Traffic Engineering: Course Outline

1.

Traffic Engineering Elements

(a) Vehicle
(b) Driver
(c) Way
(d) Terminal
(e) Control

2.

Traffic Characterization
(a) Speed, Flow, Density, Occupancy
(b) Fundamental relation
(c) Data collection

3.

Fundamental of Uninterrupted Traffic Flow

(a) Microscopic and macroscopic flow characteristics
(b) Microscopic and macroscopic speed characteristics
(c) Microscopic and macroscopic density characteristics
(d) Microscopic models (longitudinal control, lateral control, etc.)
(e) Macroscopic models (single regime, multiple regime, etc.)
(f) Model calibration (digression into basics of regression analysis)
(g) Principle of capacity and level-of-service analysis of expressways

4.

Fundamental of Interrupted Traffic Flow

(a) Shockwaves
(b) Flow at signalized intersections
i. Flow characteristic
ii. Delay and queue analysis
iii. Data collection related issues
iv. Principles of capacity and level-of-service analysis of signalized intersections
(c) Flow at unsignalized intersections
i. Flow characteristic
ii. Delay and queue analysis
iii. Data collection related issues
iv. Principle of capacity and level-of-service analysis of unsignalized intersections

5.

Design of Traffic Facilities

(a) Freeways (expressways)
(b) Intersections
i. Unsignalized intersections
Use of static control signs
Channelization
Auxiliary lane lengths
Rotaries
ii. Signalized intersections
Warrants
Types and concepts
Cycle length
Phase lengths
Signal coordination
iii. Interchanges
Warrants
Types
(c) Parking facilities
(d) Road signs
(e) Street lighting

6.

Simulation of Traffic Streams

3

Microscopic vs Macroscopic Characteristics of Traffic Flow

Microscopic: Study of the behaviour of individual units in the system.
Macroscopic: Study of the behaviour of group of units in the system.

Traffic characteristics

Microscopic

Macroscopic

Flow

Time headway

Flow rate

Speed

Individual speeds

Average speeds

Density

Distance headway

Density rates

Microscopic Flow Characteristics: Study of Headway Distribution

Shape of time headway distribution varied considerably as the traffic flow rate increased due
to increased interaction between vehicles in the traffic stream

i.e. under low flow very little interaction between vehicles and time headway appears to be
somewhat random

As the flow approaches to the capacity, almost all the vehicles are interacting and are in carfollowing process. In this process all the time headway are approximately constant.

Microscopic Flow Characteristics: Study of Headway Distribution

Pertinent observations:
Individual headways are hardly ever less than some
minimum (e.g. 0.5 sec.).
Individual headways (at reasonable flow rates) are
hardly ever greater than some value (e.g. 10 sec.).
Certain observation about the distribution properties:
mode < median < mean
The distribution varies considerably with flow.
The mean time headway tracks the 67
cumulative percentile curve for the entire flow
rate range.
The ratio of standard deviation to the mean time
headway approaches 1 under low flow
conditions but decrease continuously as the
minute flow rate increase.

Headway Classification
No interactions, random arrivals
Large interactions
Intermediate interactions
Random Arrivals:
Generally such arrivals follow the Poisson distribution
Now, headway h t

P(k ) =

if 0 vehicle arrive in t, then,

P ( h t ) = P ( 0) = e t

t=

t>0
is average arrival rate of vehicle, so 1/ is
the average time headway

P (h t ) = e

e t ( t ) k
k!

t
t

t>0

The random (negative exponential) distribution

has the inherent characteristics that the small
headway are most likely to occur and the
probability consistently decreases as time headway
increases.
At higher flow conditions distribution does not
match.
Even for the low flow level, distribution are
different for the time headway groups of less than
1 second.
Standard deviation (SD) for the measured
distribution is always less than the SD of the
corresponding random distribution

Non Random Arrivals (Pearson Type III Distribution):

The poor performance of the exponential distribution at higher volumes led researcher to
search for other distributions. One such distribution is the Pearson type III distribution.

for t
f (t ) =
[ (t )]k 1 e (t )
( k )

k
(k )

(t ) k 1 e (t )

where, is the shift parameter and k is the shape parameter (k = 1 is Poisson like and k = is
uniform).

It may be noted here that the Pearson type III distribution also function quite well over the
range of volume.

Non Random Arrivals (Composite Models):

The composite models assume that headways follow one particular distribution for free
flowing vehicle and another distribution for platooned vehicles; generally:
where,

P (h t ) = p PD1 (h t ) + (1 p ) PD2 (h t )
p: proportion of vehicles in free flowing condition.
D1: distribution of headway for free flowing vehicles.
D2: distribution of headway for platooned vehicles.

Some people used shifted exponential for D1 and Normal for D2 to obtain P(h t);
Schuhl have used D1 as exponential distribution and D2 as shifted exponential distribution.
Dawson used shifted exponential for D1 and Erlang for D2 to obtain P(h t); this he called the
Hyper-Erlang ( or Hyperlang) distribution.

10

Macroscopic Flow Characteristics

Flow rate (or volume) : no. of vehicles passing a point in a given period of time usually
expressed as an hourly flow rate
3600

q60 =

In this we will study the following macroscopic characteristics of flow:

(1) Traffic demand
(2) Service volume
(3) Capacity
(4) Temporal variations (PHF, design volume)
(5) Spatial variations
(6) Modal variations

Traffic Demand:
It is the flow rate at which vehicle would like to be serviced.
Traffic demand = measured flow rate ,

if unsaturated or no congestion in upstream

if over saturation or congestion is encountered, then flow rate indicates only the flow
rate level which can be handled not an indication of existing traffic demand

11

Service Volume:
This is the maximum hourly flow rate at which persons or vehicles can reasonably be expected
to traverse a point or short section of the lane or roadway during a give time period, under
prevailing conditions while maintaining a designated level of service.
Capacity:
This is the absolute maximum hourly
flow rate that can be achieved without
any regard to level of service.

Temporal Variations:
Flow varies within the year, week, day
and hour. Examples of such variations
are shown in following figures:

AADT: It is the total volume of vehicle traffic

in both directions of a highway or road for a
year divided by 365 days.

12

Single peak and double peak flow pattern in a traffic flow rate variation by time of
the day ???
13

Relationship between short-term

and hourly flows.
(Source: Minnesota Department of
Transportation)
14

In design or analysis of a facility one needs to

know the peak demand. However, if one designs
a section for the highest minute flow rate then the
design would be a massive over deign since for
most of the hours it will remain unutilized. If on
the other hand one designed the facility based on
the hourly flow then possibly for substantial
portions of the hours the design would be
inadequate. One therefore needs to select a sub
interval within an hour which is balance between
two extremes; PHF is a factor which is calculated
based on this time interval and used to translate
hourly flows to peak flow rates within that hour.

PHFT =

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

NH

{ }

max N Ti
i

Traffic volume (veh/min)

PHF:

Minutes of the hour

60
T

60

; where T is in minutes, NH is hourly flow rate

Hourly flows one then divided by PHFT to get peak T minute flow rates which one used
for design.
PHF15 could vary from 0.25 (which means all the traffic within the hour posses during on 15
min period) to 1.0 (which means each 15 min. period carries the same amount of traffic). 15

Design Hour Volume:

Hourly flow

Similarly, over the year the hourly volume varies significantly. One generally uses the 30th
higher hourly volume as the design hourly volume. Experience has shown that this value is
generally around 10% to 12% of the Average Annual Daily Traffic.

30th

Rank of hours

16

Spatial Variation:
Although there are directional
variations, radial variations and
network variations of flow, one of
the most interesting aspects of
spatial variation is the lane volume
variation on multilane facilities.
The following figures gives an
interesting data on this. (This type
of variations are important to study
because they affect the analysis of
ramp site selection, etc.)

Modal Variation:
This relates to studies aimed at studying the distribution of different modes on any given
facility. Design implications relates to pavement design, number of lane determinations, etc.
17

Flow rate or volume measurement

Annual average daily traffic (AADT): total annual volume of traffic passing a roadside point
over a period of one year, divided by number of days in a year.
Highest hourly volume (HHV): It is the highest volume to occur in a one hour period for the
particular road.
Average daily traffic (ADT): It is simple the average daily traffic volume calculated from a
survey which extends over a number of days.
Peak hour volume (PHV): It is the maximum traffic count observed in any 60min. Interval
during a day.

Choice between manual or automatic techniques depends on following factors:

Duration of survey
Nature of survey (straight count vs classified counts
Available resources i.e. budget constraints, field staffs or equipments
Climatic factors etc.

18

Automatic counting

Axle detectors
Vehicle detectors

Axle detectors:
where

NV = CF x APC

NV = number of vehicles
CF = correction factor

Axle count
2
Total (manual or automatic) vehicle count
CF =
"axle pair" count
APC = axle pair count =

19

Vehicle counters
Inductive loop detectors
Magnetic imaging sensors

Magnetic imaging sensors

Sensitive to the weak earth magnetic field
Measures the distortions in earths field caused by a vehicle passing over or
near the sensor.
Can work in all weather conditions
Should be placed such that vehicle passing in the neighbouring lane should
not counted
Does not work if lane discipline is poor.

20

10

Moving observer method:

Low cost method to determine the volume and density of the traffic stream
M ow
M pw

M oa
M pa

No. of vehicles that overtake the test vehicle when test vehicle is moving with the stream
No. of vehicles that the test vehicle overtakes when test vehicle is moving with the stream
No. of vehicles that overtake the test vehicle when test vehicle is moving against the stream
No. of vehicles that the test vehicle overtakes when test vehicle is moving against the stream

Divide the stream into two parts: k1, u1 and k2, u2

assume that u1< vw < u2
Along the traffic

M ow = k 2 (v2 vw )t w
M pw = k1 (vw v1 )t w

M ww = M ow M pw = k 2v2t w k 2 vwt w k1vwt w + k1v1t w

vw

M ww = (k1v1 + k 2 v2 )t w (k1 + k 2 )vwt w = (q1 + q2 )t w (k1 + k 2 )vwt w

M ww = qt w kvwt w

va
L

Against the traffic

M oa = k1 (v1 + va )t a + k 2 (v2 + va )t a = qta + kva t a

M pa = 0
M aa = M oa M pa = qt a + kva t a 0

q=

M ww + M aa
tw + ta

Q va t a = vw t w
21

Microscopic Speed Characteristics

Two aspects are of primary importance while studying microscopic speed characteristics:
1.

Speed Trajectories

2.

Speed Distributions

The importance of speed trajectories under different geometries and traffic phenomenon are
important in designing traffic facilities.
Knowledge of speed distribution are important primarily from simulation stand point.

In the following we discuss theses two topics:

Speed Trajectories:
1.

Curves and grades:

The speed on curves is more often than not lesser than the speed on straight stretches. The
reason for this is that on curves drivers feel a centrifugal force which causes them to
reduce the speed. Again the trajectory followed by drivers may be dependent on a variety
of factors:
22

11

(i)

The desirable deceleration

(ii) The extent of the transition curve

(iii) The radius and super elevation of the curve
On grades (upgrades) heavier vehicles tends to slow down. Generally, for the grades
encountered, there is little or no effect on passenger vehicles, but there is considerable
effect on heavy vehicle. Two factors affects the performance of heavy vehicles:
(i)
(ii)

The grades
The length for which the
grade is present

Typically speed trajectories on

upgrades are shown in figure.

