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Course grading scheme correct

Team assignments posted
HW 1 posted
Note-taker needed
Website and Transportation wiki

Traffic Concepts
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 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?
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 Traffic Concepts
Fall 2008
CEE 320

CEE 320
Anne Goodchild
 Traffic Time of Day Patterns
9.00%

8.00%

7.00%
Percent of Daily Traffic

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
Fall 2008
CEE 320

Hour of Day
 How can we describe traffic?
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 How can we describe traffic?

Consider one lane of traffic

Traffic is constantly changing
Fall 2008
CEE 320
Fall 2008
CEE 320

From WSDOT 2003 Annual Traffic Report

Fall 2008
CEE 320

From WSDOT 2003 Annual Traffic Report

 How would you model traffic flow?

As a liquid?
As a glacier?
Discrete event simulation?

Fall 2008
CEE 320
 Concepts

Flow
Speed
Density
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 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
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 Flow

Text also uses flow rate

Flow is constantly varying!

Analysis flow rate is peak 15-minute flow

within the hour of interest.
Fall 2008
CEE 320
CEE 320
Fall 2008

Spacing
 How much space do you leave
between vehicles?

2 chevrons!
Depends on speed
Varies for each person
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 Spacing

The distance (ft) between successive

vehicles in a traffic stream, as measured
from front bumper to front bumper
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 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
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 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
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 Headway
Fall 2008
CEE 320

From HCM 2000

 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).
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 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
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 Time Mean Speed

Arithmetic mean of speeds observed at some

point
Easy to measure
radar
n

u i
ut i 1
n
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 Space Mean Speed

It is the harmonic mean

n nl
us n
n
1

i 1 ui
t i

t t1l1 t 2l2 ... t nln

i 1 1
n
Used in traffic models, but harder to measure
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 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?

Fall 2008
CEE 320
 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

Fall 2008
CEE 320
 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
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 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
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 Density (k - konzentration)

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
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 Density (k)

Number of vehicles in
length of segment

Inverse of average spacing

n 1
k n

s
i 1
i
s
Fall 2008
CEE 320
CEE 320
Fall 2008

Density

k
u
q
 Traffic Flow Theory

A model for the relationship

between flow, density, and
speed

Represents idealized
behavior and fundamental
relationships

Useful for traffic analysis

Fall 2008
CEE 320
 Complete the charts
speed

flow

density density
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 Complete the charts

speed

flow
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 Speed vs. Density

k
u u f 1
k
j
uf
Free Flow Speed
Speed (mph)

kj
Fall 2008

Jam Density
CEE 320

Density (veh/mile)
 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
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 Flow vs. Density

k 2
q uf k
k
j

Highest flow, Congested Flow

capacity, qm
FLow (veh/hr)

km kj
Uncongested Flow Optimal density Jam Density
Fall 2008
CEE 320

Density (veh/mile)
 Speed vs. Flow

u 2
q k j u
u
uf
Free Flow Speed
f
Uncongested Flow
Speed (mph)

um

Highest flow,
Congested Flow Flow (veh/hr) capacity, qm
Fall 2008
CEE 320

qm is bottleneck discharge rate

 Measurement

Density can easily be measured by remote

sensing, but has historically been difficult to
measure
Use occupancy obtained from loop-detectors
TMS more easy to measure than SMS
Use correction or approximation
Easy to measure with remote sensing (GPS)
Flow is easy to measure
Occupancy is measure of density
Only need to measure 2 of 3
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 Loop Detector

Freeway Monitoring
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 Loop Detector Signatures
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 Inductance Loop Detectors
Loop inductance decreases when a car is on top of it.
Inductance
T = ton
0
ton

T = toff
toff
Time
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 Inductance Loop Detectors
Inductance

High

low
Tn Single
tn1 loop measurements?
tn2 tn3 Tn+1 Time

Single loops can measure:

Occupancy (O): % of time loop is occupied per interval
Volume (N): vehicles per interval
Fall 2008
CEE 320
 How do you estimate speed from a
single loop detector?

You know how long it took the object to

pass over the detector
You know the percent of time (in a short
interval) the loop was covered by a vehicle

What else do you need to know?

Fall 2008
CEE 320
 Can We Get Speed from a Single Loop?

EVL
s
to
s = speed (ft/sec)
EVL = effective vehicle length (ft)
to = occupancy time (s)

EVL ~ vehicle length + detector length (24 feet)

Fall 2008
CEE 320
 Estimating Speed from a Single Loop?

Using typical traffic data

N sec
s 3600
T O g hr
s = speed (miles/hr)
N = number of vehicles in the observation interval
T = observation interval (s)
O = percentage of time the loop is occupied by vehicles
during the observation interval (occupancy)
g = speed estimation parameter
5280 ft mile
g
Fall 2008

EVL 100
CEE 320

100 converts percent to decimal

 What speed is this?

TMS
Fall 2008
CEE 320