UNIT-1

TRAFFIC SURVEYS AND ANALYSIS

INTRODUCTION ON TRAFFIC ENGINEERING

1. SCOPE AND SIGNIFICANCE

 Traffic engineering covers a broad range of engineering applications with a
focus on the safety of the public, the efficient use of transportation resources,
and the mobility of people and goods.
 Traffic engineering involves a variety of engineering and management skills,
including design, operation, and system optimization. In order to address the
above requirement, the traffic engineer must first understand the traffic flow
behaviour and characteristics by extensive collection of traffic flow data and
analysis. Based on this analysis, traffic flow is controlled so that the transport
infrastructure is used optimally as well as with good service quality.
 In short, the role of traffic engineer is to protect the environment while
providing mobility, to preserve scarce resources while assuring economic
activity, and to assure safety and security to people and vehicles, through both
acceptable practices and high-tech communications.

1.1 Other important disciplines

In addition to the four major disciplines of transportation, there are several
other important disciplines that are being evolved in the past few decades. Although it
is difficult to categorize them into separate well defined disciplines because of the
significant overlap, it may be worth the effort to highlight the importance given by the
transportation community. They can be enumerated as below:
1. Public transportation: Public transportation or mass transportation deals with
study of the transportation system that meets the travel need of several people by
sharing a vehicle. Generally this focuses on the urban travel by bus and rail transit.
The major topics include characteristics of various modes; planning, management and
operations; and policies for promoting public transportation.
2. Financial and economic analysis: Transportation facilities require large capital
investments. Therefore it is imperative that whoever invests money should get the
returns. When government invests in transportation, its objective is not often monetary
returns; but social benefits. The economic analysis of transportation project tries to
quantify the economic benefit which includes saving in travel time, fuel consumption,
etc. This will help the planner in evaluating various projects and to optimally allocate
funds. On the contrary, private sector investments require monetary projects from the
projects. Financial evaluation tries to quantify the return from a project.
3. Environmental impact assessment: The depletion of fossil fuels and the
degradation of the environment has been a severe concern of the planners in the past
few decades. Transportation; in spite of its benefits to the society is a major
contributor to the above concern. The environmental impact assessment attempts in
quantifying the environmental impacts and tries to evolve strategies for the mitigation
and reduction of the impact due to both construction and operation. The primary
impacts are fuel consumption, air pollution, and noise pollution.
4. Accident analysis and reduction: One of the silent killers of humanity is
transportation. Several statistics evaluates that more people are killed due to
transportation than great wars and natural disasters. This discipline of transportation
looks at the causes of accidents, from the perspective of human, road, and vehicle and
formulate plans for the reduction.
5. Intelligent transport system: With advent to computers, communication, and
vehicle technology, it is possible in these days to operate transportation system much
effectively with significant reduction in the adverse impacts of transportation.
Intelligent transportation system orders better mobility, efficiency, and safety with the
help of the state-of-the-art-technology.
The study of traffic engineering may be divided into six major sections:
1. Traffic characteristics
2. Traffic surveys and analysis
3. Traffic operation control and regulations
4. Planning and analysis
5. Geometric design
 6. Traffic management

5E’S TRAFFIC ENGINNERING:

1. Engineering
2. Enforcement
3. Education
4. Economics
5. Environmental
TRAFFIC CHARACTERISTICS
1.VECHICLE CHARACTERISTICS

2.HUMAN CHARACTERISTICS
3.ROAD CHARACTERISTICS

1. VECHICLE CHARACTERISTICS
The various vehicular characteristics affecting road the road design may be
classified into two types.
1. Static characteristics
2. Dynamic characteristics

Static characteristics
Static characteristics of vehicle includes the vehicle dimensions, weight, axle
configuration, turning radius and turning path.
Vehicle Dimensions

The vehicular dimensions which can affect the road and traffic design are
mainly: width, height, length, rear overhang, and ground clearance. The width of
vehicle affects the width of lanes, shoulders and parking facility.
The capacity of the road will also decrease if the width exceeds the design
values. The height of the vehicle affects the clearance height of structures like over-
bridges, under-bridges and electric and other service lines and also placing of signs
and signals.
Another important factor is the length of the vehicle which affects the extra
width of pavement, minimum turning radius, safe overtaking distance, capacity and
the parking facility.
 The rear overhang control is mainly important when the vehicle takes a
right/left turn from a stationary point.

The ground clearance of vehicle comes into picture while designing ramps and
property access and as bottoming out on a crest can stop a vehicle from moving under
its own pulling power.

1. Weight, axle configuration etc.

The weight of the vehicle is a major consideration during the design of

pavements both flexible and rigid.
The weight of the vehicle is transferred to the pavement through the axles and
so the design parameters are fixed on the basis of the number of axles.
The power to weight ratio is a measure of the ease with which a vehicle can
move. It determines the operating efficiency of vehicles on the road.
The ratio is more important for heavy vehicles. The power to weight ratio is the
major criteria which determines the length to which a positive gradient can be
permitted taking into consideration the case of heavy vehicles.
2. Turning radius and turning path

The minimum turning radius is dependent on the design and class of the vehicle.
The effective width of the vehicle is increased on a turning. This also important at an
intersection, roundabout, terminals, and parking areas.