Assumption: Speed at a distance

of 0 ft is 0 km/hr.

23

2.

Passing zones:
Drivers generally follow a pattern of deceleration acceleration during overtaking.
Knowledge of such behaviour is important from sight distance considerations and making
of no-passing zones.

Speed Distributions:
Generally, normal distribution are used to model speed distribution.
The normal distribution has two parameters and . These parameters can be estimated from the
sample by:
setting,
Sample mean,

u=

Sample variance,

s2 =

i =1

(ui u ) 2
= 2
N 1

where, ui are individual data points and N is the Total number of data points.
24

12

Digression:
If a frequency distribution is given:
g

u=
i =1

=
2

i =1

f i ui
N

where ui is the mid point of the group i

1g
f i (ui ) f i ui
N i =1

N 1

1
f (ui ) =
e
2

Note, N~(, ) the pdf

( ui ) 2
2 2

In developing a frequency distribution one may use I as the size of the class interval where I
is given by Sturges as
I= Range of observed data / (1+ 3.322 log10N)
where N is the total number of data points.
25

Microscopic Speed Characteristics

Certain concepts related to microscopic speed characteristics are:
(i)

Free flow speed (relation to design speed)

(ii)

Optimal speed

(iii)

Time mean speed

(iv)

Space mean speed

(v)

Temporal variations

(vi)

Spatial variations

(vii) Modal variations

Free Flow Speed, uf :
This is speed at which vehicles (or average speed at which vehicles) travel when driving
independently on the road (or at very low flow condition).
This speed is related to four factors:
(i)

The geometry of the road

(ii)

The surface conditions

(iii)

Driver attitude, and

(iv)

Vehicle performance characteristics

Of course there exists a finite

value of this speed.
26

13

Optimal Speed, u0 :
This is the speed (stream speed) at which the flow is maximal. As we will see later, there exists
a relationship between speed and flow.
Generally this speed is much lower than uf .
Time Mean Speed :
Arithmetic average of the spot speed, ui

ut =
Space Mean Speed :

us =

ut = u s +

1
1
N

1
u
i

Reciprocal of the
harmonics mean

2u s
us

As we will see later on all macroscopic relations us should be used rather than ut
27

Temporal Variations:
Average speeds at a given location vary with time primarily because flow varies. The speeds
also vary because
(i)

Vehicle mix

(ii) Driver mix

(iii) Light varies
(iv) Weather varies

The following points may be noted here:

(i)

As flow increases, speeds generally fall (slowly at first and then steeply)

(ii) As the percentage of the heavy vehicles increases, speed falls

(iii) As the percentage of non-commuting driver increases, speed generally falls
(iv) The effect of light and weather are obvious.

28

14

Spatial Variations:
Speeds vary transversely and longitudinally across the highway.
Transverse variations are mainly from lane to lane. Generally, (under US conditions) the left
lane has the highest average speed and the right most lane has the lowest average speed. These
differences are, however, most apparent when flow is low; in congested situation speed is
almost same on all the lanes.
The left lane speeds on and average are 4 mph higher than the average speed, middle lane is
approximately equal to the average speed and right lane is about 3 to 4 mph below the average
speed.
Longitudinal variations primarily occur due to geometric variations along the road and the
presence of traffic control measures. The effect are quite obvious and do not need further
elaboration.

29

Modal Variations:
Modal variation are not prominent on level or even marginally rolling terrains. However, the
difference become apparent on long sustained grades. The differences appear due to vehicle
performance limitations.

30

15

Speed measurement
Indirect measurement
Direct measurement
Indirect measurement:
Single detector speed measurement
Speed is measured based on time taken by the vehicle to pass over an detector,
here it is assumed that vehicle length is known

Dual detector speed measurement:

enoscopes

31

Speed measurement
Direct measurement:
Using radar gun:
Based on doppler effect
In doppler effect, the change in frequency of a signal is proportional to the
speed at which the source is moving towards or away from receiver.
Radar gun emits a microwave signal of a known frequency which is reflected
off a target and picked up by a sensor in the device. The change in frequency of
signal is measured and used to estimate the speed of the target relative to
receiver.
Error (%) = 100 (1- cos ), so error is less than 5% for the angle of incidence
upto about 150.
Drawbacks:
Vehicle must be present in the transmitted beam for a finite period of time (about two seconds)
for a reading to be obtained this can create problem while operating on short range settings
depending on the speed of vehicles
Lower speed (<15 km) cannot be accurately measured
32

16

Speed measurement
Using laser gun:
Based on measuring time of flight of very short pulses of infrared.
It fires two pulses with a known time apart and based on travel time distances
(or positions) of vehicle at both time are determined.
Change in distance, divided by time interval between pulses, gives the speed of
the target.
In practice, this approach is more complex involving many pulses of light.
Speed measure from laser gun does not effected by vibrating objects
It can measure the speed of even stationary objects.

33

Microscopic Density Characteristics

This basically relates to studies on
following).

distance headways and its effect on driving (car-

Time headway rather than distance headway is more often used because the greater ease of
measuring time headway.
Distance headway can be obtained photographically. However, it is more often obtained by
calculation based on time headway.
Distance headway = time headway X speed
There is no point in studying their distributions as one does not use them in studies of any
type.

Macroscopic Density Characteristics

Density: no. of vehicle occupying a unit length of road.
Optimum density: It is the density level that exists when the lane of traffic is flowing at
capacity.
34

17

Density measurement
By aerial photography
Much costly and cumbersome
By input-output study to determine the no. of vehicles in a certain section and divide that by
length of section to compute the average density.
Cost effective
Need to count the no. of vehicle present in the section intially

35

Presence type detector

Determine the duration for which the detectors are occupied by vehicles.
Based on this occupancy time density can be calculated.
Dl

Assume a vehicle of average

length Vl on an average
spends a time t0 .

Dl

Vl

Vl + Dl
T=b
T=a
t0
V + Dl
Note here average speed is space mean speed as average is
t0 = l
u
based on average travel time.
u=

Average speed

If total N vehicle pass over the detector in a time period T and if the sum of the occupancy
times of the vehicles is T0
V + Dl
T0 = Nt0 = N l
u
If the fraction of time the detector is occupied, Oc = T0 = N Vl + Dl

q=N

V + Dl
Oc = q l
= k (Vl + Dl )
u

k=

Oc
Vl + Dl

uT

36

18

q-k and q-u relations:

Flo w

Spe e d

The general idea on q-k and q-u relation are:

q max

uf

u0

q max

k0

Flow

kj

Density

However, more recent understanding of

the relation acknowledge that it is very
difficult to represent the congested regime
through a single relationship; there exists
a jump around the qmax and that slopes on
the u-q curve in the free regime is quite
flat.

Speed

The quantity qmax is the capacity of the facility for which the above figure is drown.

Flow

37

Capacity and Level of Service of

Basic Freeway (Expressway) Sections
Basic Freeway Section:

Section of the of the roadway where interruption to traffic flow are

either absent or inconsequential. A freeway is defined in HCM as a divided highway facilities
having two or more lanes for the exclusive use of traffic in each direction and full control of
access and egress.

Ideal Capacity: Maximum number of passenger-cars that can expected to cross a point or line
on an ideal road in a unit interval of time. Ideal road section is one which has ample width (at
least 3.5 m wide lanes), wide paved shoulders (al least 1.8 mm wide) and zero gradient.

Level-of-service: Prevailing condition under which driver has to drive.

LOS is divided into six classes from LOS (A) to LOS (F).
LOS(A): driving condition is the best; traffic is moving in free flow condition, driver faces
absolutely no hindrance from other vehicles on the road, driver is able to choose his/her speed.
LOS (F): Driving condition id the worst, traffic is moving in extremely forced-flow condition, there
are frequent stops, driver is absolutely constrained by other vehicles on the road, driving is very
taxing, and so forth.
Refer : IRC codes: IRC:64-1990 and IRC:106-1990; Highway Capacity Manual
38

19

Speed

Speed

Capacity Analysis

u0

q max

Flow

Flow

Traditional views on u-q relation

Modern views on u-q relation

However, more recent understanding of the relation acknowledge that it is very difficult to
represent the congested regime through a single relationship; there exists a jump around the qmax
and that slopes on the u-q curve in the free regime is quite flat.
There exists a speed, u0, where flow is maximum or reaches its full capacity.

39

Capacity Analysis
Behaviour of driver changes:

When lane widths are narrow.

When shoulders are narrow.

When drivers are unfamiliar with the region. (this difference is visible in weekdays traffic and
weekend traffic)

Values of qmax changes when traffic stream has heavy, slow moving vehicles.
Reason for change in behaviour of drivers may be their safety concerns.

Determine the capacity of road under ideal condition?

Determine the capacity of road when the actual conditions are different from ideal condition?

40

20

IRC Method/ Old HCM method

c = ci Nf wl f hv f p
Where
ci = ideal capacity in passenger car units per hour
fwl = factor to modify the ideal capacity for a non-ideal lane and shoulder widths (it is less than 1)
fhv = factor to modify the ideal capacity due to presence of non-passenger cars (it is generally less
than 1)
fp = factor which depends on the proportion of non-commuting drivers
N = no. of lanes
IRC codes does not provide any value for capacity of the roads, however, it gives the volumes
at particular LOS for different type of road classes
fwl factors has been given for only two-lane rural roads, no documentation for multilane
facilities. IRC ignores the effect of non-commuters on capacity.

41

New HCM method

New HCM method suggests capacity values
based on the free-flow speed in actual
driving conditions.

Free-flow
speed
values

Step 1: Determine the prevailing conditions of the

road in terms of lane width, no. of lanes,
shoulder lane and no. of interchanges.
Step 2: Estimate the ideal free-flow speed of the
road section based on the type of area the
road goes through (i.e. expressway in rural or
urban area has different free-flow speeds) .

Flow
(pcphpl)

Capacity
values

Step 3: Determine the reduction in free-speed due to lane width, shoulder width, no of lanes, no. of
interchanges.
Step 4: Sum up all the reduction and subtract the sum from the ideal free-flow speed.
Step 5: Based on free-flow, determine the capacity from above figure in pcphpl.

