = uk
1 conv: 3600 secs = 1 hour
q=
h
1 CONV: 5280 ft = 1 mile
k=
s
Solution:
Given:
= 2.5s/veh
= 200ft/veh

Required: u (average speed)

ALTERNATIVE
q = uk SOL'N!!!
Basic Traffic Stream Models:
Speed vs. Density
 Basic Traffic Stream Models:
Speed vs. Density

 k 
u = u f 1 −  (Eq. 3.15)
 kj 
 
u = space-mean speed in km/h,
uf = free-flow speed in km/h,
k = density in veh/km, and
kj = jam density in veh/km.
more traffic = lesser speed
 Basic Traffic Stream Models:
Flow vs. Density

 k2 
q = uf k − 
 kj 
 

(Eq. 3.16)

qcap= traffic flow at capacity-highest rate of traffic of traffic flow the

highway can handle
kcap= corresponding traffic density
ucap=corresponding speed
 Basic Traffic Stream Models:
Flow vs. Density
 k2 
q = uf k − 
 kj 
 
Basic Traffic Stream Models:
Speed vs. Flow

 u2 
q = k j u − 
 uf 
 
(Eq. 3.17)
Basic Traffic Stream Models:
Flow vs. Speed vs. Density
 Example 3
A section of highway is known to have a
free-flow speed of 55 mi/h and a capacity
of 3300 veh/h. In a given hour, 2100
vehicles were counted at a specified point
along this highway section. If the linear
speed–density relationship applies, what
would you estimate the space-mean speed
of these 2100 vehicles to be?
Solution:
Given:
qcap= 3300veh/h
uf= 55mi/h
q = 2100 veh
Required: u (average speed)
 u2 
q = k j u − 
 uf 
 
Solution:
Given:
qcap= 3300veh/h
uf= 55mi/h
q = 2100 veh
Required: u (average speed)
 u2 
q = k j u − 
 uf 
 
 Next:
Models of Traffic Flow

Highway and Railway Engineering