2.2Dynamic Characteristics
Dynamic characteristics of vehicles affecting road design are speed,
acceleration and braking characteristics, Power Performance and some aspects of
vehicle body design.
1. Speed
The vehicle speed affects, (i) sight distances (ii) super elevation, length of
transition curve and limiting radius on horizontal curves (iii) length of transition
curves on vertical valley curves and humps (iv) width of pavement shoulders on
straight and on horizontal curves (v) design gradient (vi) capacity of traffic lane (vii)
design and control measures on intersections.
 2. Acceleration Characteristics
The acceleration capacity of vehicle is dependent on its mass, the resistance to motion and
available power. In general, the acceleration rates are highest at low speeds, decreases as speed increases.
Heavier vehicles have lower rates of acceleration than passenger cars. The
difference in acceleration rates becomes significant in mixed traffic streams. For
example, heavy vehicles like trucks will delay all passengers at an intersection.
Again, the gaps formed can be occupied by other smaller vehicles only if they
are given the opportunity to pass. The presence of upgrades make the problem more
severe.
Trucks are forced to decelerate on grades because their power is not sufficient
to maintain their desired speed. As trucks slow down on grades, long gaps will be
formed in the traffic stream which cannot be efficiently killed by normal passing
maneuvers.
3.Braking performance

As far as highway safety is concerned, the braking performance and

deceleration characteristics of vehicles are of prime importance. The time and distance
taken to stop the vehicle is very important as far as the design of various traffic
facilities are concerned.

The factors on which the braking distance depends are the type of the road
and its condition, the type and condition of tire and type of the braking system.
The main characteristics of a traffic system influenced by braking and 4deceleration performance
are: (i) sight distance (ii) clearance and change in interval (iii)sign placement
Safe stopping sight distance: The minimum stopping sight distance includes
both the reaction time and the distance covered in stopping. Thus, the driver should
see the obstruction in time to react to the situation and stop the vehicle.
 Clearance and change interval: The Clearance and change intervals are again
related to safe stopping distance. All vehicles at a distance further away than one
stopping sight distance from the signal when the Yellow is flashed is assumed to be
able to stop safely.
Sign placement: The placement of signs again depends upon the stopping
sight distance and reaction time of drivers. The driver should see the sign board from
a distance at least equal to or greater than the stopping sight distance.

3. Power performance of vehicles

A knowledge of the power performance of a vehicle is necessary to
determine the vehicle running costs and the geometric design elements like
grades.
The power developed by the engine(Pp) should be sufficient to
overcome all resistance to motion at the desired speed and to acceleration at
any desired rate to the desired speed. The forces have to be overcome for this
purpose:
1.
Rolling resistance(Pf)
2.
Air resistance(Pa)
3.
Grade resistance(Pi)
4.
Inertia forces during acceleration and deceleration(Pj)
5.
Transmission losses

2.Road user characteristics (or) Human factors affecting transportation

Road users can be defined as drivers, passengers, pedestrians etc. who use the
 streets and highways. The physical, mental and emotional characteristics of human
beings affect their ability to operate motor vehicle safely or to service as a pedestrian.
The various factors which affect road user characteristics may broadly be
classified into four heads:
1. Physical
2. Mental
3. Psychological and
4. Environmental

1. Physical characteristics
The physical characteristics of the road users may be either permanent or
temporary. The physical characteristics are the vision, hearing, strength and the
general reaction to traffic situations.
Vision: The perception-reaction time depends greatly on the effectiveness of
drivers vision in perceiving the objects and traffic control measures. The PIEV time
will be decreased if the vision is clear and accurate. Visual acuity relates to the field of
clearest vision. The most acute vision(visual acuity or cone of vision) is within a
cone of 3 to 5 degrees, fairly clear vision within 10 to 12 degrees and the
peripheral vision will be within 120 to 180 degrees. This is important when traffic
signs and signals are placed, but other factors like dynamic visual acuity, depth
perception etc. should also be considered for accurate design. Glare vision and color vision are also
equally important. Glare vision is greatly affected by age. Glare recovery time is the time required to recover from
the effect of glare after the light. source is passed, and will be higher for elderly persons. Color vision is important
as it can come into picture in case of sign and signal recognition.

Fig.1 Visual acuity

Hearing: Hearing is required for detecting sounds, but lack of hearing acuity can

be compensated by usage of hearing aids. Lot of experiments were carried out to test
the drive vigilance which is the ability of a drive to discern environmental signs over a
prolonged period. The results showed that the drivers who did not undergo any type
of fatiguing conditions performed significantly better than those who were subjected
to fatiguing conditions. But the mental fatigue is more dangerous than skill fatigue.
The variability of attitude of drivers with respect to age, sex, knowledge and skill in
driving etc. are also important.
The temporary physical characteristics of the road users affecting their
efficiency are fatigue, alcohol or drugs and illness. All these reduce alertness and
increase the reaction and also affect the quality of judgement in some situations.
2. Mental characteristics
Knowledge, skill, intelligence experience and literacy can affect the road user
characteristics. knowledge of vehicle characteristics, traffic behavior, driving practice,
rules of road and psychology of road users will be quite useful for safe traffic
operation.
Understanding the traffic regulations and special instruction and timely action
depends on intelligence and literacy.
Reactions to certain traffic situations become more spontaneous with experience.
3. Psychological Characteristics
These affect reaction to traffic situations of road users to a great extent. The
emotional factors such as attentiveness, fear anger, superstition impatience, general
attitude towards traffic and regulations and maturity also come under this.