Effect of vehicle mix and driver population is incorporated in conversion of the existing
traffic volume from vehicles/hr to an equivalent no. of passenger cars/hr.
42

21

Level-of-service, LOS
Level-of-service (LOS) offerred by a particular express-section at a given time is dependent on:
(i) Demand at that time
(ii) Capacity of the road.
To convert the volume, q, in veh/hr to hour peak flow rate f in pcphpl

f =

q
PHF N f hv f p
k=k1

Calculate the free-flow speed for that road as

suggested previously.
u3
u2
u1

From given figure get the LOS corresponding

to u and q

k=k2

k=k3

k=k4
k=k5

A B

C D
E
F

q, (in pcphpl)
43

Interrupted Traffic Flow

Shock Waves
Whenever two streams with different u-k conditions meet a shockwave generated at the
meeting point. The wave may travel forward, backward or be stationary.
Before going into the details of determining the velocity of the shock wave, let us try to see
what it is through the study of following scenario.
Scenario:
A truck enters a traffic stream (originally traveling at uA, kA ) slows it down to a speed of uB.
The truck travels on the road for T seconds and then exits. The vehicles then start speeding
up. Let us see this case in greater detail:

Increasing time

B A
B A
B
B

A
B
B

A
B
B

Platoon formation due to entry of truck

A
A

Truck

44

22

ckw

a ve

Distance

sho

qC, kC, uC

shockwave 4
sho
ck
Tru

ckw
ave

ck
sh o

qB, kB, uB
shockwave

e
wav

qA, kA, uA

Time

Distance-time diagram illustrating the creation and movement of shock waves

45

Speed of shockwaves:

shockwave, S
speed= uw

shockwave, S
speed= uw

k1

u1

u2

(A)

(B)

k2

u1

k1

at time = 0

ur1 = u1 u w ;

(A)
at time = 0 + t

u2

(B)

k2

speed of vehicle in region (A) relative to S

ur 2 = u2 u w ;

speed of vehicle in region (B) relative to S

In time t the distance by which region (A) crosses S is

Number of vehicle from region (A) crossing S is

u r1 t
ur1 t k1

Similarly in time t the distance by which region (B) crosses S is u r 2 t

Number of vehicle from region (B) crossing S is

ur 2 t k 2

From conservation of vehicles:

or

u r 2 t k 2 = u r1 t k1
(u2 u w )k 2 = (u1 u w )k1

or

u2 k 2 u1k1 = u w ( k 2 k1 )

or

uw =

u 2 k 2 u1k1 q2 q1
=
k 2 k1
k 2 k1

46

23

If q1 and q2 , and k2 and k1 are nearly equal then in the limit we can write:

uw =

dq
dk

Note that the speed of the is basically the slope of the line joining the two flow and density
conditions on a q-k plot.
q

slope of this line

is u w

(1)

q1

q2
Forward moving shock wave

Stationary shock wave

Backward moving shock wave

(2)

k1

k2

Forward moving shock wave

q1 < q2

k1 < k2

uw = +ve

Stationary shock wave

q1 = q2

k1 = k2

uw = 0

Backward moving shock wave

q1 > q2

K1< k2

uw = -ve
47

B A
1

B A
t=0
B
2

q = 0, k = 0

B
B
3

A
1

B
B

q = q2, k = k2
4

Platoon formation
For swAA:

For swBB:

A
q = q1, k = k1 A

qB = 0;

qA = q1

kB = 0;

kA = k1

qB = q1;
kB = k1;

qA = q2
kA = k2

Truck

48

24

Problem session on shockwave:

Problem 1:

ckw
ave
sho

usw2

qmax=1400
k0=44
u0=1400/44
sho
ckw
ave
3
2
q2=16x75
a ve
k2=75
ck w
sho
u2=16

shockwave 4

ck
T ru

av
shockw

q2 q1 16 75 1000
=
= 3.39 km/hr
k2 k1
75 16
q q 1400 1200
= m 2=
= 6.45 km/hr
k0 k 2
44 75

usw1 =

Distance

Traffic is moving on a one way road at q1=1000 vph, k1, density=16 vpkm and a speed (u1)
of 62.5 kmph. A truck enters the stream at a speed of (u2)=16 kmph. Due to decreased speed
the density behind the truck increases to 75 vpkm. After 10 minutes the truck exits the steam.
The platoon then releases itself and starts to flow at capacity (qmax) conditions (qmax=1400
vph, k0=44 vpkm). Determine the speed of all shockwaves, the length of platoon that forms
and the time it takes for the platoon to dissipate.

qm q1 1400 1000
=
= 14.29 km/hr
k0 k1
44 16
0 q2 0 1200
=
=
= 16 km/hr
0 k2
0 75

usw3 =

e1

usw4

q1=1000
k1=16
u1=62.5

usw5 =

0 qm 0 1400
=
= 31.82 km/hr
0 k0
0 44

Time

49

To find the maximum length if the one must realize that the platoon grows till the time
Shockwave 2 develops.
The rate of growth of the platoon is the | relative speed | between shockwave 1 and
shockwave 4.
The platoon grows at the rate of (16-3.39) kmph or 12.61 kmph.
The platoon grows unabated for 10 minutes (the duration for which the truck is there).
Hence maximum length of platoon = 12.61

10
= 2.1 kms
60

(It contains 2.1 k 2 = 2.1 75 = 158 vehicles)

The platoon dissipates at the relative velocity of shockwave 1 and shockwave 2.
Rate of dissipation = 3.39 - (-6.45) = 9.84 kmph
The time it takes the platoon to dissipate = 2.1/9.84 = 0.213 h = 12.8 minutes

50

25

Problem 2:
For the problem 1 plot the location of the front of the platoon and rear of the platoon versus
time. Choose appropriate reference frame.

Distance (km)

Choosing distance = 0 at the point at which the truck enters and time = 0 as the time at which
the truck enter the enters.

2.67
-6.45
16

60

60

1.29
0.565

60

3.39

0
10.0

22.8

Time (min)

51

Problem 3:

Length of
platoon (km)

For the problem 1 plot the length of the platoon versus time.

2.1

-9.84

12.61

60

60
0
0

10.0

22.8

Time (min)

52

26

Flow at Signalized Intersections

Intersection:
An Interruption is a location where three or more roads carrying traffic in different
directions cross. The space which is common to all these roads is referred to as the
intersection.
Signalized intersection
Unsignalized intersection
Flow at a signalized intersection is characterized by repeated stopping/starting of vehicles
stream. Each time the light turns yellow vehicle approaching the intersection knows that the
red sign is impending and they have to stop. Each time the light turns green, they realize that
they cab go and initiate movement procedures.
Type of Signals

Pre-timed: predefined fixed interval of timing

Partially actuated

Fully actuated

53

Flow at Signalized Intersections

Flow Characteristics:
Interruption to traffic flow at a signalize intersection is orderly and deterministic. In this
interruption pattern following process become important for analysis:

Arrival process

Departure process

Delay and queue analysis

Arrival process:
Arrival process at intersection could be of three kind:
(i) Random arrivals
(ii) Grouped arrivals
(iii) Mixed arrivals

54

27

Random arrival:
Such arrival pattern is seen on isolated intersections (i.e. no intersection is present in the vicinity, 3-4 km).
In these case inter-arrival times (time headways) are often distributed more or less according to negative
exponential distribution

P( N t = k ) =

( t ) k e t
k!

P ( H 1 h H 2 ) = e H 1 e H 2
Grouped arrival:
Such arrival pattern is seen at intersections which are located close to (say < 2 km) another upstream
intersection.
Arrival process seems to be uniform and vehicles can be assumed to arrive at reasonably constant headways.
Vehicle released from upstream intersection reached in platoon.

Mixed arrival:
Such arrival pattern is seen at intersections which are located at intermediate distances (say from 2-4 km)
another upstream intersection.
It is not purely random not purely grouped. Because of large distance many of released vehicles may disperse
from platoon vehicles and come independently.

55

Departure process:

headway (between the

nth and (n-1)th vehicle)

If the headway were measured as vehicle entered the intersection an interesting pattern is
observed. The first headway would be defined as the time between the initiation of the green
signal and the first vehicles front bumper crossing the entry line. The second headway
would be defined as the time between the first vehicle front bumper crossing the line and
the next vehicle front bumper crossing the same line and so on. The pattern typically
observed is:

t1

t2

t3

t4

n, the position in the queue

From the above figure two features emerge: (i) the headway stabilizes to a value h referred
to as the saturation headway; (ii) the initial headway are larger than h.
56

28

Saturation headway represents the maximum number of vehicle that can crass the intersection
during the green time.
Initial headways are larger than the hs because of perception reaction time and the extra time
taken to accelerate to a reasonable speed (note that later vehicles more or less achieve this
speed when they cross the specified point as they start from a distance further upstream from
the specified point). In the sense some time is lost due to the fact that initial vehicle takes
longer time than hs . Sum of these excess times is referred as start-up lost time, ls

ls = (hi hs )
i

headwa
y

The quantity is of the order of 2s. A typical data set from studies is shown in the following:

Greenshields (1942)

Later studies (1975)

3
2
1
1

n, the position in the queue

57

Nearly the end of the departure process some time is also lost. This happens because invariably some part of
the amber time remains unutilized because vehicles come to a rest when some part of the amber time is still
remaining. This loss of time is referred as movement loss time ( or clearance loss time), lm.

Clearance lost time (or movement lost time) is the time between the last vehicle from one
approach entering the intersection and the initiation of the green signal for conflicting
movements, assuming condition in which demand is present to utilize the non-red times in
both approaches.
This quantity is of the order of 1.2 to 2.8 s. Longer yellow + all red times led to longer
clearance lost times.

Saturation flow rate is defined as the flow rate from a lane in the intersection assuming that
each headway is equal to the saturation flow rate headway (hs) and green exists for the entire
time period.
Hence if hs is the saturation flow rate headway (or saturation headway) at an intersection in
seconds then s,the saturation flow rate is:

s=

3600
hs

s is in vphgpl

58

29

However, s is just a theoretical quantity and what is the of prime importance is the
capacity. In order to understand how the capacity is related to s consider the following
example:

A given lane at a traffic signal has been observed to have the following parameter: hs=2.0
sec./veh, start-up loss time =1.5 sec., and clearance loss time=1.5 sec. The signal provides
the lane with 27sec. of green, 3 sec. of yellow and 30 sec. of red during each 60 sec. cycle of
the signal.

3600
= 60 cycles.
60
Hence total lost time in an hour = 60 (1.5+1.5) = 180 sec.

In one hour there are

Time available for the movement per 60 sec. is 30 sec. Hence, in 3600 sec only 1800
sec. movement is allowed.

Out of 1800 sec., 180 sec. is lost. Hence, time in which movement take place at 2.0
sec./veh is 1800-180=1620 sec.

