CE 5118 (TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING) INSTRUCTOR: A.

UBATAY
TRAFFIC FLOW FUNDAMENTALS
I. TYPES OF FLOW
Traffic flow is usually classified as either uninterrupted or interrupted. Flow occurring at long sections of road where
vehicles are not required to stop by any cause external to the traffic stream is called uninterrupted flow. On the
other hand, flow occurring at intersections or driveways where vehicles are required to stop by any cause outside
the traffic stream - such as traffic signs (STOP or YIELD), traffic signal lights, etc. - is called interrupted flow.
II. MAJOR TRAFFIC VARIAVLES
Uninterrupted flow can be described using any of the following traffic variables:
A. Flow rate or volume
Flow rate is defined as the number of vehicles passing a point during a specified period of time. It is often
referred to as volume when measured over an hour.

B. Speed
Speed is defined as rate of motion in distance per unit time. When describing traffic stream, two types of speed
are used: time men speed and space mean speed.
1. Time mean speed
Also called spot speed, time mean speed is
simply the arithmetic mean of the speeds of
vehicles passing a point within a given interval
of time. Distance or length of road must be
known in order to measure speed. However,
with the use of speed radar, spot speed can be
measured at a certain point on the road. Also,
spot speed can be reasonably measured if a
point is approximately by a short distance, say
15-50 m of road. This distance is normally called
trap length in spot speed studies. With the use
of stop watch, the time it takes for the vehicle
to traverse this trap length is measured.
Individual speed of vehicles is then computed
by dividing this trap length by this measured time.

Knowing the individual speeds of n vehicles observed within time T, the time men speed or spot speed of
the traffic stream is given by
where: ui - speed of vehicle i, kilometer per hour

It is common practice among traffic engineers to report "spot speed" for given location. Spot speed is often
used as basis for establishing speed limits.

2. Space mean speed

Space mean speed is used to describe the rate of
movement of a traffic stream within a given
section of road. It is the speed based on the
average travel time of vehicles in the stream within
the section. It is also called the harmonic mean
speed. If n vehicles are observed at an instant of
time t, the space mean speed is computed as
follows:

Reference: Traffic engineering 4th edition, Roess/Prassas/McShane; Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering, R. Sigua
CE 5118 (TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING) INSTRUCTOR: A. UBATAY
C. Density
Density is defined as the number of vehicles in a given length of road at an instant point in time. Again, if n
vehicles are found within the section L, density k is computed as:

Among these three variables, density proves to be the most difficult or expensive to observe. Aerial photography
is the most commonly used method to get its exact values. On the other hand, there are various ways of
conducting volume and speed studies.

Example:
1. Let us suppose a 15-minute count of vehicles bound for Manila was conducted at a particular location on
Quezon Avenue. A summary is shown in the table below:

Estimate the flow rate in vehicles per hour.

2.The speed of 25 cars was 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 constant speed, determine the time mean
speed and space mean speed.
III. Other Traffic Variables
A. Time headway
Time headway is defined as the time interval between passage of consecutive vehicles at a specified point on
the road with a unit of time per vehicles. The average headway representing all observed vehicles is estimated
using arithmetic mean.
For longer observation period:

Therefore, the average time headway and flow rate are related as follows:

B. Spacing
Spacing is the distance between two vehicles measure from the front bumper of a vehicle to that of another.
Similar to the estimation of time headway, if there are n vehicles within a given road section L, the sum of (n -1)
spacing si will be almost equal to L. Average spacing, therefore, may be computed as the inverse of density.

C. Time occupancy
Another useful measure of traffic flow is time occupancy.
It can only be measure, however, if a detector is installed
at a specific point on the carriageway. It is defined as the
total time of a detector is occupied divided by the total
time of observation. Assuming that n vehicles were
observed during the total time of observation T, the time
occupancy Ot is given by

where ti is the detection time of the ith vehicle.

