Transportation Engineering

Explanatory Session: «Travel Time and Delay»

Contenidos

Travel time and delay

Intro to traffic flow theory

Travel Time and Delay
 Travel time and delay studies

• Know how travel time and delay study results can be applied

• Know definition of terms related to travel time and delay studies

• Know what types of travel time studies are available

• Understand how the moving-vehicle technique is conducted and its data reduced
What we cover in class today…

• What are travel time and delay studies

• How are they used?
• Definition of terms
• Methods requiring a test vehicle
• Methods not requiring a test vehicle
• Learn how to reduce data collected by the Moving-Vehicle technique
 Travel time and delay studies

* Determines the amount of time required to travel from one point to another on a
given route. Often, information may also be collected on the locations, durations,
and causes of delays

• Indicate the level of service

• Identify problem locations
 Applications of travel time and delay data

Many uses… Efficiency check

Problem location
Model calibration
identification

Evaluation of performance Collect data for economic

before and after improvement analysis (user costs)
 Definition of terms related to time and delay studies

1. Travel time is the time taken by a vehicle to traverse a given

section of a highway.
2. Running time is the time a vehicle is actually in motion while
traversing a given section of a highway.
3. Delay is the time lost by a vehicle due to causes beyond the
control of the driver.
4. Operational delay is that part of the delay caused by the
impedance of other traffic. (for example, parking or unparking
vehicles).
 Definition of terms related to time and delay studies
(Continued)

5. Stopped-time delay is that part of the delay during which the vehicle
is at rest.
6. Fixed delay is that part of the delay caused by control devices such
as traffic signals.
7. Travel-time delay is the difference between the actual travel time
and the travel time that will be obtained by assuming that a vehicle
traverses the study section at an average speed equal to that for an
uncongested traffic flow on the section being studied.
 Methods for Conducting Travel Time and Delay Studies

The particular technique used for any specific study depends on the reason for conducting
the study and the available personnel and equipment.
Methods Requiring a Test Vehicle
Floating-Car Technique
• In this method, the test car is driven by an observer along the test section so that the test car "floats" with
the traffic.
• The driver of the test vehicle attempts to pass as many vehicles as those that pass the test vehicle.
• The time taken to traverse the study section is recorded. This is repeated, and the average time is recorded
as the travel time.
d  (1,  3.0) For before and after

 t   
2
d  (2,  4.0) For traffic operation, economic evaluation,
N   trend analysis
 d  d  (3,  5.0) For long range planning
 Methods Requiring a Test Vehicle
Methods for Conducting Travel Time and Delay Studies
• Average-Speed Technique. This technique involves driving the test car along the length
of the test section at a speed that, in the opinion of the driver, is the average speed of the
traffic stream. The time required to traverse the test section is noted.
• Moving-Vehicle Technique. In this technique, the observer makes a round trip on a test
section taking the time to travel it and the cars passes.
x y

x
y

• In test vehicle methods time can be recorded at intermediate points.

• Stop time at signals can also be recorders
 Moving vehicle technique

• The observer makes a round trip on a test section

• The observer starts at section X-X, drives the car eastward to
section Y-Y,
• turns the vehicle around
• drives westward to section X-X again

x y

x y
 Moving-Vehicle Technique

following data are collected as

• The time it takes to travel east from X-X to Y-Y (Te), in minutes

• The time it takes to travel west from Y-Y to X-X (Tw), in minutes

• The number of vehicles traveling west in the opposite lane while the test
car is traveling east (Ne)
 Moving-Vehicle Technique

• The number of vehicles that overtake the test car while it is traveling west
from Y-Y to X-X, that is, traveling in the westbound direction (Ow)

• The number of vehicles that the test car passes while it is traveling west
from Y-Y to X-X, that is, traveling in the westbound direction (Pw)
 Moving-Vehicle Technique

The volume (Vw) in the westbound direction can then be obtained from the
expression:

 where (Ne Ow Pw) is the number of vehicles traveling westward that cross the
line X-X in time Te+Tw.
 Similarly, the average travel time in the westbound direction is obtained from.
Moving-vehicle technique

West
X Y
Y
X
East

Volumes
Vw 
 N e  Ow  Pw 60
Ve 
 N w  Oe  Pe 60
Te  Tw Te  Tw
Average travel times
60(Ow  Pw ) 60(Oe  Pe )
Tw  Tw  Te  Te 
Vw Ve
Example - Moving-vehicle technique

The data in Table 1 were obtained in a travel time study on a section of highway
using the moving-vehicle technique. Determine the travel time and volume in
each direction at this section of the highway.
Solution:
Solution:
 Methods Not Requiring a Test Vehicle

 License-Plate Observations. The license-plate method requires that observers

be positioned at the beginning and end of the test section. Each observer
records the last three or four digits of the license plate of each car that passes,
together with the time at which the car passes. The difference between these
times is the traveling time of each vehicle. The average of these is the average
traveling time on the test section.
 Methods Not Requiring a Test Vehicle

 Interviews. Obtaining information from people who drive on the study

site regarding their travel times, their experience of delays, and so forth. It
requires the cooperation of the people contacted, since the result
depends entirely on the information given by them.
 Other Studies…

 Inventories: List of existing information (street width, parking space, transit

routes, traffic regulations)
 Administrative studies: Include the results of surveys (field measurement,
aerial photography)
 Dynamic Studies: Involve the collection of data under operational conditions
(studies of speed, traffic volume, travel time and delay, parking and crashes).
Dynamic studies serve to evaluate the current conditions and develop
solutions.
Intro to Traffic Flow Theory
 Traffic questions

• Have you ever driven out of a traffic jam only to find that
nothing was apparently causing it?
• Why does stop and go traffic happen?
• Why does traffic slow down as it gets heavier?
• How do we predict congestion?
Traffic – Time of Day Patterns
9.00%

8.00%

Percent of Daily Traffic 7.00%

6.00%

5.00%

4.00%
Rural Cars
3.00% Business Day Trucks
Through Trucks
Urban Cars
2.00%

1.00%

0.00%
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
Hour of Day
How Can We Describe traffic?
 How can we describe traffic?

