TRAFFIC

CHARACTERISTIC
GROUP 2
TRAFFIC STUDIES

• TRAFFIC VOLUME STUDIES

• SPEED STUDIES
• PARKING AND ACCIDENT STUDIES
 ROAD USER
CHARACTERISTIC
JIAN & JL
 EXTERNAL
CHARACTERISTIC
• ENVIROMENTAL FACTORS

fall under the external factor of road users.

This includes the characteristics of the traffic stream.

Environmental factors also include facilities provided to

the traffic, atmospheric conditions, locality, land use, etc.
• ENVIROMENTAL FACTORS

On the negative side, roads occupy land resources and

form barriers to animals. They can also cause adverse
impacts on natural water resources and discharge areas.
The three most damaging effects of raod construction
and management are noise, dust and vibrations.
 INTERNAL
CHARACTERISTIC
PERMANENT

• Vision
• Hearing
• Strength
• Reaction Time
• Judgement Power
EYE SIGHT
The ability of human eye objects under average
illumination can be determined by this factor. If the eyesight
of the users is poor, then the driver may not be able to read
traffic signs properly. Poor eyesight directly affects Road
user behaviour and increases the response time of the driver.
PERIPHERAL VISION

Is fundamental for driving, providing the

driver with important information that enables
him/her to be aware of road cues, the presence
of hazards, or the behavior of other road users.
EYE MOVEMENT

Allow drivers to both find and fixate on

visual information in the environment, helping
them to avoid potential hazards by providing
vital information about their direction of
travel.
COLOR VISION

Helps in the perception of objects. But for

that presence of light is necessary. Under
reduced light red and the blue colour
becomes less visible. The yellow colour
retains its visibility.
TEMPORARY

• Fatigue
• Alcohol
• Illness/Disabilities
• Anger
• Climate
PHYSIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTIC

• Motivation
• Intelligence
• Learning
• Emotion
• Individual differences
 VEHICULAR
CHARACTERISTIC
IN TRAFFIC ENGINEERING
ARIEL
Vehicular characteristics is another aspect considered
in the Geometric design of Road or Highways besides
Road user characteristics.

Two types of vehicular categories are:

STATIC VEHICULAR
CHARACTERISTIC
STATIC VEHICULAR CHARACTERISTIC

1. DIMENSIONS

•Length
The length of the vehicle affects the following parameters

✓ Design of horizontal alignment of the road

✓ Road capacity
✓ Parking facilities
✓ Overtaking distance, etc
STATIC VEHICULAR CHARACTERISTIC

•WIDTH

The width of the vehicle affects the following parameters

✓ Lane width
✓ Shoulder width
✓ Parking lot width
✓ Speed of vehicle
✓ Road capacity, etc
STATIC VEHICULAR CHARACTERISTIC

•HEIGHT
The height of the vehicle affects the following parameters

✓ Clearance required for structures like under bridges, over

bridges, electric service line, etc
✓ Height of tunnels
✓ The height of the driver seat directly affects the visibility
distance of the driver.
STATIC VEHICULAR CHARACTERISTIC

2. WEIGHT
The weight of the vehicle affects the following elements.

•Structural design of pavement

•Pavement thickness
•Bridge design
•Ruling and limiting gradients
STATIC VEHICULAR CHARACTERISTIC

3. MAXIMUM TURNING RADIUS

The maximum turning radius depends on the wheel

base of the vehicle and the steering angle.
VEHICULAR DYNAMIC
CHARACTERISTIC
VEHICULAR DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTIC

SPEED OF THE VEHICLE

Vehicle speed effects

✓ Sight distance
✓ Superelevation
✓ Length of transition curves in horizontal curves
✓ Radius on horizontal curves
VEHICULAR DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTIC

✓ Length of transition curve on vertical curves

✓ Width of pavement
✓ Width of shoulders
✓ Design gradient
✓ Capacity of the traffic lane
VEHICULAR DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTIC

BRAKING SYSTEM OF THE VEHICLE

The braking capacity of a vehicle affects the stopping

distance and spacing between two consecutive
vehicles in a traffic stream.
VEHICULAR DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTIC

ACCELERATION OF VEHICLE

Are important while designing intersection elements

of the road. It is also considered while designing
overtaking sight distance.
 BRAKING
CHARACTERISTICS
• In traffic engineering, breaking
characteristics refer to the behavior and
per formance of vehicles when they slow
down or come to a stop. The safety of
vehicle operation, stopping distance, and
the spacing between two consecutive
vehicles in a traffic stream is affected by the
braking capacity.
Braking Characteristics:
•Spacing between two consecutive vehicles and SSD
are affected by braking characteristics.
•To study the braking characteristics, breaking test
is conducted to find out the skid resistance of the
pavement.
What is Skid Resistance?
•Skid resistance - is the force developed when a
tire that is prevented from rotating slides along
the pavement surface.
•Pavement friction - is the result of tire-pavement
interaction. The friction force developed at the
tire-pavement contact zone is called skid
resistance.
What is the purpose of skid resistance test?
• Skid resistance is an important pavement safety evaluation parameter
because poor skid resistance can lead to skidding accidents and
inadequate braking distance during emergency braking.
• This provides highway engineers with a routine method of checking
the resistance of wet and dry surfaces to slipping and skidding, both in
the lab and on site.
• Skid resistance is not a constant, but is influenced by various factors,
including temperature, test speed and weather conditions, plus
longer-term effects such as seasonal variation and changes in traffic
flow.
Ø unit for skid resistance (f)
is in meters (m).