Reference: Traffic engineering 4th edition, Roess/Prassas/McShane; Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering, R. Sigua
CE 5118 (TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING) INSTRUCTOR: A. UBATAY
EXAMPLES:

1. During morning peak hour, the average headway of UP-Katipunan jeepneys is estimated at 5 minutes. If the
passenger demand during the same period is 240, determine whether there is a need to increase the number of
jeepney units (or shorten the headway) for this route. Assume that passenger demand is evenly distributed within
that period and the average load/occupancy is 14 passengers per jeepney. (Note: This assumption may not
necessarily be true do to fluctuation of passenger demand and variability of passenger occupancy.)
2. During heavy traffic congestion, it was observed that the average spacing of vehicles in queue in the innermost
lane of EDSA is 6.5 m. Determine the jam density of stopped vehicles.
IV. RELATIONSHIP OF FLOW, SPEED, AND DENSITY
A relationship exists among the three most important traffic variables: flow rate, space mean speed, and density. A
dimensional analysis of the units will show that flow rate (veh/hr) is simply the product of density (veh/km) and
space mean speed (km/hr), or

A. Observed Relations
It is oftentimes useful to determine the relation between any two variables. Surveys at the South Luzon
Expressway were conducted. Scattered plots of the data are shown in figure

B. Empirical Relations
1. Speed-density relation
Figure 3.5 shows that as density increases, speed decreases. Looking
at the scatter plot, it is easy to visualize that a linear relation may be
assumed between the two variables. (Note that other highways may
exhibit a trend other than linear.) This linear relation was first
investigated by Greenshield (Gerlough and Huber 1975). To describe
this line, the density corresponding to zero speed will be called jam
Reference: Traffic engineering 4th edition, Roess/Prassas/McShane; Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering, R. Sigua
CE 5118 (TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING) INSTRUCTOR: A. UBATAY
density (kj) and the speed corresponding to zero density will be called free flow speed (uf). Theoretically,
density is not zero since at least one vehicle must be present.
The equation of the line that gives the relation between speed and density can be easily determined by
ratio and proportion

2. Volume-density relation

Due to the symmetry of the figure, it can be said that the maximum
flow qmax occurs when the density has a value km equal to half of jam
density kj. However, when the relation cannot be easily identified, it is
useful to differentiate the function and equate to zero to get the value
of km corresponding to maximum flow, as follows:

3. Volume-speed relation

The value of the maximum flow, also called capacity, is

Going back to the speed-density relation qmax, is shown to be the

shaded area of the rectangle.

EXAMPLE:
1. Data on density and speed were obtained from a four-line, two-
way rural highway (in one direction only):

a. Determine the relation between density and speed.

b. Using the results of the previous example, determine the free flow speed and jam density.
c. Determine the capacity of the rural highway in one direction.
V. CAPACITY AND LEVEL OF SERVICE
 Capacity is defined as the maximum hourly rate at which persons or vehicles can reasonably be expected
to transverse a point or uniform section of a lane or roadway during a given time period under prevailing
roadway, traffic, and control conditions.
 On the other hand, level of service (LOS) is a qualitative description of how a certain facility is performing.
 Traffic engineers rely on capacity and level of service analyses to determine the width and number of
lanes when planning for new facilities or when expanding existing facilities that are already experiencing
congestion problems.
 The Philippine Highway Planning Manual (PHPM) developed by Planning Service of the DPWH provides a
methodology to carry out the process of such analysis.
The LOS concept uses qualitative measures that characterize operational conditions within a traffic stream
and perception of these conditions by motorists and passengers.
 Six levels of service are defined for each type of facility and are given letter designations from A to F, with
A representing the best operating conditions and F the worst. Each level of service represents a range of
operating conditions and is defined by quantitative factors known as measures of effectiveness. In the

Reference: Traffic engineering 4th edition, Roess/Prassas/McShane; Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering, R. Sigua
CE 5118 (TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING) INSTRUCTOR: A. UBATAY
PHPM method, LOS are defined based on the computed volume and capacity ratio and the space mean
speed of the traffic flow. The volume referred to is the hourly demand volume. This method was similar to
the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) method of 1965. The latest HCM now considers density as the main
variable in determining LOS.

Example:

Data on density and speed were obtained from a four-line, two-way rural highway (in one direction only):

if traffic volume in the same direction where capacity was estimated was 2,050 vehicles per hour at a particular period,
determine the level of service of the highway (in that direction).
Reference: Traffic engineering 4th edition, Roess/Prassas/McShane; Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering, R. Sigua