• Consider one lane of traffic

• Traffic is constantly changing
How would you model traffic
flow?
Concepts

• Flow
• Speed
• Density
Flow (q)

• The number of vehicles (n) passing some designated roadway

point in a given time interval (t)

n
q
t
• Units typically vehicles/hour
• Volume typically refers to flow in an hour
 Flow

• Text also uses flow rate

• Flow is constantly varying!

• Analysis flow rate is peak 15-minute flow within the hour of interest.
Spacing
 How much space do you leave between vehicles?

• 2 chevrons!
• Depends on speed
• Varies for each person
 Spacing

• The distance (m, ft) between successive vehicles in a traffic stream, as

measured from front bumper to front bumper
Spacing

• Density
• the number of vehicles over a length of freeway

• Occupancy
• Measured by loop detectors
• The percent of time the loop is covered by a
vehicle
 Headway (h)

• The time (in seconds) between successive vehicles, as their

front bumpers pass a given point.

n 1
q n

h
h
i
i 1
 How do we measure average speed?

• The average speed of vehicles that pass by a specific point in space over a
specific time period (TMS).

• Time necessary for a vehicle to travel a length of roadway (SMS).

Measuring Speed

• Time mean speed

• Taken at a specific point
• Average of instantaneous speeds

• Space mean speed (u)

• Harmonic speed
• Look at a segment of roadway
• Average speed of all vehicles in that segment
 Time Mean Speed

• Arithmetic mean of speeds observed at some point

• Easy to measure
n radar

u i
ut  i 1
n
Space Mean Speed

• It is the harmonic mean

n nl
us  n
 n t  t1l1  t 2l2  ...  t nln 
1
1

i 1 ui
t
i 1
i n

• Used in traffic models, but harder to measure

Example

• You are in a vehicle traveling a total of 10 miles.

• the first 5 miles you travel at 40 mph

• the next 5 miles you travel at exactly 60 mph

• What is your average speed over the time you spent traveling that 10
miles?

• What is your average speed over that distance?

Average speed over time and average speed over
distance are different

10 miles

40 mph 60 mph
7.5 minutes 5 minutes

12.5 minutes

7.5 minutes 5 minutes

 Example time

You are in a vehicle traveling a total of 10 miles.

• the first 5 miles you travel at 40 mph
• the next 5 miles you travel at exactly 60 mph

What is your average speed over the time you spent traveling that 10 miles?

• 5 miles at 40 mph = 7.5 minutes

• 5 miles at 60 mph = 5 minutes
• weighted average = (40(7.5) + 60(5))/(7.5 + 5) = 48 mph
Example - distance

• 5 vehicles over a given 1 mile section take

1.0, 1.2, 1.5, 0.75 and 1.0 minutes respectively

• Average travel time

• 5.45/5 = 1.09 minutes = 0.0182 hours

• Therefore, average speed over that distance

1 mile/0.0182 hours = 55.05 mph (space mean speed)
• Time mean speed
• (1+1/1.2+1/1.5/1/.75+1)/5=58.0mph
 Density (k)

• The number of vehicles (n)

occupying a given length (l) of a
lane or roadway at a particular
instant

• Unit of density is vehicles per mile

(vpm).

n q
k 
l u
 Density (k)

• Number of vehicles in length of

segment

• Inverse of average spacing

n 1
k n

s
i 1
i
s
Density

q
k
u
 Traffic Flow Theory

• A model for the relationship

between flow, density, and
speed

• Represents idealized
behavior and fundamental
relationships

• Useful for traffic analysis

Complete the charts

speed

flow
density density
Complete the charts

speed

flow
Speed vs. Density

Speed
(mph)

 k 
uf u  u f 1  
Free Flow  k 
Speed  j 

Density
(veh/mile)
kj
Jam Density
 Additional definitions

• Free-flow speed (uf)

• The speed at which vehicles will travel unimpeded

• Jam density (kj)

• The density of vehicles in stopped traffic

• Capacity (qm)
• The maximum flow a section of roadway can maintain
Flow vs. Density
 k 2 
Flow q  uf k  
(veh/hr)  k 
 j 

qm Congested Flow
Highest flow,
capacity,

Density
km Kj (veh/mile)
Uncongested Flow Optimal Jam
density Density
 Speed vs. Flow
 u 2 
q  k j u  
Speed  uf 
(mph)  
uf
Free Flow Speed
Uncongested Flow
um

Flow qm is bottleneck
Highest flow, (veh/hr) discharge rate
Congested Flow capacity, qm
 Conclusiones

01 The objective of travel time and delay studies is to determine the amount of time required
to travel from one point to another on a given route

Delays studies are important for obtaining delays at different locations, and time over the
02 day, it is an important parameter to measure congestion.

Travel time and delays studies helps to identify problem locations on the roadway network,
03 calibrate current models, and conduct evaluation of performance before and after
improvement.

04 Traffic flow theory is important for modeling traffic, the most important factors affecting
are: flow, speed and density. In next class we will be focus on these factors.
 Referencias

Garber and Hoel (2008). Traffic and Highway

Engineering, 4th Edition.