Hence, capacity of the lane is

1620
= 810 vph.
2.0
59

Delay at signalized intersections:

Vehicles

To study the delay at a signalized intersection let us first look at the arrival and departure
process at a signalized intersection:

Cumulative
A(t)
arrivals, A(t)

Q(t)

Cumulative departure, D(t)

W(i)
R: Effective red
G: Effective green
C: Cycle length
W(i): Waiting time of the ith vehicle
Q(t): Queue length at time t
R
Cycle I

G
Cycle II

Cycle III
60

30

Now if we assume that A(t) has a constant slope of v; i.e. vehicles arrive at a constant rate
of v vehicles/unit time and the maximum rate at which they are discharged is s vehicles
per unit time and if the number of vehicles that arrive during a cycle are cleared during the
green period then one can easily determine the average delay an individual vehicle faces
thus:

Vehicles

The modified diagram of A(t) and D(t) in this case is:

A(t)

D(t)

Time

As per previous diagram, the delay in each cycle is the

same. The total delay in a cycle can be determined
thus:
i

Total delay during cycle =

A(t)

W
i =0

i*

Total delay during cycle =

Vehicles

61

or in the continuous
approximation

Wi di

i*
v

Wi
a

Or, total delay = Area of abd

(1)

D(t)

t
g

Time

Now Wi= - (arrival time of ith vehicle departure time of ith vehicle)
i
[Note slope of A(t) is v]
Arrival time of ith vehicle =
v
i
Departure time of ith vehicle = (C g ) +
[note slope of D(t) line in the relevant portion is s]
s
v

Wi = (C g ) + i
(2)

sv

Now t is the time where A(t) and D(t) line meet; hence

vt = s{t (C g )}

or

t=

s (C g )
( s v)

(3)
62

31

Hence,
Total delay =

i (v s )

(C g ) + sv di
vt

[Note i* = vt ]

= (C g )vs
= (C g ) 2

(C g ) v s 1 2 s 2 (C g ) 2
+
v
sv
sv 2
( s v) 2

vs
1 (C g ) 2
sv
sv 2
sv

(C g ) 2
{2sv sv}
2( s v )
vs(C g ) 2
=
2( s v)

Now, total number of vehicles that arrive in the cycle is vC.

Average delay = Total delay/ Total number of vehicles

2
Average delay = (C g ) s
2( s v) C

sv(C g ) 2 1

2( s v)
vC
(4)
63

However, equation (4) is generally written as:

2

g
C 2 1
s
C
Average delay =

C
v
21 s
s
g
C 1
C
Average delay (UD) =
v
21
s

(5)

The average delay in equation (4) is generally termed as uniform delay (UD) as it is based
on the assumption of uniform arrival.
Note that in equation (4) v is the volume and s is the saturation flow rate.
Note that the equation (4) can be easily obtained by using 0.5 x base x height to calculation
of area of the abd and then dividing it by vC the total number of vehicle that arrive
during the cycle length.
d
Note

i * = vt =

Hence,

area =

i*
a

b
(C-g)

vs (C g )
sv

(see previous figure)

1
vs(C g ) vs(C g ) 2
(C g )
=
2
sv
2( s v )
64

32

Average delay =

vs(C g ) 2 1 (C g ) 2 s

2( s v )
vC 2( s v) C

(6)

Compare equation (6) with equation (4).

The problem with the equation (4) and (6) is that, never, in reality vehicles arrive uniformly.
There is always some stochastic variation which cause queues from one cycle to overflow
into the next. This results in much larger delays especially when chances of such spill over is
v
large. That is, when vC (or
) is large
( g / C )s

gs

65

gs

Let us study how one could estimate delay if over saturation (i.e. v >
) exists for a finite
C
period of time T. It must be understood here that the over saturation is not due to stochastic
disturbances but due to a hike in demand for a certain period of time. So the following
analysis is completely deterministic.

Arrival flow

Consider the following case:

v
v2
v1
0

Time

66

33

vehicles

In this case arrival /departure diagram would look like the following:

A(t)

D(t)

v2
y

s
v1

Time

During 0 to the signal is over saturated. Let us estimate the average delay during this time.
The total delay during this time will be the area shaded with dots + the area shaded with
lines.
67

Now, total delay due to area shaded with lines cab easily obtained by assuming the dashed
line as an arrival pattern and using the uniform delay equations.
The slope of the dashed line can be obtained by looking at any one of the small triangles.
Say if slope is , then
or

C = sg

g
s
C

Then by substituting in place of v in Equation 5 one would obtain on an average how

much time a vehicle has to wait due to the part of the figure shaded with lines.

Average delay (due to uniform component), ADuniform

C (1 g / C )
gs / C
2 1

s
2

C g 1
1 = (C g )
2 C 2

(7)

which is half of the red light period

To compare the average delay in the over saturation case, one has to add the average delay
due to the over saturation component to the average delay due to the uniform component.
68

34

Now average delay due to over saturation component, ADosc can be obtained (note in this
discussion wait refers to the waiting due to the over saturation).
Consider the vehicle that arrives at T. This vehicle has to wait for Z units of time (see the
previous figure).
The vehicle that arrives at time = 0 has to wait 0 units of time.

wait time

The waiting time of vehicles between 0 and T the wait increases linearly (since wait is
the difference between two straight lines the A(t) line and dashed line.
Therefore average waiting time of vehicles arriving during
0 to T is 1 Z
2

Now look at the vehicles which arrive between 0 and .

Therefore average waiting time of vehicles arriving during

T and is 1 Z
2

wait time

The wait time decreases from Z (for the vehicle that arrived at T) to 0 (for the vehicle
arrive at ).
Z

Hence, one can say that the average waiting time for all vehicle arriving during 0 to is

y
= Slope of the dashed line,
Z

Now

But

Z=

y
gs

C

y = vT

Note =

69

1
Z
2

g
s
C

gs
gs

T = Tv
C
C

gs

Tv
v

Z=
= T
1
cap
gs

1
T v
1
ADosc = Z =
2
2 cap

where

cap =

gs
C

(8)

Hence, average delay in the present case,

ADos = ADunifrom + ADosc

ADos =

C (1 g / C ) T v
+
1
2
2 cap

70

35

In reality, however more often than not arrival is not deterministic, it is stochastic as
discussed earlier. One it is assumed that arrival is stochastic the previously given relation
for average delay cannot be used.
Under the following assumptions, the delay for such stochastic arrivals have been obtained
by Webster.
Assumptions:
(i)

The number of arrivals in a given time interval has Poisson distribution and that the
distribution does not change with time.

(ii)

The departure headways are uniform.

(iii)

g
v < s ; i.e. the system is not saturated,
C

(iv) The system has been running long enough to have settled into a steady state.
Under there assumptions Webster developed a delay equation which is given as equation
(7). This is the best known delay equation.
2
g 2 v
5g
1

2+

C 1

3
C + cap 0.65 cap v
2
Average delay, d = v

v
v cap

21 s 2v1
cap

(9)
71

The first term of Webster equation is derived Equation 4 and the second term can be
obtained analytically through steady state queuing analysis and is often referred overflow
delay or random delay. The third is a correction term obtained using simulation studies
and generally effect a 5 to 15% reduction in the estimates of d obtained by summing the first
two terms. Hence, as an approximation the third term is often omitted and the sum of the
first two term is multiplied by 0.90.
Also note that Webster equation for obtaining cycle length is based on optimizing d from
Equation 9.

There, however, exists a problem with the Webster and Webster like models which
assumes steady state conditions. They invariably over estimated the delay when v is close to
gs / C . This over-estimation is due to the fact that it assumes steady state operation which
would imply that v is close to gs / C for sufficiently long period so that steady state is
reached. If, in reality, such a thing happens then the delay estimates from Webster like
equations would hold not be too bad. However, this high demand never exists for that long
period that steady state reached. Hence, the discrepancy between mathematically obtained
results and real world results.

72

36

Discussion:

There exists a problem with overflow conditions and its delay computations either through
second part of the Websters equation or through ADosc in Equation 8. The problem with the
Websters equation is that steady state is never reached while in Equation 8 the conditions
assumed are fully deterministic implying that even if average v cap is slightly less than 1
then over saturation does not exist. This implication is unrealistic because conditions are
never deterministic. Hence, neither of them are good enough. In reality, the overflow
delay should lie between the estimates obtained from Websters overflow or random
delay components and ADosc . For v cap ratios reasonably lesser than 1 Websters estimates
should be followed whereas for v cap somewhat greater than 1. ADosc should be followed.
The dashed line in the following figure shows how the overflow delay estimate should look
like in a real-life situation.
There are various versions or
equations which try to estimate the
dashed line behaviour. However we
shall not discuss them in this class.
The interested reader may refer to
Mcshane
and
Roess
(Traffic
Engineering) or Hurdles (TRR 971)
paper.

73

Example:

On an approach to a signalized intersection, the effective green time and the effective red
time are 30 s each. The arrival rate of vehicle on this approach is 360 vph between 0 -120 s,
1800 vph for 120 240 s, and 0 vph for 240 420 s. The saturation flow rate for this
approach is 1440 vphgpl. The approach under consideration has one lane. Assume that at
time = 0 s the light for the approach has just turn red.
Q1. Plot the arrival rate of the vehicle versus time.
Q2. Assuming the arrival and departure process to be continuous, plot the cumulative
number of arrival and departure versus time.

Plot of arrival rate of vehicle versus time

Plot of cumulative number of arrivals and departure

of vehicle versus time.
74

37

Q3. Determine the average delay to the vehicles arriving between 0 120 s, 120 240 s and
0 240 s.

Cycle length, C= effective red time + effective green time = 30+30 = 60 s.

Arrival rate, v, in between 0 120 s is 360 vph (i.e intersection is operating under
unsaturated condition because s = 1440 vphgpl). Further, the arrival is deterministic and
uniform. So average delay can calculated using following equation
2

Average delay (UD) between 0 120 s

30
g
601
C 1
60
C
= 10 s
=
=
360

v
21
21

1440
s

Average delay between 0 120 s can be directly obtained from figure given in next slide.
0.5 30 4
Average delay = Area of Triangle I or II/ No. of arrivals in a cycle =
= 10s
6
Between 120 240 s the intersection is operating under oversaturated conditions. The arrival
is deterministic and uniform. Average delay can be calculated using following equation

ADos =

(C g ) + T
2

60 30 120 1800
v
1 =
+
1 = 105s

2 cap
2
2 720

Note

cap =

gs 30 1440
=
= 720 vph
60
C

75

Average delay between 120 240 s can be also obtained from following figure:
Average delay= (Area of Triangle III + 5x Area of Triangle IV)/No. of arrivals from 120-240 s
=

0.5 180 60 + 5 0.5 12 30

= 105s
60

Average delay to all vehicle between 0-240 s can be obtained dividing the total delay (faced
by all vehicle) by the number of vehicle.
Average delay =

n1d1 + n2 d 2 12 10 + 60 105
=
= 89.2s
n1 + n2
12 + 60

76

38

Q4. Determine the delay to the fourth and the sixtieth vehicles that arrive at the
intersection.

The arrival rate of vehicle from 0-120 s is 360 vph or 0.1 vps. Assuming that fourth vehicle
arrives before the expiry of 120 s, the time of arrival of the fourth vehicle is 4/0.1 = 40 s.
Departure rate of vehicles is 1440/3600=0.4 vps. The time of departure of the fourth vehicle,
assuming that fourth vehicle gets discharged during first green, is 30+4/0.4=40 s.
Therefore the delay to fourth vehicle is = departure time arrival time = 40 40 = 0 s
The same observation can be made from above figure. The delay to the sixtieth vehicle
can also be read from figure as 144 s.
Q5. Determine the maximum delay
faced by a vehicle on this
approach.

See in figure, maximum delay is 180 s

Q6. Determine the maximum queue
length on this approach. At what
time does the queue length first
become equal to the maximum.

As can be seen from figure, the maximum queue length is 36 vehicles. At time = 240 s, the
queue length first becomes equal to 36 vehicle.

