Urban Traffic

Urban Traffic and

Transportation
Traffic
Traffic means movement of people and
vehicles

Transport
Transport means movement of people and
goods from one place to another place

Transportation
Transportation means the entire activity
involving traffic and transport. It is used in a
broader sense embracing all related activities.

Important Transport
Components
Carrier or Vehicle
Driver or Crew
Right-of-way or Channel of movement
The performance of all the above three
determine the efficiency of the mode of
transportation.

Characteristics of Traffic
The nature
Consist of slow and fast moving vehicles. The traffic carrying
capacity of a road can be divided into Basic: maximum number of passenger cars crossing a point in
an hour under most ideal traffic and road conditions
Possible: maximum number of passenger cars crossing a point in
an hour under prevailing road conditions
Practical: normally less than the possible capacity under the
prevailing practical road conditions

Volume:
Measured in Passenger Car Unit (PCU)

Speed
Peak hour traffic: the maximum number of vehicles plying at
particular period of time is known as peak hour traffic.

Urban Traffic Problems

There are broadly two factors, which effect the
congestion;
(a) micro-level factors
(b) macro-level factors that relate to overall demand for road
use.

Congestion is triggered at the micro level (e.g. on

the road), and driven at the macro level.
the micro level factors are, for example, many people want
to move at the same time, too many vehicles for limited
road space.
On the other side, macro level factors are e.g. land-use
patterns, car ownership trends, regional economic
dynamics, etc

Measures to solve Urban Traffic

problems
Transportation studies to be carried out and plans
for new roads and reorganization of the existing
network to be formulated.
Traffic restraint measures to be initiated
Restriction on parking
Road pricing and entry charges
Promotion of Public transport
Pedestrianization in congested city centres
Staggering of working hours

Transportation Planning
Process
Four distinct phases Survey:
Large scale studies for important strategic transport
facilities such as motorways, major routes etc. Small
scale studies take up travel characteristics more in detail.

Analysis and model building:

Trip generation: the decision to make a journey
Trip distribution : the selection of destination
Trip assignment : the actual journey undertaken on a
transport facility by a particular route
Modal Split : the method of travel used for the trip

Forecasting
Evaluation

Origin and Destination

Surveys
In urban areas alternate routes are often available and
individual drivers choose most of paths. Street capacity,
condition and directness of route affect traffic volumes. Traffic
counts may not give a clear picture of the needs
Thus in Urban areas Origins and Destinations are very
important. The basic purpose of O-D surveys is to determine trip
ends.

Methods
Home interview technique
Road-side interview technique
Post-card survey
Commercial Vehicle Survey

Traffic control at Intersections or Junctions : Channelization

Parking
General parking habits of the people can be classified into
three categories
Parking within premises
In residences, commercial complexes etc.
Guided by local building bye-laws

Short-time parking

On roadside by visitors to attend some work, shopping etc.

Few minutes to one hour
Nominal parking fees
Requires proper planning and traffic regulation

Long-time parking
Near railway stations, airports, etc
Few hours to one or two days
Charged with parking fees

To solve parking problems, good mass transportation

system should be developed. Efficient bus and rail transport
can mitigate many of parking problems.