PIEV THEORY
According to this theory total reaction time of the driver is split into four parts,
viz., time taken by the driver for:
Perception: it is the time required for the sensations received by the eyes or
ears to be transmitted to the brain through the nervous system and spinal chord. In
other words it is the time required to perceive an object or situation.
Intellection: It is the time required for understanding the situation. It is also
time required for comparing the different thoughts, regrouping and registering new
sensations.
Emotion: This stage involves the judgment of the appropriate response to be
made on the stimuli like to stop, pass, move laterally etc.
Volition: Volition is the time taken for the final action.
4. Environmental Factors
The environmental factors like weather, visibility and other atmospheric
conditions. The various environmental conditions affecting the behavior of road user

are traffic stream characteristics, facilities to the traffic, atmospheric conditions and
the locality.
COMPONENTS OF TRAFFIC ENGINEERING
The components of traffic engineering classified into three types.
1. Road users including drivers, cyclists and pedestrians
2. Vehicle
3. Roads and Highways
4. Control devices
5. Land use characteristics
3.ROAD USER CHARACTERISTICS
Same as above mentioned road user characteristics
1. VEHICLE
Same as above mentioned vehicle characteristics
2. ROAD CHARACTERISTICS
The various road characteristics may be classified into six types.
1. Road surface
2. Lighting
3. Roughness
4. Pavement color
5. Night visibility
6. Geometric aspects
 1. Road surface

The type of pavement is determined by the volume and composition of traffic,

the availability of materials, and available funds. Some of the factors relating to road
surface like road roughness, tire wear, tractive resistance, noise, light reflection,
electrostatic properties etc. should be given special attention in the design,
construction and maintenance of highways for their safe and economical operation.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to build road surface which will provide the best
possible performance for all these conditions.
For heavy traffic volumes, a smooth riding surface with good all-weather antiskid
properties is desirable. The surface should be chosen to retain these qualities so that
maintenance cost and interference to traffic operations are kept to a minimum.

2. Lighting

Illumination is used to illuminate the physical features of the road way and
to aid in the driving task.
Highway lighting is particularly more important at intersections, bridge site,
level crossing and in places where there is restriction of traffic to movements.
On urban roads where the density of population is also high, road lighting has
other advantages like feeling of security and protection.
3. Roughness

This is one of the main factors that an engineer should give importance during
the design, construction, and maintenance of a highway system.
Drivers tend to seek smoother surface when given a choice. On four-lane
highways where the texture of the surface of the inner-lane is rougher than that of the
outside lane, passing vehicles tend to return to the outside lane after execution of the
passing maneuver.
Shoulders or even speed change lanes may be deliberately roughened as a
means of delineation.
4. Pavement colors

When the pavements are light colored(for example, cement concrete

pavements) there is better visibility during day time whereas during night dark colored
pavements like bituminous pavements provide more visibility.
 Contrasting pavements may be used to indicate preferential use of traffic
lanes.
A driver tends to follow the same pavement color having driven some distance
on a light or dark surface, he expects to remain on a surface of that same color until he
arrives a major junction point.
Night visibility

The main reason for increased accident rate during night time may be attributed
to poor night visibility.
An important factor is the amount of light which is reflected by the road
surface to the drivers eyes.
Glare caused by the reflection of oncoming vehicles is negligible on a dry
pavement but is an important factor when the pavement is wet.
5. Geometric aspects
The roadway elements such as pavement slope, gradient, right of way etc
affect transportation in various ways.
Central portion of the pavement is slightly raised and is sloped to either sides
so as to prevent the pounding of water on the road surface. This will deteriorate the
riding quality since the pavement will be subjected to many failures like potholes etc.
Minimum lane width should be provided to reduce the chances of accidents.
Also the speed of the vehicles will be reduced and time consumed to reach the
destination will also be more.
Right of way width should be properly provided. If the right of way width
becomes less, future expansion will become difficult and the development of that area
will be adversely affected.
One important other road element is the gradient. It reduces the tractive effort
of large vehicles. Again the fuel consumption of the vehicles climbing a gradient is
more.
The other road elements that cannot be avoided are curves. Near curves,
chances of accidents are more.
LAND USECHARACTERISTICS
The amount of traffic depends on how the land is used. for example shopping centers,
residential buildings and complexes. land uses characteristics depends on
1. Number of household
2. Population of the area
3. Road pattern
4. Mode of travel
5. Socio economic characteristics

TRAFFIC SURVEYS AND ANALYSIS

Traffic surveys are carried out to analyses the traffic characteristics. These
studies help in deciding the geometric design feature and traffic control for safe and
efficient traffic movements. Traffic surveys for collecting traffic data are also called
traffic census.