77

Q7. Determine the percentage of time for which there exists a queue on this approach.

As can be seen from figure, there is no queue from 40 60 s and from 100 120 s. For the
rest of the time, there is a queue at the intersection. Hence, the % of time for which there is no
queue is (40/420)100 = 9.52 %.
Hence, the % of time when there exist a queue is 100 9.52 = 90.48 %.
Q8. Determine the average queue length between 120 and 420 s.

Average queue length = (Area of Triangle III + 5xArea of Triangle IV)/(total time from 120420 s)

0.5 180 60 + 5 0.5 12 30

300
= 21 vehicles

78

39

Data collection on average delay:

Cumulative arrival

Average delay is equal to area divided

by total number of arrivals.
Cumulative arrivals /departures

Total area between cumulative

arrivals and departure plots

= d (n) = q (t )dt
n

Average delay =

q(t )dt
t

Total number of arrivals

Cumulative
departure

qi.

Vtotal

R
G
Cycle 2

Cycle 1

G
Cycle 3

Average delay =

0.9 I qi

R
Time

i =1

Vtotal
79

Data collection on saturation flow rate:

The saturation flow rate is reciprocal of the saturation headway.
Measure the time between 4th vehicle and last vehicle crosses the intersection.
Determine the number of vehicles in the queue.

saturation time headway =

TL ,i T4,i
L4

Capacity analysis:

ci = si

Gi
C

L = last vehicle in the queue

ci capacity of lane i
Gi Green time for lane i
si Saturation flow on lane i

Saturation flow depends on (i) no. of lanes in the lane group and width of lanes or
alternatively the width of lane group, (ii) gradient of the lane, (iii) percentage of turning
traffic, (iv) vehicle mix, (v) number of parking manoeuvers, and (vu) number of bus
stoppings.
80

40

Level of service:
Level of service of different lanes at signalized intersection should be determined
through a measure which directly gives the level of discomfort of drivers using these
lanes at the intersection.
Level of service is measured as average delay to vehicles of different lanes.

HCM level of service

Level of service

Control delay per vehicle, sec.

<= 10.0

10.1 to 20.0

20.1 to 35.0

35.1 to 55.0

55.1 to 80.0

>80.0

81

Warrants for Signalization

Various warrant conditions are defined for signalization. Detailed standards exists. However,
in this class, we are only going to look at the warrant conditions without going into details.
Warrant 1: Minimum vehicle volume

If vehicular volumes are high for a reasonable period of the day is most of
the approaches then signalization is warranted.
Warrant 2: Interruption of continuous traffic

Even if volumes on certain approaches are low if the volume on other approaches
are quite high then also signalization is justified.
Warrant 3: Minimum pedestrian volume

If the volume on certain approaches one quite high and the pedestrian volumes
wanting to cross those approaches are also high than signalize.

82

41

Warrant 4: Safety consideration or Accident experience

If at an intersection accident of the type which can be corrected through

signalization occur quite frequently then signalize.
Warrant 5: Combination of warrants

Some times none of warrants may be satisfied fully, however, if two or more of
warrants 1, 2, and 3 are satisfied to a reasonable extent then a signalization may
be warranted.

Although there other conditions which can also justify the use of signals like:
A minor intersection between two intersections
Flow pattern on an intersection is highly peaked with high volume observed only for 4 to 5
hours of a day.

83

Terminology:
Cycle: one complete sequence of signal indications
Cycle Length: total time for signal to complete one cycle
Phase: part of cycle allocated to any combination of traffic movements receiving the right of way
Interval: period of time during which all the signal indications remain constant.
Change interval: the yellow and/or all-red intervals which occurs at the end of a phase to
provide for clearance of the intersection before conflicting movements are released.
Green Time: time within a given phase during which the green indication is shown
Lost time: time during which the intersection is not effectively used
Effective green time: time during which a given phase is affectively available for stable moving
platoons of vehicles in the permitted movements. It is equal to the green time plus the change interval
minus the lost for designated phase.

84

42

Design of Signal Phases and Timing

In this section, three topics are discussed. Namely,
(i)

Signal Phasing : the selection of what phases should be present during a cycle.

(ii)

Cycle length : determination of cycle length.

(iii) Phase length : Green and Inter green time allocation what % of the cycle time
should be given to each of the phases as green and inter green period.
Signal Phasing

Phasing is the sequence by which the various movements both vehicles and pedestrians are
being served at a signalized intersection. The objective of phasing is the minimization of the
potential hazards arising from the conflicts of vehicular and pedestrian movements, while
maintaining the efficiency of flow through the intersection.
Greater the number of phases, better separated are the conflicting flows.
However, increasing the number of phases hinders efficiency while improving safety.
Safety improves (with large number of phases) because conflicts are eliminated, however,
efficiency falls because delays increase due to:
(i)

more lost times (in start-up and unused yellow times), and

(ii)

minimum phase duration requirements.

85

There exists no algorithm by which phasing may be selected. It is purely an art based on
certain guidelines.
A.

Keep the phasing scheme as simple as possible (like start with simple two phase
system)

B.

Increase the number of phases if pedestrian or turning volumes is high.

The following diagram illustrates three most basic phasing scheme: (i) Two phase
operations, (ii) Three phase operations, and (iii) Four phase operations.
Pedestrian
traffic

Vehicular
traffic

Pedestrian
traffic

Vehicular
traffic

Phase A

Phase B

TWO PHASE OPERATION

86

43

However, say if pedestrian volume is large then:

Vehicular
traffic

Pedestrian not
allowed

Pedestrian
not
allowed

Vehicular
traffic

Phase A

Phase B

All red

Phase C

THREE PHASE OPERATION

Sometimes the right-turning volume from one road may be large and this may require a
separate phase.
Vehicular
traffic

Pedestrian traffic
Dotted arrow
indicates
permitted
movements

Pedestrian
traffic

Phase B

Phase A

Phase C

THREE PHASE OPERATION

87

If turning volume in either direction is heavy then a four phase operation may be warranted.

Phase A
(Protected turn)

Phase B
(Permitted turn)

Phase C
(Protected turn)

Phase D
(Prohibited turn)

FOUR PHASE OPERATION

In all the above phasing schemes, note that if a right-turn is protected then no pedestrian
movement is allowed during the protected phase.
The four phase scheme shown above or the second of the two three phase scheme shown
here works best if a turning lane exists.

88

44

Cycle Length Determination

A cycle is a complete sequence of signal indications; cycle length is the duration in which
the whole set of phases at a signalized intersection takes place once.
The appropriate cycle length is generally obtained using Websters equation. This equation
yields results close to an optimal cycle length, however, we shall not go into the details of its
derivation. We shall simple state it here. The details will be stated while discussing the delay
equations at an intersection.
Least delay point
(optimum cycle
length)
Vol on approach

there exists a cycle length for which

delay to vehicles is the least
Sensitivity of cycle length near optimum
cycle length is very small
On both side of optimum cycle length
sensitivity is different with respect to
cycle length

Average delay per vehicle

Cycle lengths effect is not monotonous

V1> V2> V3
V1
V2
V3

Time length
General nature of avg. delay per vehicle versus cycle
length variations for different approach volumes 89
derived from the plots developed by Webster

Optimum cycle length C as suggested by Webster is:

C=

1.5L + 5
p

1 (V / s ) icr
i =1

C:

Optimal cycle length, in seconds

L:

Lost time during a cycle. Sum of the start-up lost time and the clearance lost times.

p:

total number of phases in the cycle

(V / s ) icr : critical flow ratio for phase i

V: volume of a particular movement

s: saturation flow for movement
p

L = (lsi + lmi + lri )

i=1

ls: startup time loss

lm: movement time loss or
clearance lost time
lr: all red time loss

90

45

Determination of critical movements ( or Determination of (V / s) icr )

1670
725

Phase A

765

335
250

Saturation flows:
Th = 1800 vphgpl
Th, LT = 1700 vphgpl
Th, RT = 1650 vphgpl

Phase B

To obtain the critical movements in each phase one proceeds in the following manner:
Phase A:

335 250
max
,
= max{0.20,0.15} = 0.20
1650 1700
Hence the Th, RT movement from west is critical.

Phase B:

725 1670 765

max
,
,
= max{0.44,0.46,0.45} = 0.46
1650 1800 1700
Hence the Th movements are critical.
91

If for the above problem, lost time per phase is given as 4 s then one could determine
two phase signal

C=

1.5(2 4 ) + 5
= 50s
1 (0.20 + 0.46)

A point worth mentioning here is that empirical research show that cycle lengths within a
30% from the optimal length estimated using Websters formula perform close to the
optimal.
Generally cycle lengths are provided in multiples of 5 s. That is 40 or 50 or 55 etc. seconds.

92

46

Phase length : Green Allocations / Amber Allocation

Step 1:

For each phase compute the yellow / amber time requirement using dilemma zone
calculations. For the same phase generally the same amber duration is provided.
However, for different phases different amber times can be given.

Step 2:

The (cycle time - (amber time + all red) ) is allocated as green in proportion to
the critical flow ratios in every phase.

Step 3:

Check whether the allocated green times meet the requirement from the
pedestrian standpoints. If it is does not meet the requirement then increase the
cycle time in steps of 5 s till the requirements are met.

The requirement is obtained as follows:

Tp = 7 +

W
1 .2

where Tp is in seconds and W is width if the intersection in meters; assuming the

pedestrian walking speed is 1.2 m/s (or 4 ft/s).

93

Let us look at the previous example again. Assume lane width is 3.66 m. Also assume that 3 s
of amber time is provided per phase.
Pha
se

Cycle length
((Amber + all
red))

Allocation

Green

Ambe
r

Tp

Tp
- Amber
time

Tp ok?

50 (2x3) = 44

44x (0.20/0.66)

13

7+(4x3.66)/1.2 =19 s

16 s

not ok

50 (2x3) = 44

44x (0.46/0.66)

31

7+(2x3.66)/1.2 =13 s

10 s

ok

Increase C to 55 s
A

55 (2x3) = 49

49x (0.20/0.66)

15

7+(4x3.66)/1.2 =19 s

16 s

not ok

55 (2x3) = 49

49x (0.46/0.66)

34

7+(2x3.66)/1.2 =13 s

10 s

ok

Increase C to 60 s
A

60 (2x3) = 54

49x (0.20/0.66)

16

7+(4x3.66)/1.2 =19 s

16 s

ok

60 (2x3) = 54

49x (0.46/0.66)

38

7+(2x3.66)/1.2 =13 s

10 s

ok

During Phase A pedestrians have to cross 4 lanes.

Cycle Length = 60 s All red time = 0 s

Tp = 7+(4x3.66)/1.2 = 19 s
During Phase B pedestrians have to cross 2 lanes.
Tp = 7+(2x3.66)/1.2 = 13 s

Green time

Amber time

Phase A

16

Phase B

38

3
94

47

Amber Time Determination (Dilemma Zone Analysis)

Consider the scenario where a vehicle moving at speed limit decides to stop when the
light turns amber.
The distance required to come to stop, xs

xs = v0 b +

v02
2d c

where, v0 is the speed limit (or design speed), b in the reaction time for breaking, dc is
the comfortable deceleration rate.
Note that any vehicle whose distance from stop line is less than xs when the light turns
amber will not be able to stop.