Breaking test: At least two of the

following three measurements
are required in order to
determine the skid resistance of
the pavement.
ü (I) Initian velocity
ü (II) Breaking length (I)
ü (III) Actual duration of brake
application
Case-1: When braking length and initial velocity is known:

Case-2: When initial speed and actual direction of brake application is

known:

Case-3: When braking length and actual duration of brake application

is known:
BASIC TRAFFIC VARIABLES
AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP

CHRISTOPHER, DAVE & DIANNE

SPEED-FLOW DENSITY RELATIONSHIP

q = k*u

Where q = Flow (vehicles/hour)

u = Speed (miles/hour, kilometers/hour)

k = Density (vehicles/mile, vehicles/kilometer)
(u)
TRAFFIC FLOW

The study of interactions between travellers

(including pedestrians, cyclists, drivers and their
vehicles) and infrastructure (including highways,
signage, and traffic control devices), with the aim of
understanding and developing an optimal transport
network with efficient movement of traffic and minimal
traffic congestion problems.
In a free flowing network, traffic flow theory
refers to the traffic stream variables of speed,
flow, and concentration.
Flow conditions are considered “free”
when less than 12 vehicles per mile are on
a road. “Stable” is sometimes described as
12–30 vehicles per mile per lane.
As the density reaches the maximum flow rate (or flux)
and exceeds the optimum density (above 30 vehicles
per mile), traffic flow becomes unstable, and even a
minor incident can result in persistent stop-and-
godriving conditions.

“Breakdown” condition occurs when traffic becomes

unstable and exceeds 67 vehicles per mile.
SPEED
Speed in traffic flow is defined as the distance
covered per unit time.

• Time Mean Speed- Measured by taking a

reference area on the roadway over a fixed
period of time
• Space Mean Speed- if it is measured by space
reference.
DENSITY

Density (k) is defined as the number of

vehicles per unit length of the roadway.

In traffic flow, the most important densities

are the critical density (kc) and jam density (kj).
EXAMPLE:

A HIGHWAY SEGMENT WITH A RATE OF FLOW OF 1000

veh/km AND THE DENSITY IS 20 veh/km DETERMINE THE
AVERAGE TRAVEL SPEED.

FLOW = SPEED * DENSITY

S = (1000 veh/h) / (20 veh/km)
= 50 km/h
DENSITY
• Critical density (kc) - the maximum density achievable
under free flow.

• Jam density (kj) - the maximum density achieved under

congestion. It refers to extreme traffic density
associated with completely stopped traffic flow, usually
in the range of 185–250 vehicles per mile per lane.

In general, jam density is seven times the critical density.

EXAMPLE:

A HIGHWAY SEGMENT WITH A RATE OF FLOW OF 1000

veh/km AND THE DENSITY IS 50 veh/km DETERMINE THE
AVERAGE TRAVEL SPEED.

FLOW = SPEED * DENSITY

S = (1000 veh/h) / (50 veh/km)
= 20 km/h
FLOW
• Flow (q) is the number of vehicles passing a reference
point per unit of time, vehicles per hour.

• The inverse of flow is headway (h), which is the time that

elapses between the ith vehicle passing a reference
point in space and the ( i + 1)th vehicle. In congestion, h
remains constant. As a traffic jam forms, happroaches
infinity.
EXAMPLE:

GIVEN THAT 40 VEHICLES PASS A GIVEN POINT IN 1 MIN. AND

TRAVERSE A LENGHT OF 1 KILOMETER, WHAT IS THE FLOW?

Q = 3600 (40)/60 S = 2400 veh/hr

 LOW VOLUMES HIGHEST SPEEDS

HIGH VOLUMES LOWER SPEEDS

HIGHEST VOLUMES MEDIUM DENSITY

MAXIMUM DENSITY NO DENSITY OR FLOW

CONGESTION SHOCKWAVE
• Congestion shockwaves will vary in propagation length,
depending upon the upstream traffic flow and density.
However, shockwaves will generally travel upstream at
a rate of approximately 20km/h.
STATIONARY TRAFFIC
Traffic on a stretch of road is said to be stationary if..

• An observer does not detect movement in an arbitrary are

of the time-space diagram.
• All the vehicle trajectories are parallel and equidistant.
• It is a superposition of families of trajectories (e.g. fast
and slow drivers).
METHOD OF ANALYSIS

Analysts approach the problem in three main ways,

corresponding to the three main scales of observation in
physics:

• Microscopic scale
• Macroscopic scale
• Mesoscopic (kinetic) scale
CARRYING OUT PARKING
& ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION

ELLEN & WILLA

PARKING
• The act of stopping a vehicle at a place and leaving it
there for a period of time.