Methods of Measurements:

a. Measurement at a point of road

b. Measurement over short section of road
c. Measurement over long section of road
d. Moving observer method

The various traffic surveys generally carried out are:

1. Traffic volume count survey
2. Speed studies
a. Spot speed studies
b. Speed and delay studies
3. Origin and destination survey
4. Parking survey
5. Accident studies
6. Traffic flow characteristics
7. Traffic capacity studies

1. TRAFFIC VOLUME COUNT SURVEY (OR) TRAFFIC VOLUME DATA

Traffic volume is the number of vehicles crossing a section of road per unit
time at any selected period. The uses of traffic volume survey are given below:
1. Traffic volume survey is used in planning, traffic operation and control of
existing facilities and also for planning and designing the new facilities.
2. This survey is used in the analysis of traffic patterns and trends.
 3. Volume distribution study is used in planning one-way streets and other
regulatory measures.
4. It is used for design of intersections, in planning signal timings, channelization
and other control devices.
5. Classified volume count survey is useful in structural design of pavements, in
geometric design and in computing roadway capacity.
6. Pedestrian volume study is used for planning sidewalks, cross walks, subways
and pedestrian signals.
7. To determine the traffic flow or traffic in the peak hour.

Methods Available For Traffic Counts

The available for traffic volume counts are listed below:
1. Manual count
2. Mechanical count
3. Combination of manual and mechanical methods
4. Automatic devices(pneumatic tube, photo electric cells, magnetic detectors and
radar detectors)
5. Photographic methods

1. Manual counts

This method employs a field team to record traffic volume on the prescribed
record sheets. The number of observers needed to count the vehicles depends upon the
number of lanes in the highway on which the count is to be taken and the type of
information desired. However it is not practicable to have counts for all the 24 hours
of the day and on all days round the year.
Equipment needed:
The following equipment is needed for manual counts,
1. A watch
2. Pencils or pen
3. Supply of blank field data sheet with clip board
The advantages of manual methods and situations where these are to be preferred are:
1. Data accumulated by manual methods are easy to analyse.
 2. Manual methods are suitable for short-term and non-continuous counts.
3. Details such as vehicle classification and number of occupants can be easily
obtained.
4. Specific vehicular movements such as left turns, right turns, straight ahead
etc..at a junction can be noted and recorded.
5. Even if automatic devices are used, it is often necessary to check the accuracy
of these devices periodically and manual methods are serving this purpose.
Disadvantages of manual methods:
It is not practicable to have counts for all the 24 hours of the day and on all
days round the year.
The data’s are not fully accurate due to some manual errors.

Mechanical counts:
The method employs a field team to record traffic volume on the
prescribed record sheets. By this method it is possible to obtain data which can not be
collected by mechanical counters, such as vehicle classification, turning movements
and counts where loading conditions or numbers of occupants are required.
However it is not practicable to have counts for all the 24 hours of the day and
on all days round the year.
Hence it is necessary to resort to statistical sampling techniques in order to cut
down the manual hours involved in taking complete counts complete counts, first the
fluctuations of traffic volume during the hours of the day and the daily variations are
observed. Then by statistical analysis the peak hourly traffic volume as well as
average daily traffic volumes are calculated.

Combination of Manual and Mechanical Method:

An example of a combination of manual and mechanical method is the multiple pen
recorder. A chart moves continuously at the speed of a clock. Different pens record
the occurrence of different events on the chart. The main advantage of this method is
(i) A permanent record is kept arrival of each class of vehicle. The
classification and vehicle count performed simultaneously.
 (ii) Additional information such as time headways between successive
vehicles and the arrival per unit time become available.
Automatic devices:
 Photo electric cells
 Magnetic detector and
 Radar detectors
 Pneumatic tube
 Electric contact
 Co axial cable
Photographic method:
In this method, the video camera stationed on the top of an elevated building
select vehicles at random and follow their course along the road, noting the number of
vehicles entering the test section. This method useful for studying short test sections
like intersection etc.
Presentation of traffic volume data:
1. Average Annual Daily Traffic(AADT) : The average 24-hour traffic volume at a
given location over a full 365-day year, i.e. the total number of vehicles passing the
site in a year divided by 365.
2. Average Annual Weekday Traffic(AAWT) : The average 24-hour traffic volume
occurring on weekdays over a full year. It is computed by dividing the total weekday
traffic volume for the year by 260.
3. Average Daily Traffic(ADT) : An average 24-hour traffic volume at a given
location for some period of time less than a year. It may be measured for six months, a
season, a month, a week, or as little as two days. An ADT is a valid number only for
the period over which it was measured.
4. Average Weekday Traffic(AWT) : An average 24-hour traffic volume occurring on
weekdays for some period of time less than one year, such as for a month or a season.
PCU(passenger car unit): It is common practice to consider the passenger car as
the standard vehicle unit to convert the other vehicle classes and this unit is
called passenger car unit or PCU
SPEED STUDIES:
The actual speed of vehicles over a particular route may fluctuate widely depending
on several factors such as geometric features, traffic conditions, time, place,
environment and driver.
SPOT SPEED
Spot speed is the instantaneous speed of a vehicle at a specified location.
Uses:
Spot speed study may be useful in any of the following aspects of traffic.
1. Spot speed can be used to design the geometry of road like horizontal and
vertical curves, super elevation etc. Location and size of signs, design of signals,
safe speed, and speed zone determination, require the spot speed data.
2. Accident analysis, road maintenance, and congestion are the modern fields
of traffic engineer, which uses spot speed data as the basic input.
3. To use in planning traffic control and in traffic regulations.
Spot speed can be measured using an enoscope, pressure contact tubes or direct
timing procedure or radar speedometer or by time-lapse photographic methods.
Spot speed by endoscope method:
It is one of the simplest methods of finding spot speed is by using
endoscope which is by using endoscope which is just a mirror box supported on a
tripod stand.
In its simplest principle, the observer is stationed on one side of the road
and starts a stopwatch when a vehicle crosses that section an enoscope is placed at a
convenient distance of say 30m in such a way that the image of the vehicle is seen by
the observer when the vehicle crosses the section where the enoscope is fixed and at
this instant the stop watch is stopped.
The main advantage: of this method is that it is a simple and cheap
equipment and is easy to use. The greatest disadvantage is that the progress is so flow
as it is difficult to spot out typical vehicles and the number of samples observed will
be les. There is also a possibility of human error.
 Fig.1 Spot Speed by Enoscope
Other equipment used:
Graphic recorder
Photo electric meter
Speed meter
Photographic method
radar
Running speed:
Running speed is the average speed maintained over a particular course while
the vehicle is moving and is found by dividing the length of the course by the time
duration the vehicle was in motion.(EXCLUIDING DELAY)
Journey speed:
Journey speed is the effective speed of the vehicle on a journey between two
points and is the distance between the two points divided by the total time taken for
the vehicle to complete the journey including any stopped time.(INCLUDING
DELAY)
Time mean speed:
Time mean speed is defined as the average speed of all the vehicles passing a
point on a highway over some specified time period.
Space mean speed:
Space mean speed is defined as the average speed of all the vehicles occupying
a given
section of a highway over some specified time period.
The space mean speed is slightly lower than time mean speed under typical
conditions on rural highways.(GATE qus)
Average speed:
It is the average of the spot speeds of all vehicles passing a given point on the
highway.