Consider the scenario where a vehicle moving at speed limit decides to cross the
intersection when the light turns amber.
The distance required to be crossed during an amber time of , is
The distance required to crossed = xg + W + L
where xg is the position of vehicle when light turns yellow,
intersection and L length of vehicle.

W is the width of

95

Time available for crossing would be .

In this time a vehicle can travel

= v0 a + v0 ( a ) +
= v0 +

or

ac ( a ) 2
2

ac ( a ) 2
2

Since, v0 is the speed limit it is assumed the ac , the comfortable acceleration rate,
should not be operative as no body will accelerate. Hence, distance traveled is only v0

v0 xg + W + L

or

xg v0 W L

That is, xg can at most be equal to v0 W - L

Any vehicle farther than xg will not be able to cross the intersection during amber duration.

96

48

xg and xs give rise to the following scenario

Can not stop

Can not stop

xs

xg

Can not go

Can not go

xs

xg

Can not go and can not

stop (Dilemma Zone)

Can go or can stop

(Option Zone)

(b)

(a)

Now clearly in situation (b) where xg < xs should be avoided. Note xg is the only term which
is function of .
Hence, at least xg = xs ; let this happen when = min
In this case,

v0 min W L = v0 b +

min = b +

v02
2d c

v0 W + L
+
2d c
v0

97

Signal Coordination
The fact that certain vehicles can avoid stopping at an intersection presents the opportunity
to coordinate a series of permitted signals to allow platoons of vehicles to clear all the
signals without intersection. This scheme works best when the signals being coordinated
have the same cycle length. Of course, the phase lengths may be different in each signal

The criterion based on which signals are coordinated is referred to as the through band.
Signals are coordinated so as to maximize this through band. Notice the width is in units of
time and hence the width divided by the average time headway gives an idea of how many
vehicles can move without being stopped.

However, for a given coordination, the through bands in both direction may not be equal. If
they are equal then the design is called a balanced design otherwise it is referred to as
preferential design.

98

49

All the signals should have the same cycle length.

Benefits in signal coordination:

Minimize the number of stops and delay faced by vehicles

Maximing through band width

Signal can be set to encourage certain speeds, preferred speed

Vehicle can sent through in successive intersections in moving platoons; in well formed
platoon, the time headway is somewhat shorter than can be achieved when they start from the
stop.

99

Offset: Difference between green initiation times, measured in terms of the downstream green
initiation relative to the upstream green initiation.
or amount by which the signals at the intersection are staggered with respect to the
first intersection are referred to as the offsets
Bandwidth: Windows of green time through which the platoons of vehicles can move.
Expressed in terms of time
Efficiency of a Bandwidth: it is defined as the ratio of the bandwidth to the cycle length,
expressed as a percentage

efficiency =

bandwidth
100%
cycle length

Maximum bandwidth possible for a given movement is always equal to the

minimum green time for that movement among all the intersection.
Type of signal coordination which has a very good bandwidth in one direction and very poor
bandwidth in opposing direction, is called preferential coordination.
On the other hand, if there is a balance between the through-bands in both the direction then
the design is called balance design.
All the signals being coordinated should have the same cycle length otherwise
coordination cannot be achieved over a long period of time. However, signals may have
different phase lengths.
100

50

hic
le

La
st v
eh
icle

Fir
st v
e

offset

La
st v
eh
icle

Fir
st

veh
icle

The following diagram shows how the through band may be obtained. The diagram is for an
arterial with three signals and velocity of travel u and cycle length of C.

Signal (3)

Y3

G3

R3

G3

Y3

Offset = 2 units

C
Through band

Signal (2)
G2

Y2

R1

G2

Y2

R1

Offset = 1 units

Signal (1)
G1

Y1

R1

G1

Y1

R1

Offset = 0 units

Time

101

La
st v
eh
icle

Fir
st v
eh
icle

Las
t ve
hic
le

Fir
st v
eh
icle

Distance

In the scenario shown on the previous figure, the design is definitely preferential as the
through band in the north to south direction has zero width. However, it is not the best
preferential design as the through band in the south to north direction could be further
increased by increasing the offset of Signal (2). This is shown in the following figure:

102

51

Distance

The previous examples are of preferential design. The following figure shows an example of
balance design. Note that, in this case, it can not be readily said whether the through band is
of maximum width possible under balanced design.

103

Problem: The fixed time signals at the intersections of a one-way street have been coordinated. The
relevant data on these intersections are given below:
Intersection

Green (s)

Amber (s)

Red (s)

Offset (s)

40

35

Distance from A (m)

0

50

25

40

610

35

40

10

1520

The operating speed on the street is 48 km/h (or 13.33 m/s). Determine the (a) bandwidth and the
(b) offset pattern which will improve the bandwidth?
(a)

cycle length = green + amber + red = 80 s

104

52

Actuated signals and detection

Actuated signals require actuation by a vehicle or pedestrian in order for certain phases or
traffic movements to be services.
Actuation is achieved by vehicle detection devices and pedestrian push buttons.
The timing of such signals is controlled by traffic demand at actuated signal intersections;
cycle and green times may vary from cycle to cycle depending upon the sequence and number
of detector actuations.
If the traffic demand pattern is very regular (traffic volume level, then there is no any extra
benefit in providing actuated signal

See the variability in traffic demand in given figure:

Traffic peaks sharply in the morning on weekdays and settles down to some significant level
after the morning rush
Saturday and Sunday patterns are different from weekdays as well as from each other.

105

Type of actuated control:

Semiactuated control

Actuated control

Semiactuated signals have detection on some or all movements except the main line. Non
detected phase is controlled on a pretimed basis. Cycle length is allowed to change by varying the
detected phase length.

Sufficient green time for the mainline is not guaranteed without additional delay to the other
movements. Once the mainlines minimum green time has been served, the non-coordinated
phases can be served when a call arrives. Without the presence of a conflicting call the signal
normally will rest in the mainline phase.
The underlying promise in semiactuated control is that there is a main street that should have the
green as much as possible and a side street that should be given only enough green to service the
relatively low and somewhat unpredictable traffic.

106

53

Concept and timing of the semiactuated signal

Side street detector is used to identify the arrival of a vehicle; the controller is notified; if the main
street has had enough green, the side street is given the green for just enough time to guarantee
that its vehicles are processed. Again the green is given to main street.
Implicit assumptions:

Side street traffic is always the minor flow

All side street vehicles will probability be stooped

There is no pattern inside street vehicle arrival which can be better served by regular
scheduled period of green.

Situations where the use of semi actuated signal is useful:

Main street is major road and side street off peak demand is low and quite random (like
residential street)

Main street is an major road and side street demand peaks for short term due to a local
traffic generator (like factory, schools, etc)

Signal is installed in response to a warrant unrelated to traffic volume, such as pedestrian

volume, accident warrants, etc..

There is no absolute rule for when actuated versus pre-timed signal may be used..
107

Fully actuated signal provides detection on all roads. Cycle and all phase lengths are allowed to
correspond to traffic flows. It reduces side street delay in period of low mainline demand. Give
example: when a vehicle arrives just after the call opportunity.. Then it has to wait till next
opportunity of call..
Concept:

When the competing demands are equally important, and that there is no structured arrival patterns
on any approach which should be taken the advantage off.
Suitable for isolated intersections at which demand level varies significantly
At low volume avoid unnecessary stopping.

108

54

Flow at Unsignalized Intersections

Flow at unsignalized intersections are generally guided by the hierarchical position of the
movement specified either by rules of driving or through static signs like stop and yield,

At any unsignalized intersection there are various types of movements, like (i) through
movement on major street, (ii) right turn movement from major street, (iii) left turn movement
from major street, (iv) through movement on minor street, and so forth.

Each of these movements has a place in the hierarchy specifying their claim on the right-of-way
at the common intersecting space.

For example, in general, first in the hierarchy is the through movement on the major street and
slightly lower down is the right turn from major street.

Now if in a situation there is a vehicle on the right turn movement and another on the conflicting
through movement, then the latter will use the intersection and the former has to wait till the
latter clears the intersection.

If some movement is still lower down the hierarchy (like the right turn from minor street) then a
vehicle on that movement has to wait till the vehicles on movements higher up in the hierarchy
has cleared the intersection.

As can be seen, the departure process is purely stochastic and extremely complex to model.

109

Unsignalized intersections work very efficiently if the total conflicting volume is not very high

For example, if at the intersection of a major street with minor street, the traffic to and from the
minor street is low then the intersection works quite well irrespective of the volume on the
major street.

If, however, conflicting movements have reasonable volumes then unsignalized intersections
become inefficient and tend to cause large delays to the low priority (i.e., lower in the hierarchy)
movements. This is when signalization becomes imperative.

Arrival process

The arrival process of vehicles obviously do not depend on the type of intersection at which
they arrive.
Hence they are like those at the signalized intersections and no separate discussion is
therefore provided here.

110

55

Departure process

Departure process from unsignalized intersections are quite different from those at signalized
intersections.
The departure process of a movement is determined by the hierarchical position of the
movement and the type of control ('STOP' or 'YIELD') on the movement.
If a movement is at the top of the hierarchy and is not controlled (or 'YIELD' controlled) then
vehicles on the movement always have right of way at the intersection and their flow is not
interrupted.
However, for the majority of the movements, their position is not at the top of the hierarchy
and are often 'STOP'' controlled.
For these movements, the departure process is quite complex and is therefore explained here
through an example.

111

Two through vehicles (marked T1 and T2) and two right-turning vehicles (marked R1 and R2)
on the left-to-right stream are shown. Numerous vehicles on the right-to-left stream are also
shown.
Consider the arrival and departure processes for the left-to-right stream at a proper location on
the road (say the stop line).

Vehicles arrive at this point as has been described earlier. The departure process for the two
types of vehicles shown, however, is different.

The through vehicles represent those vehicles which always have the right of way. Hence for
these vehicles the arrival time at the stop line is always equal to the departure time from the
stop line. The right turning vehicles represent those vehicles which are lower in the hierarchy
and have to wait for gaps in the opposing stream to complete their manoeuver. For example,
vehicle R1 waits at the stop line and evaluates each of the gaps in the opposing stream.

Fig.: A snapshot of an unsignalized T intersection.

112

56

Only when a gap is greater than some value (at which the driver is comfortable) does the
driver of the vehicle accept the gap and makes the right turn.

In the figure shown this could be Gap III. Hence, vehicles which have to look for gaps in the
opposing stream (or streams), sometimes have to wait at the stop line before departing.

Since the arrival of gaps is a stochastic process, the departure process of vehicles (or the
waiting time at the stop line), is also a stochastic process.

Critical Gap

The minimum value of the adequate gap is referred to as the critical gap.
In deterministic view of things it is assumed that driver accept a gap whenever the gap is greater than
critical gap. However, in reality, it is not true and critical gap is only idealization of the observation
that driver does not chose gaps which are small and choose gaps which are large.
In the analysis of unsignalized intersection assumes that a critical gap exits.

