BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety Lecturer: Dr.

Basil David Daniel

Chapter 1
Traffic Flow
What you will be
TRAFFIC STUDIES learning from
this chapter …
• Traffic Volume
• Spot Speed

TRAFFIC FLOW THEORY

• Traffic Flow Parameters
• Speed, Flow & Density Relationship

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BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

TRAFFIC VOLUME STUDY

Traffic volume is ......
the number of vehicles passing a given point during a specified
period of time

The importance of traffic volume study ......

For traffic planning, design & research.

To determine the efficiency of a traffic system.
To evaluate the quality of service of a transport facility.
To design roads – number of lanes & pavement thickness.

Volume study methods ......

Manual Count Methods
Automatic Count Methods

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BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

TRAFFIC VOLUME STUDY

Manual Count may be used for determining ......
Vehicle classification
Turning movements
Direction of travel
Pedestrian movements
Vehicle occupancy

Automatic Count may be used for determining ......

Vehicle hourly patterns

Daily or seasonal variations and growth trends
Annual traffic estimates

Count periods ......

2 hours (peak period), 4 hrs (morning & evening peaks),
6 hrs (morning, afternoon & evening peaks), 12 hrs (daytime) 3
BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

MANUAL COUNT
Manual Count method ......
Applied when small sample of data is required.
For periods less than one (1) day.
Normal intervals are 5, 10 or 15 minutes.
Counts are not usually taken on Mondays, Fridays and
weekends.

Can anyone explain why ?

Manual Count recording methods ......

Tally Sheets
Mechanical Counting Boards
Electronic Counting Boards

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BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

MANUAL COUNT
Manual counting board
Tally sheet

Electronic
counting board
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BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

AUTOMATIC COUNT
Automatic Count method ......
Applied when large sample of data is required.
For periods more than one (1) day.
Normal intervals are 1 hour for a 24 hour period.
Counts may extend to a week, month or year.

Automatic Count recording methods ......

Portable Counters
Permanent Counters
Videotape

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BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

AUTOMATIC COUNT

PORTABLE COUNTERS

Automatic Traffic Recorder Vehicle Classifier System

PERMANENT COUNTERS

Loop Detector
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BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

EXAMPLES OF TRAFFIC VOLUME STUDIES

INTERSECTION COUNT

Intersection counts are required for

• timing traffic signals
• designing channelization
• planning turn prohibitions
• computing capacity
• analyzing high crash intersections
• evaluating congestion
Uses manual count method.
For simple intersections, a single observer may be sufficient.
For complex intersections, several observers may be required.

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BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

EXAMPLES OF TRAFFIC VOLUME STUDIES

PEDESTRIAN COUNT

Pedestrian counts are required for

• evaluating sidewalk and crosswalk needs
• justifying pedestrian signals
• timing traffic signals
Counts are conducted at intersection crossings, midblock
crossings or along sidewalks.
When pedestrians are tallied, those 12 years and above are
classified as adults.

Intersection crossing

Midblock crossing
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BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

EXAMPLES OF TRAFFIC VOLUME STUDIES

VEHICLE CLASSIFICATION COUNT

Vehicle classification counts are used to

• establish structural & geometric design criteria
• compute estimated highway user revenue
• compute capacity
Classification counts should be conducted
• if the percentage of heavy trucks is high
• if vehicle mix at a crash site is a contributing factor to the
crash problem
Cars, MPVs, SUVs, 4WDs may be classified as passenger cars.
Heavy vehicles such as trucks and buses may be classified as
trucks.

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BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

EXAMPLES OF TRAFFIC VOLUME STUDIES

ADT and AADT COUNT

ADT – Average Daily Traffic

• Represents 24-hr count.

AADT – Average Annual Daily Traffic

• Represents the 24-hr traffic volume averaged over a full
365-day year.

Requires the use of an automatic counter.

Accuracy depends on existing roadway, weather and traffic

demand conditions.

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BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

EXAMPLES OF TRAFFIC VOLUME STUDIES

AADT volume count has the following uses:

Measuring or evaluating the present demand for service by the

roadway or facility.
Developing the major or arterial roadway system.
Locating areas where new facilities or improvements to the
existing facilities are needed.
Programming capital improvements.

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BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

SPOT SPEED STUDY

Spot speed study ......

A study of speed of traffic at one point or spot on a trafficway.

Consists of a series or sample of observations of individual speeds
of vehicles approaching an intersection or passing a point at a non-
intersection.
Used to estimate the speed distribution of an entire traffic stream
at that location under prevailing traffic conditions.

Spot speed studies are carried out at ......

Trend locations – straight, level, open sections of rural highways,

and midblock at urban streets.
Problem locations – accident blackspots, and locations where traffic
signals and signs are contemplated.
Representative locations – for basic data surveys.
Locations of before-and-after studies.
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BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

SPOT SPEED STUDY

When carrying out a spot speed study, make sure the observer and
the measuring instrument does not influence drivers’ speed.
The measuring instrument must be concealed from the approaching
drivers.
Recording of data should be made as inconspicuous as possible.
Accumulation of on-lookers must be avoided.

Recommended study periods:

In three parts during off-peak periods:

1 hour between 6 am – 12 pm, 1 hour between 3 pm – 6 pm, and 1
hour between 8 pm – 10 pm.
whereby observations must be done in an hour, or not less than 50
vehicles for each period.

The course length of a spot speed study depends on :

average speed of the traffic stream
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BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

SPOT SPEED STUDY

Recommended course lengths:

Average speed (km/h) Course length (m)

< 40 27
40 – 65 54
> 65 81

Recommended sample size: at least 50, preferably 100

Like volume studies, spot speed studies are also not taken on Mondays,
Fridays and weekends.

Spot Speed Study methods ......

Stopwatch Method
Radar/Laser Meter Method
Pneumatic Road Tube Method
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BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

SPOT SPEED STUDY

STOPWATCH METHOD

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BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

SPOT SPEED STUDY

RADAR / LASER SPEED METER

METHOD

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BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

SPOT SPEED STUDY

PNEUMATIC ROAD TUBE METHOD

Recorder

Pneumatic
Road Tubes

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BFC 32302 Traffic Engineering and Safety Lecturer: Dr. Basil David Daniel

EXAMPLE OF A SPOT SPEED STUDY

A spot speed study was conducted along a state road experiencing frequent
road accidents. The posted speed limit of the road is 60 km/h. The spot speed
data collected are shown in the following table:

Speed Class Number of vehicles NOTE

Vehicle class 1: Motorcycles
(km/h) Vehicle Class Total Vehicle class 2: Cars
1 2 3 4 Vehicle class 3: Vans and medium trucks
40 – 44 3 2 5 Vehicle class 4: Heavy trucks and buses
45 – 49 4 1 3 8
50 – 54 5 1 3 3 12
55 – 59 3 1 2 4 10 Analyse the spot speed
60 – 64 3 2 4 6 15 data and present findings
65 – 69 1 5 8 7 21 of this study.
70 – 74 6 5 5 16
75 – 79 1 5 3 2 11
80 – 84 7 2 1 10
85 – 89 3 1 4
90 – 94 5 5
95 – 99 3 1 4
100 – 104 4 1 5
105 – 109 1 1
110 – 114 3 3 19