SPEED AND DELAY STUDY

The speed and delay studies give the running speeds, overall speeds,
fluctuations in speeds and the delay between two stations of a road spaced far apart.
They also give the information such as amount, location, duration frequency and
causes of the delay in traffic stream. The results of the speed and delay studies are
useful in detecting the spots of congestion, the causes and in arriving at a suitable
remedial measure. The studies are also utilized in finding the travel time and
benefit cost analysis.
The delay or the time lost by traffic during the travel time period may be either
due to fixed delays and operational delays. Fixed delay occurs primarily at
intersections due to traffic signals and at level crossings. Operational delays are
caused by interference of traffic movements, such as turning vehicles, parking and
imparking vehicles, pedestrians etc., and by internal friction in the traffic stream due
to high traffic volume, insufficient capacity and by accidents.
They are various methods of carrying out speed and delay study,namely:
1. Moving observer method or Floating car method
2. License plate or vehicle number method
3. Interview method
4. Elevated observations, and
5. Photographic technique
Moving observer method
In the floating car methods a test vehicle is driven over a given course of travel
at approximately the average speed of the stream, thus trying to float the traffic
stream. A number of test runs are made along the study stretch and a group of
observers record the various details.
One observer is seated in the floating or moving car with two stop watches.
One of the stop watches is used to record the time at various control points like
intersections, bridges or any other fixed points in each trip.
The other stop watch is used to find the duration of individual delays.
The time, location and causes of these delays are recorded by using suitable
tabular forms or by voice recording equipment.
The number of vehicle overtaking the test vehicle and that overtaken by test
vehicles are noted in each trip by third observer.
The number of vehicles travelling in the opposite direction in each trip is noted
by the a fourth observer. However in mixed traffic flow, more number of observers
will be required to count the vehicles of different classes.
The average journey time t(minute) for all the vehicles in a traffic stream in the
direction of flow q is given by:
t = tw – ny/q
q = (na+ny)/(ta+tw)
where,

q= flow of vehicles (volume per minute),in one direction of the stream

na = avg number of vehicles counted in the direction of the stream when the test
vehicle in the opposite direction
ny = avg number of vehicles overtaking the test vehicle minus the number of vehicles
overtaken when the test vehicle in the direction of q
tw = avg journey time, in minute when the test vehicle travelling is travelling with
stream q
ta= avg journey time, in minute when the test vehicle is running against the stream.
License Plate Method
In license plate method, synchronized stop watches or voice recording
equipment are used. Observers are stationed at the entrance and exit of a test section
where information of travel time is required. The timings and the vehicle numbers are
noted by the observers of the selected samples. From the office computations travel
time of each vehicles could be found. But the method does not give important details
such as causes of delays and the duration and number of delays within the test
section.