• Increase in number of vehicles specifically in urban

area, commercial places and residential areas.
PARKING SURVEY METHODS:
• Cordon Volume count: A cordon is an imaginary boundary around a
study area of interest. The incoming and outgoing vehicles during
peak hour at observation stations are recorded in cordon.

• Space inventory: all available spaces and facilities in the study are
are mapped.

• Observing parking practices: observing the parking practices in the

selected area under observation. This gives an idea of the number of
vehicles need parking.
TYPES OF PARKING FACILITY:

On-street or Kerb Parking

In this type of parking the vehicles are parked along the curb of
road. On street parking can be done in three ways:

• Parralel parking: equal spacing of 20feetx19-8feet for a single

vehicle, leaving (3.65m)12 feet clear lane width.
• Angled parking: this type of parking accommodate more
vehicles per unit length of the curb. This type require
more road width for parking and un-parking maneuvers.

• 90 degrees parking: this type of parking is adopted when

the road is enough wide. The space for parking one
vehicle is 8ft x 41ft.
OFF STREET PARKING
In this type of parking, the vehicles are parked in
specifically designed and prepared parking areas.

PARKING LOTS
Is the open area either on the road side or near the
market/business centre.
PORCHES
It is the parking specifically constructed in offices, houses,
public places.

SHADES
These types of parking are mostly uses in bus stands, hospitals
etc, they are covered by a shade.
BASEMENT PARKING
These parking are mostly multi-storied buildings, plazas
etc. This type of parking is very efficient. This type is provided
in industrial Engineering Department of UET.

ELEVATORS
In developed countries USA, UK etc., a multi-story
building is constructed for parking and the vehicles are
conveyed to the empty parking places through elevators.
ACCIDENT STUDIES
ACCIDENT STUDIES

Done to determine the location and cause

of accidents and take preventive measures in
design control.
The various records that are maintained in accident
studies are:

• Location files: it is useful in the identification of

points of serious accidents

• Spot maps: these maps show accidents by spots,

pins, symbols, etc.
• Condition diagram: Important physical conditions
of accidents are studied using condition diagrams.

• Collision diagram: Collision diagrams show the

approximate path of vehicles and pedestrians
involved in accidents.
Accidents occurs due to:

• Road users (Drivers, Pedestrians)

• Vehicles
• Roadway
• Environment
HOW TO PREVENT
ACCIDENTS
1. ENGINEERING

Design of road, selection of safe design speed,

channelization (particularly at intersections), width of
shoulders, parking, curves, traffic control devices,
minimize number of entries/exits, controlled
pedestrians crossing.
2. EDUCATION

• Training drivers
• Understandable sign boards, symbols
• Media/radio, TV, advertisement, talk shows to create public
awareness
• Distribution of pamphlets to drivers, school children’s
parents
• Lectures in school, colleges
3. ENFORCEMENT

Enforcing traffic law, strictly check on drivers,

vehicle condition.
ACCIDENT DATA COLLECTION

• GENERAL
Date, time, person involved in accident, classification like
fatal, serious and minor.

• LOCATION
Description and detail of location of accident.

• DETAILS OF VEHICLE INVOLVED

Registration number, description of vehicle, loading detail,
vehicuar defects.
ACCIDENT DATA COLLECTION

• NATURE OF ACCIDENTS
Details of collision, damages, injury and casualty.

• ROAD & TRAFFIC CONDITION

Details of road geometry, surface characteristics, type of
traffic.

• PRIMARY CAUSE OF ACCIDENT

Details of various possible cases which are the main causes
of accident.
ACCIDENT DATA COLLECTION

• ACCIDENT COST
Financial losses incurred due to property damage, personal
injury and casualty.
ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION

• REPORTING It involves basic data collection in form of two

methods:

A. MOTORIST ACCIDENT REPORT It is filed by the involved motorist

involved in all accidentsfatal or injurious.

B. POLICE ACCIDENT REPORT It is filed by the attendant police

officer for all the accidents at which an officer is present. This
generally includes fatal accidents or mostly accidents involving
serioes injury required emergency.
ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION

• AT SCENE INVESTIGATION: in involves obtaining information at

scene such as measurement of skid marks, examination of
damage of vehicle, photograph of final position of vehicles,
examination of condition and functioning of traffic control.

• TECHNICAL PREPARATION: this data collection step is needed

for organization and interpretation of the study made. In this
step measurement of grades, sight distance, preparing drawing
of after accident situation, determination of critical and design
speed for curves is done
ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION

• PROFESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION: in this step effort is made

to determine from whatever data is available how the accident
occurs from the available data. This involves accident
reconstruction which has been discussed under section no. 7 in
details.

• CAUSE ANALYSIS: It is the effort made to determine why the

accident occurred from available and the analysis of accident
reconstruction studies.