113

Two of the important features which should be looked into at an unsignalized intersection are:
(i)

Delay to vehicles, and

(ii)

Queue of vehicles.

Flow characteristics at an unsignalized intersection:

Various type of vehicles arrives at the intersection; vehicles differ from one another in time
they spend at the stop line (service time)
For vehicles which are at the top of the hierarchy, service time is zero and deterministic;
for other types of vehicles service time is indeterminist and follow different distribution.
Q formed at the stop is first-in-first-out; Q may contain more than one type of vehicle
depending on the number of lanes on the approach under consideration (if separate lane for
tuning movement vehicles has been provided then only the tuning movement of vehicles
left there)
For analyzing any stochastic queueing system:
Determine arrival and service time distribution: arrival distribution can be assumed to be
Poisson (if other intersections are not present in the neighbourhood) or determinic (when
other intersection is present in closeby) or a comination of two.
Service time distribution depends: on number of gaps a vehicle reject before accepting a gap
and the distribution of the gap
114

57

Analysis of queue distribution and the delay to vehicles is even more complex.
Complexity arises primarily due to complex and different service time distributions of the various
types of vehicles.
Indian code does not provide any relation which can be used to determine delay at
unsignalized intersections under Indian traffic condition. HCM 1985 does provide relations
to determine queue lengths and delay based on highly empirical consideration.

The factors which affect delay and queue length are:

(i)

Conflicting volume : The flow rate of the opposing stream

(ii)

Movement type: vehicle in movement with lower in hierarchy generally face higher
delay that vehicles with higher hierarchy.

(iii) The flow rate of the stream in which vehicles arrive and want to cross/merge into the
opposing stream
(iv) Speed of conflicting movement: this increases the critical gap..
(v)

The critical gap increase if the no. of acceptable gap in the conflicting movement
reduces.

115

Data collection:

Two type of data are generally collected at un signalized intersections:

Average delay
Critical gap
Average delay: data is collected in the same way as in unsignalized intersection. Only difference
is that the cumulative departure does not follow any fixed pattern
Cumulative arrival

i =1

Vtotal

Average delay: data on critical gap is

difficult to obtain in field. Reason for it is that
driver rejects a lot of gap but accept only one.
From this fact one say that critical gap for the
person is greater than the largest rejected gap
and smaller than the accepted gap. So one can
get the range.

Some time former may be greater than later

due to difference in driver behaviour.

Cumulative arrivals /departures

Average delay =

0.9 I qi

Cumulative
departure

qi.

Vtotal
R
Cycle 1

R
Cycle 2

Cycle 3
Time

116

58

Drew suggested following procedure to determine the critical gap:

Observed an unsignaized intersection and obtain data on many driver in respect to the largest
gap rejected and the smallest gap accepted.
Divide the time scale into small intervals (say 0.5 s duration) and determine for every class t
the no. of such gap accepted and no of such gap rejected.
Plot the cumulative curves on the same graph of number of gaps vs t
Report the value of t where these plots intersect as the critical gap. This value of t represents
that gap size for which the number of gaps smaller than t which have been accepted.

117

Capacity and Level of service

Capacity analysis:

Meaningful to talk about the capacities of different movements, lane, approaches to the
unsignalized intersection not about whole intersection.

Capacity depends on:

Gap availability: vehicles moves by accepting gap in conflicting movement;

more the number of conflicting stream lower the gap availablity;

higher the flow in conflicting movement, lower the gap availability
Greater the size of critical gap; lower the no. of acceptable gaps

Therefore, total the no. of gap available for use by a traffic streams depends on the number and
volume of conflicting streams and size of critical gap.

Hierarchical position: not all gaps available for use can be used by vehicles of a movements
Gap accessibility: lane may be shared by more than on e movements,
118

59

Level of service:

Level of service is determined based on average delay to a vehicle on that intersection. i.e.
like in signalized intersection.

119

Interchanges
Interchanges: the grade separated intersection where conflict in traffic flow is resolved by
duplicated the intersecting space at various heights, also called flyovers in India
Ramps: roads connecting to intersection roads
Warrants for Interchanges
Warrant 1: Design designation warrant

If a road is fully access controlled, like an expressway, then all the intersections
on that road should be grade-separated.
Warrant 2: Volume warrant
If the volume at an intersection is so high the capacity provided by an at-grade
intersection will be insufficient then interchanges should be used.
Warrant 3: Accident related warrant
If an intersection has a disproportionate rate of serious accidents, and if analysis
of the intersection suggest that the accident hazards can not be reduced by
possible and inexpensive traffic control measures, then an interchange should be
provided at the intersection.
Warrant 3: Topography warrant

In some cases the topography of the area may be such that the only feasible, or
sometimes cheaper, alternative s an interchange; in such cases, in interchanges is
definitely justified.
120

60

Design for Interchanges

The design features specific to interchanges alone is that of the layout of the ramps.
Following are some layouts which are commonly used:
(i)

Trumpet interchange

(ii)

Diamond Interchange

(iii) Partial clover-leaf interchange

(iv) Full clover-leaf interchange

121

Trumpet interchange

Where a major roads terminates to

other major roads

122

61

Diamond Interchange

123

124

62

Partial clover-leaf Interchange

When on one road minor conflict

movement can be tolerated

125

Clover-leaf Interchange

All the conflicting movement has

been separated

126

63

Conflict points and conflict zone

127

Channelization

Facilitate safe and orderly movement

Separate or regulate conflicting movements
Define paths of travel
Use traffic islands or pavement markings
for both vehicles and pedestrians

Done with medians, islands, road islands, road markings, etc.

128

64

Principles of Channelization
1. Discourage or prohibit undesirable/wrong-way movements

Prevent right turn movement from the minor street

Design channelization to discourage wrong way movements

129

2. Define desirable path for vehicles: Prevent right turn movement from the minor
street

With clear definition of proper path by pavement marking

130

65

3. Channelization to promote desirable speeds and delineate desirable paths

131

4. Remove stopped/decelerating vehicles

4. Separate the points of conflict where possible

Provide exclusive turning lane
Channelized left turn

132

66

6. Facilitate the movements of high-priority traffic flow

7. Channelization to streamline flows (rotary

intersection)

133

8. Design approaches to intersect at near right angles and merge at flat angles

Roadway alignment which cross as close to 90 degree, minimizes the

exposure of vehicles to potential conflicts and reduce the severity of
conflict
Skewed crossing provide awkward sight angle and increase the distance
traversed at intersection (in signal designing, need more amber time to
clear the traffic)

134

67

Parking
In case of roadway transportation, parking is terminal.
Provision of parking is an essential consequence of the movement of people and goods into and
within urban areas.
(terminal is a location where vehicle of a mode stop for various reasons including boarding,
alighting of passenger, loading or unloading of goods, resting when not in use, refueling,
maintenance, etc.)
Since parking is terminal or destination of a trip, the availability and price of parking effects:

attractiveness of destination

Mode of transportation
Encourage or discourage the short term parking

On street: On-street parking facilities are basically the spaces near the sides of the roads where
vehicles are allowed to park.
Off street: Off-street parking facilities are parking spaces away from the main thoroughfare and
connected to it through a service road. These spaces, unlike the on-street parking spaces, are
developed solely for the purpose of parking
135

On-Street Parking:
Issues related to on-street parking:

Whether requirement for on-street parking exists in a particular location

Whether the capacity of roadway is enough (after the on-street parking is provided) to cater to the
traffic on road,
Whether on-street parking will increase safety hazards substantially?
What kind of on-street parking should be provided?

Requirement for on-street parking:

Given the land use in an area, one can determine the parking space required for that area
If, adequate, off-street parking is not available in the vicinity, then on-street parking is
requirement exists
On-street parking requirement= total parking requirement off-street parking space available
It may pointed out, if on-street parking space is available then driver may be biased
towards the on-street parking as it offer less walking distance to the intended destination

136

68

Effect of on-street parking on capacity and safety:

On-street parking adversely effect the capacity and safety

Reasons for reduction for capacity:
Reduction of carriage width available for traffic
Parking maneuvers on the road caused frequent interruptions to the traffic.
(IRC code does not speak about it, while HCM& AASHTO talks about it)
On-street parking increase the frequency of accidents

137

On-street parking

Parallel on-street parking

3 to 3.6 m
By AASHTO

Vehicle occupied less carriage width when parked parallel

But over a length of road less no. of vehicle can be parked in comparison of angle parked
Parallel parking involves difficult driving maneuvers (specially when parked between
two parked vehicles) and hence caused interruption on the thoroughfare
Vehicle of large length can be easily parked

138

69

Angle on-street parking

Vehicle occupied more carriage width when parked at an angle

But over a length of road more no. of vehicle can be parked in comparison of parallel parked
vehicles
Driving maneuvers is less complicated
It has been observed that angle parking caused more accidents than parallel parking. This is
possibly due to the fact that drivers are sometimes blinded by other parked vehicle while
backing out on to the road from a parked position.
Large vehicle length can cause special problem in angle parking
It is generally suggested that parallel parking should be the first considered and only in special
cases angle parking should be used.
If, however space is available, the carriage width is large then angle parking may be a better
choice since more vehicles can be parked over a smaller length.
139

Off-street parking
Off-street parking facilities are facilities built solely for the purpose of parking.
Type of off-street parking facilities based on design open paved surface, multistoried parking,
park-and ride facility, etc.
Each of these must concentrate to provide the space for:
Allow easy and independent parking
Allow easy vehicle circulation
Utilized the space most effectively
Special requirement, if any, like elevator for drivers on multistoried parking

140

70

Parking duration: length of time a vehicle remains in one parking space

Long term parking: parking with a duration of three or more hours
Parking accumulation: the total number of vehicles parked in a specific area at a specific time
Parking load: area under parking accumulation curve.. Generally represented in veh-hour
Parking demand: no. of vehicles desiring to park at a specific location or in a general area. It is
expressed in no. of vehicles during peak-parking hours
Parking volume: no of vehicles that park in a study area during a specific length of time
Turnover : no. of vehicle utilizing the same space/stall over a given period of time
Occupancy: ration of no. of spaces occupied divided by total no. of spces available, expressed in %

141

To determine the parking demand

In case of existing parking:

Method for collecting data for parking:

Ins and out survey

Fixed period survey

License plate survey

Ins and out:

All the vehicles present in the parking space are counted at the beginning
The vehicles entering and exiting from the area is counted
At the end, another count of all the vehicles present in the area is conducted to cross
check.
This survey give parking accumulation and occupancy
Does no give average parking duration, turnover
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Fixed period survey:

All the vehicles present in the parking space are counted at the beginning
Count all the vehicles present in the area after a fixed interval
One can missed short term parking
This survey give parking accumulation and occupancy
Does no give average parking duration, turnover

License plate survey:

Gives most accurate and realistic data collection

All the vehicles license plate no., present in the parking space, are note down at the
beginning
Note down the license plate no. of vehicle present in the area after a fixed interval
One can missed short term parking
This survey give parking accumulation , occupancy, average parking duration, turnover
Quite expensive and laborious.
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In case of new parking design:

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User Information Surveys:

Individual users can provide valuable information which is not attainable with license
plate surveys.
Parking interviews
Postcard studies
Parking Interviews:

driver are interviewed right in the parking lot

Information about origin and destination, trip purpose, and trip frequency
Postcard Studies:
Postage paid postcard request the same information as in parking interviews
Return rates average about 35%
Biasness

overestimate their parking need to encourage the surveyors to recommend

additional parking.
they file false reports that they feel are more socially acceptable
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Parking Facility Design Process:

Goal of parking design to maximize the no. of spaces provided which allowing
vehicles to park with only one distinct maneuver
Step by step procedure is not simple. Parking design requires balancing a variety of
concerns like- you might decide on a nice layout for parking but have not provided
the space for disable persons
List of maneuvers in parking:

Vehicle enter from street (space provided by entry driveway)

Vehicle searches for a parking stall (space provided for circulation/ or access
aisle)

Vehicle enters the stall (space provided access aisle)

Vehicle is parked (stall design to accommodate the vehicle length and width)

Pedestrian access the building or destination

Vehicle exits the parking stall (space provided by access aisles)

Vehicle searches for exit (space provided by access and circulation aisle)

Vehicle enters the street network (space provided by the exit driveways)

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Entrance considerations:
During high demand time many vehicle wants to enter in the parking facility roughly at
the same time
Which force vehicles to wait out side of entrance
Internal considerations:
Vehicle searching for stall requires space for maneuvering
Two type of parking operation: (i) self parking, (ii) attendant parking
tollbooth and other restrictions require space for waiting vehicles
Parking stall layout considerations:
Parking stall should be flexible enough for future expansions
Stall and aisle dimensions should be compatible with the type of operation planned
Critical dimensions are width and length of stall, width of aisle, angle of parking and
radius of turns

Aisle and stall combination is called as modules.

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As the parking angle reduces the aisle width is also reduces.

Arrangement of parking stalls: (a) 900 parking stalls with two-way aisles, (b) 600 drive-through
parking stalls with one-way aisle, (c) 600 parking stalls with two-way aisles, and (d) 450
herringbone stalls with one-way aisles.

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Various examples of vehicle circulation: (a) one-way circulation, (b) one-way

circulation, (c) two-way circulation, (d) one-way ramp circulation with adjacent
parking for multistoreyed garages, and (e) clearway, external spiral ramp circulation
for multistoreyed parking garages.

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Design of parking lots

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Design of off-street facilities:

Elements of good design:

Elements of customer service, convenience, and safety with min. to street traffic
flow
Accessibility, ease of entering, circulating, parking, unparking, and exiting are
important factors
Good dimensions and internal circulation are more important than a few additional
spaces.
Better sight distances, maneuverability, traffic flow, parking ease and circulation

Site characteristics:

Site dimension, topography and adjacent street profiles affect the design
Relation with surrounding system will affect the location of entry and exit points and
internal circulation pattern
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Access location:

External factors such as traffic controls and volume on adjacent streets must be considered

Layout alternatives:

Layout of parking lot seeks to strike a balance among maximizing capacity,

maneuverability and circulation.
Advantage of 90 degree parking

Most common and understandable

Sometimes better fitted into buildings
Generally most efficient if site is sufficiently large
Uses two-way movement (can allow short and dead end aisle)
Allows unparking in either direction (minimize the travel distances)
No need to aisle directional sign or marking
Required wide aisle which help in pedestrian walking on aisle
Fewer total aisle

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Several advantage and disadvantages of angle parking:

Easiest in which to park

Can be adopted to any width of site by varying angle
Requires slightly deeper stall
Unused triangle space at the end of parking aisle
Generally to avoid long travel, additional cross aisle for one way travel are required
Generally aisle are one way

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A joint development of a general purpose office building with a 200,000 ft2 gross building
area and a movie theater complex with 1500 seats is planned. The facilities will be served
by a common parking lot. Estimates the number of stall required and assess whether the
efficiency improves with shared use of parking lots as appose to separate parking lots for
each of the developemnts. Also estimates the efficiency as the degree of stall utilization
over 1 week. Lot utilization on weekdays and sundays is specified in the following table.
Given that
Office building (weekdays) ln(P) = 0.93 ln (X)+1.253 (X in terms of 1000 ft2)
Movie theaters (weekdays) P= 0.32 X - 174.0
Movie Theaters (weekend) P= 0.50 X 322.0

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At the corner of Missouri Boulevard and McCarty Street

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Traffic signs

Proper road signs aid the drivers in reaching their destinations safely and efficiently.
Properly designed road signs improves by:
Instructing drivers on safe speeds (i.e. signs like curve ahead)
Informing drivers on impending changes in road geometry (i.e. narrow bridge ahead)
Reducing the driver confusion through clear signs on allowable traffic movement pattern
(like no entry, no U turn)

Road signs (static like painted signs and dynamic signs like electronic message
signs) have three design elements:
The text of sign
The lettering, letter sizes and colour combination of the sign
The placement of sign

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The text of the sign:

In general, road signs should not use text and should convey the relevant message through
pictograms and shape of the road signs.
Because text has to be read (which requires time) whereas pictograms and shapes convey the
message faster and require much less attentions of the driver towards the sign
However, certain signs like speed limit signs, directional signs, definition plates needs to use
text
Design guideline for text in a sign (if no codal suggestion exists):
Text should be brief and to the point a driver should not required to spend more than a
second or two to read the sign

Lettering, Letter sizes and colour

Main concern while deciding the colour is the VISIBILITY and CLARITY.
IRC specifies the rage of letter sizes that should be used in signs
The letter height should be so chosen that the design driver is able to read the sign from the a
distance as required by the placement of the sign. Letter size is depend on where the sign is
placed.
Like a person of normal vision can see a letter of height 8.5 mm from approximately 6 m
distance
As the distance increases the letter size should be increases proportionally.
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Placement:
Lateral placement:
Signs are placed generally places slightly away from the main roadway at about right angles
(93- 95 degree) to the direction of travel.
Lateral offset distance should not too less to pose a hazard to traffic not should be too far.
Sign should be placed in the cone of 10 degree.
When sign cannot be posted on the side , it can be provided overhead.

Longitudinal Placement:
Longitudinal position of sign the distance of the sign from the feature or point of action that
the sign indicate
Position must take into account two factors safety and clarity
Should not place much ahead of feature

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Q1. On a freeway a sharp horizontal curve exists. Te speed limit on the curve is 40 kmph. The speed
limit on the expressway is 75 kmph. A sign is to be posted, warning driver drivers of the impending
curve and advising them to slow down to the speed limit. Determine the longitudinal placement of sign
and the letter size for the sign. Assume that the perception-reaction time is 1.5 s, the coefficient of
friction is 0.3, the road has 0% grade, and a design driver has 6/9 vision. Also assume that the
perception-reaction time includes the time taken to read the sign.

IRC specifies that letter size on expressways should not be greater than 25 cm and greater than 8 cm.
Sol. : Assume letter size is h. sign can be read by a 6/6 vision person from a distance of 6h/8.5 m.

Then a 6/9 person can see this sign from =

6 6h

= 0.4705h
9 8.5

Now for a driver to reduce the speed safely from 75 kmph (20.83 m/s) to 40 kmph (11.11 m/s) the
distance required, d
vi2 v 2f
20.832 11.112
= 84 m
= 20.83 1.5 +
d = vi t r +
2 9.81(.3 + 0)
2 g ( f r + G)
Therefore, the total distance required between the point at which the sign become ligible to the driver
to the start of curve should be 84 m. If x is the distance (in m) between the sign and the start of curve,
then

0.4705h + x = 84
x = 84 0.4705h

This relation gives the designer the choice to choose the letter height, h, based on x.

So , if assume the letter height is 250 mm (25 cm), then

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x = -33.625 m

This shows that sign should be placed after the 33.625 m from the start of the curve.
However, it cannot be allowed since (i) visibility may be restricted because the road is bending and
(ii) it is not a sound practice to place a sign concerning the driver restrictions on curve and that too
after that curve has started. This implies that x should not be allowed to become negative.
Generally the letter heights on such road should not be less than 80 mm. So if 80 mm is used
Then x = 46.36 m before the curve.
Now check whether the sign is legible to the driver for period at least equal to the time taken to read
the sign.
If assumed that within 1.5 s perception-reaction time, 1 s is required to read the sign. Then sign
should be legible from the a distance of about 20.83 m. Sign is legible from a distance of 0.4705 h =
0.4705x80= 37.64 m. So it is ok.

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Traffic signs divided logically into a number of broad types or categories:

Mandatory sign: announce and enable traffic regulation, like speed limits, banned
movements, etc.
Cautionary signs: provided advanced warning of some features such as low bridge,
left hand curve, etc.
Informatory signs: provide information to the drivers

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Mandatory Signs: announce and enable traffic regulation, like speed limits,
banned movements, etc.

Straight Prohibitedor no
entry

One way signs-vehicles prohibited in one direction

Vehicles prohibited in both

direction

All vehicles prohibited

Trucks prohibited

Cycles prohibited

Horns prohibited

Bullock carts and hand

carts direction

Bullock carts direction

Tongas direction

Hand carts direction

Pedestrians prohibited

Right turn prohibited

Left turn prohibited

U- turn prohibited

Overtaking prohibited

No Parking

No stopping or standing

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Speed limit

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Mandatory Signs Contd..:

Width limit

Height limit

Length limit

Load limit

Axle load limit

Compulsory bus stop

Restriction ends sign

Compulsory cycle track

Compulsory sound horn

Compulsory keep left

Compulsory turn left

Compulsory turn right

ahead

Compulsory ahead or
turn right

Compulsory ahead or turn

left

Compulsory ahead

Stop

Give way

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provided advanced warning of some features such as low

bridge, left hand curve, etc.

Cautionary Signs:

Right hand curve

Left hand curve

Right hair pin bend

Left hair pin bend

Right reverse bend

Left reverse bend

Steep ascent

Steep descent

Narrow road ahead

Road wideness ahead

Narrow Bridge

Slippery Road

Loose Gravel

Cycle Crossing

Pedestrian Crossing

School Ahead

Men at Work

Cattle

Falling Rocks

Ferry

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Cautionary Signs Contd..:

Cross Road

Gap in Median

Side Road Right

Side Road Left

Y-Intersection

Y-Intersection

Y-Intersection

T-Intersection

Staggered Intersection

Staggered Intersection

Major road ahead

Major road ahead

Roundabout

Dangerous dip

Hump or rough road

200 meters

50-100 meters

Barrier ahead

200 meters

50-100 meters

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Informatory Signs

Advanced direction sign

Re-assurance sign

Destination sign

Direction sign

Place identification sign

First aid post

Public telephone

Petrol pump

Hospital

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Resting place

Eating place

First-aid post

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Informatory Signs Contd..:

Park this Side

Parking both sides

Parking lot Scooters and motorcycle

Parking lot Cycles

Parking lot Taxis

Parking lot Auto rickshaws

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