Interview method
In the Interview technique, the work completed in a short time by interviewing
and collecting details from the road users on the spot. However data collected may
not provide with all details correctly.
Elevated Observation and Photographic Technique
In this method, the observers stationed on the top of an elevated building select
vehicles at random and follow their course along the road, noting the time of entering
the test section, duration and nature of delays suffered and time of leaving. This
method useful for studying short test sections like intersection etc.
PARKING SURVEYS:
There are three major types of parking surveys. They are
1. In-out survey: In this survey, the occupancy count in the selected parking lot is
taken at the beginning. Then the number of vehicles that enter the parking lot for a
particular time interval is counted. The number of vehicles that leave the parking lot is
also taken. The final occupancy in the parking lot is also taken. Here the labour
required is very less. Only one person may be enough. But we won‟t get any data
regarding the time duration for which a particular vehicle used that parking lot.
Parking duration and turnover is not obtained. Hence we cannot estimate the parking
fare from this survey.
2. Fixed period sampling: This is almost similar to in-out survey. All vehicles are
counted at the
beginning of the survey. Then after a fixed time interval that may vary between 15
minutes to 1 hour, the count is again taken. Here there are chances of missing the
number of vehicles that were parked for a short duration.
3. License plate method of survey: This results in the most accurate and realistic
data. In this case of survey, every parking stall is monitored at a continuous interval of
15 minutes or so and the license plate number is noted down. This will give the data
regarding the duration for which a particular vehicle was using the parking bay. This
will help in calculating the fare because fare is estimated based on the duration for
which the vehicle was parked. If the time interval is shorter, then there are less
chances of missing short-term parkers. But this method is very labour intensive.

PROHIBITED PARKINGS
 Near intersections
 Narrow streets
 Pedestrian crossings
 Entrance driveways
 Structures such as bridges, tunnel and underpasses

DESIGN OF PARKING FACILITY

The parking facilities may be broadly classified into two types:
 On street parking
 Off street parking

On street parking

On street parking means the vehicles are parked on the sides of the street itself.
This will be usually controlled by government agencies itself. Common types of on-
street parking are as listed below. This classification is based on the angle in which the
vehicles are parked with respect to the road alignment. As per IRC the standard
dimensions of a car is taken as 5.0mx 2.5m and that for a truck is 3.75m x 7.5m .
1. Parallel parking: The vehicles are parked along the length of the road. Here there
is no backward movement involved while parking or unparking the vehicle. Hence it
is the most safest parking from the accident perspective. But it consumes the
maximum curb length and therefore only a minimum number of vehicles can be
parked for a given kerb length. Since it consumes least width of the road it produces
least obstruction to the on-going traffic on the road.
2. 30°parking: Here more vehicles can be parked compared to parallel parking.
Also there is better maneuverability. It causes minimum delay to traffic.
3. 45°parking: As the angle of parking increases, more number of vehicles can be
parked. Hence compared to parallel and thirty degree parking, more number of
vehicles can be accommodated in this type of parking.
4. 60° parking: Here also more number of vehicles can be accommodated.
5. Right angle parking: Here the vehicles are parked perpendicular to the direction of
the road. Hence it consumes maximum width. Curb length required is very little.
Hence there are chances of severe accidents. Also it causes obstruction to the road
traffic. But it can accommodate maximum number of vehicles.
Advantages of on street parking:
1. Angle parking is more convenient for the motorists than the parallel parking.
2. From the point of view of maneuverability, angle parking seems to be better
than parallel parking which usually involves backing motion.
3. Delay to traffic is minimum with angle parking
4. Parallel parking makes the least use of the width of the street, and this is an
important consideration in narrow streets.
Disadvantages of on street parking:
 Congestion: By parking, there will be loss in the street space which leads to
the lowering of the road capacity. Hence speed will be reduced, journey time
and delay will also subsequently increase. The operational cost of the vehicle
increases leading to great economical loss to the community.
 Accidents: Careless maneuvering of parking and un parking leads to accidents
which are referred to as parking accidents. Common type of parking accidents
occur while driving out a car from the parking area, careless opening of the
 doors of parked cars, and while bringing in the vehicle to the parking lot for
parking.
 Obstruction to firefighting operations: Parked vehicles may obstruct the
movement of fire fighting vehicles. Sometimes they block access to hydrants and
access to buildings.
 Environmental pollution: They also cause pollution to the environment because
stopping and starting of vehicles while parking and un parking results in noise and
fumes. They also affect the aesthetic beauty of the buildings because cars parked at
every available space creates a feeling that building rises from a plinth of cars.
Off street parking

When the parking facility is provided at a separate place away from the kerb, it is
known as off street parking. There will be some area exclusively allotted for parking
which will be at some distance away from the main stream of traffic. Such a parking is
referred to as off street parking. They may be operated by either public agencies or
private firms.

The different types of off-street parking facilities commonly considered are:

 Surface car parks
 Parking lots
 Multi-storey car parks
 Underground car parks
 Roof parks
 Mechanical parks

Fig.1 OFF STREET PARKING

Advantages of off street parking:
 The main advantage of this method is that there is no undue congestion,
accidents, environmental pollution and delay on the road as in on street
parking.
 It gives good safety for the parking vehicles.
Disadvantages of off street parking:
 Main drawback of this method is, the owners will have to walk greater distance
after parking the vehicle.
 It is also not possible to provide the off street parking facility at very close
 intervals especially in business centers of a city.

Parking statistics:
Parking accumulation: It is defined as the number of vehicles parked at a given instant
of time. Normally this is expressed by accumulation curve. Accumulation curve is the
graph obtained by plotting the number of bays occupied with respect to time.

Parking volume: Parking volume is the total number of vehicles parked at a given
duration of time.
Parking load : Parking load gives the area under the accumulation curve. It can also be
obtained by simply multiplying the number of vehicles with the time interval. It is
expressed as vehicle hours.
Average parking duration: It is the ratio of total vehicle hours to the number of vehicles
parked.
Parking turnover: It is the ratio of number of vehicles parked in a duration to the number
of parking bays available.
Parking index: Parking index is also called occupancy or efficiency. It is defined as the
ratio of number of bays occupied in a time duration to the total space available. It gives an
aggregate measure of how effectively the parking space is utilized. Parking index can be
found out as follows:
Parking Index = parking load /parking capacity x100

ACCIDENT STUDIES
The traffic accidents may involve property damages, personal injuries or even
casualities. One of the main objective of traffic engineering is to provide safe traffic
movements.
Road accident cannot be totally prevented, but suitable traffic engineering and
management measures, the accident rate can be considerably decreases. Therefore the
traffic engineer has to carryout systematic accident studies to investigate the causes of
accidents and to take preventive measures in terms of design and control.
The objective of the accident studies may be listed below:
 To study the causes of accidents and to suggest corrective treatment at potential
location,
 To evaluate the existing design
 To support the proposed designs
  To carry out the before and after studies and to demonstrate the improvement in
the problem
 To make computations of financial loss There
are four basic elements in a traffic accident:
 The road users
 The vehicles
 The roads and its condition and
 Environmental factor-traffic, weather etc.
Causes of accidents
Road users: excessive speed and rash driving, careless ,violation of rules and regulations,
failure to see or understand the traffic situations, signs or signal, temporary effect due to
fatigue, sleep or alcohol.
Vehicles defects: Failure of brakes, steering system, and lighting system etc.,
Road condition: Skidding road surface, pot holes, ruts and other damaged conditions of
the road surfaces.
Road design: defective geometric design like inadequate sight distance, inadequate width
of shoulders, improper curve design, improper lighting and improper control devices.

Environmental factor: unfavorable weather condition like mist, fog, snow, dust, smoke
and heavy rainfall which restrict the normal visibility and render driving unsafe.

TYPES OF ACCIDENTS:
 Fatal accident
 Grievous injury accidents
 Slightly injured accidents
 Minor injury accidents
 Non-injury accidents
Fatal accidents: An accident in which one or more persons were killed.
Grievous injury accident: Accidents in which persons were grievously injured. For
example permanent disfigurement of head or face.
Slightly injured accidents: Persons who have sustained only minor injuries or bruises or
sprains.
Minor injury accidents: Accidents in which persons received only minor injuries.
Non-injury accidents: Accidents in which no one was killed or injured.
 ACCIDENT ANALYSIS
5.5.1Accident data collection
The accident data collection is the first step in the accident study. The data collection
of the accidents is primarily done by the police. Motorist accident reports are secondary data
which are filed by motorists themselves. The data to be collected should comprise all of
these parameters:

1. General - Date, time, person involved in accident, classification of accident like fatal, serious,
minor
2.Location - Description and detail of location of accident
3. Details of vehicle involved - Registration number, description of vehicle, loading detail,vehicular defects
4. Nature of accident - Details of collision, damages, injury and casualty
5. Road and traffic condition - Details of road geometry, surface characteristics,type of traffic,
traffic density etc..
6. Primary causes of accident - Details of various possible cases (already mentioned)
which are the main causes of accident.
7. Accident cost - Financial losses incurred due to property damage, personal injury and casualty

5.5.2.These data collected need proper storing and retrieving for the following purpose. The
purposes are as follows:
1. Identification of location of points at which unusually high number of accident occur.
2. Detailed functional evaluation of critical accident location to identify the causes of accidents.
3. Development of procedure that allows identification of hazards before large number of
accidents occurs.
4. Development of different statistical measures of various accident related factors to give insight
into general trends, common casual factors, driver profiles, etc.

ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION
The accident data collection involves extensive investigation which involves the
following procedure:
1. Reporting: It involves basic data collection in form of two methods:
(a) Motorist accident report - It is filed by the involved motorist involved in all
accidents fatal or injurious.
(b) Police accident report - It is filed by the attendant police officer for all accidents at which an
officer is present. This generally includes fatal accidents or mostly accidents involving serious injury
required emergency or hospital treatment or which have incurred heavy property damage.
2. At Scene-Investigation: It involves obtaining information at scene such as measurement of skid
marks, examination of damage of vehicles, photograph of final position of vehicles, examination of
condition and functioning of traffic control devices and other road equipments.
3. Technical Preparation: This data collection step is needed for organization and inter- pretation
of the study made. In this step measurement of grades, sight distance, preparing drawing of after
accident situation, determination of critical and design speed for curves is done.
4. Professional Reconstruction: In this step effort is made to determine from whatever data is
available how the accident occurs from the available data. This involves accident reconstruction
which has been discussed under Section No.7 in details. It is professionally referred as determining
behavioral or mediate causes of accident.
5. Cause Analysis: It is the effort made to determine why the accident occurred from the data
available and the analysis of accident reconstruction studies.
 ACCIDENT DATA ANALYSIS
The purpose is to find the possible causes of accident related to driver, vehicle, and
roadway. Accident analyses are made to develop information such as:

1. Driver and Pedestrian - Accident occurrence by age groups and relationships of accidents to
physical capacities and to psychological test results.
2.Vehicle - Accident occurrence related to characteristic of vehicle, severity, location and extent of
damage related to vehicles.
3. Roadway conditions - Relationships of accident occurrence and severity to characteristics of the
roadway and roadway condition and relative values of changes related to roadways.

It is important to compute accident rate which reflect accident involvement by type of

highway. These rates provide a means of comparing the relative safety of different highway
and street system and traffic controls. Another is accident involvement by the type of drivers
and vehicles associated with accidents.

1. Accident Rate per Kilometer :

On this basis the total accident hazard is expressed as the number of accidents of all types per
km of each highway and street classification.
R =A/L
where, R = total accident rate per km for one year, A = total number of accident occur- ring
in one year, L = length of control section in kms

2. Accident involvement Rate :

It is expressed as numbers of drivers of vehicles with certain characteristics who were
involved in accidents per 100 million vehicle-kms of travel.
R =N × 100000000/V
where,R = accident involvement per 100 million vehicle-kms of travel, N = total
number of drivers of vehicles involved in accidents during the period of
investigation and V = vehicle-kms of travel on road section during the period of
investigation
3. Death rate based on population :
The traffic hazard to life in a community is expressed as the number of traffic fatalities per
100,000 populations. This rate ref++lects the accident exposure for entire area.
R =B × 100000/P
where, R = death rate per 100,000 population, B = total number of traffic death in one year and P
= population of area
4.Death rate based on registration :
The traffic hazard to life in a community can also be expressed as the number of traffic
fatalities per 10,000 vehicles registered. This rate reflects the accident exposure for
entire area and is similar to death rate based on population.
R =B × 10000/M
where, R = death rate per 10,000 vehicles registered, B = total number of traffic
death in one year and M = number of motor vehicles registered in the area
5. Accident Rate based on vehicle-kms of travel :
The accident hazard is expressed as the number of accidents per 100 million vehicle
km of travel. The true exposure to accident is nearly approximated by the miles of
travel of the motor vehicle than the population or registration.
R =C × 100000000/V
where, R = accident rate per 100 million vehicle kms of travel, C = number of total
accidents in one year and V = vehicle kms of travel in one year

Origin and destination studies

The origin and destination survey carried out mainly due to
(i) plan the road network facilities for vehicular traffic, and
(ii) plan the schedule of different modes of transportation for the trip demand of
commuters
(iii) to locate the intermediate stops
(iv) to establish the design standards for the road, bridges and culverts along the
route
(v) to locate the terminals and plan the terminal facilities
(vi) to plan the transportation system and mass transit facilities in cities including
routes and schedules of operation
(vii) to judge adequacy of existing routes and to use in planning new networks of
roads.

There are a number of method for collecting the O-D data. Some of the methods are
commonly adopted are:

1. Roadside interview method

2. License plate method
3. Return post card method
4. Tag on car method
5. Home interview method
6. Work spot interview method

Road side interview method

The vehicles are stopped at previously decided interview stations by a group of
persons and answer to prescribed questionnaire are collected on the spot. The information
collected include the place and time of origin and destination, route, location of
stoppages, the purpose of trip, type of vehicle and numbers of passenger in each vehicle.
In this method the data is collected quickly in short duration and the field
organization is simple and the team can be trained quickly. The main drawback of this
method is that vehicles stopped for interview, and there is delay to the vehicular
movement.
License plate method
The entire area under study is cordoned out and the observers are simultaneously
stationed at all points of entry and exit on all the routes leading to out of the area.
Each party at the observation station is given synchronized time pieces and they
note the license plate numbers (registration numbers) of the vehicles entering and leaving
the cordoned area and the time.
Separate recording sheets are maintained for each direction of movement for a
specified time interval. After collecting the field data major work remains of the office
computations and analysis, by tracking each vehicle number and its time of entering and
leaving the cordon area.
This method is quite easy and quick as far as the field work concerned. The field
organization can also be trained quickly. However, this method is quite advantageous
when the area under consideration is small, like a large intersection or a small business
center.
Return post card method
Pre-paid reply post cards with return address are distributed to the road users at
some selected points along the route or the cards are mailed to the owners of vehicles. The
questionnaire to be filled by road user is printed on the card, along with

a request for co-operation and purpose of the study. The distributing stations for the cards
may be selected where vehicles have to stop as in case of a toll booth.
The method is suitable where the traffic is heavy. The personnel need not be
skilled or trained just distributing the cards. The only a draw back of this method is part of
the road users may return the cards promptly after filling in the desire details properly and
correctly.
Tag on car method
In this method a pre-coded card stuck on the vehicles as its enters the area under
study. When the car leaves cordon area the other observations are recorded on the tag.
This method is useful where the traffic is heavy and moves continuously. But the method
gives only information regarding the points of entry and exit and the time taken to
traverse the area.

Home interview method

 A random sample of 0.5 to 10 percent of the population it selected and the
residences are visited by trained personal who collect the travel data from each member of
the household. The data collected may be useful either for planning the road network and
other facilities for the vehicular traffic or for planning the mass transportation requirement
of passengers.
Work spot interview method
The transportation needs of work trip can be planned by collecting the O & D data
at work spots like the offices, factories, educational institutions, etc.by personal interview.