Professional Documents
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- Flow
- Speed:
design speed
operating speed
relationship among speeds
Speed in geometric design
Lecture 5
Traffic flow parameters & geometric design
Traffic flow – volume & flow rate that quantify traffic demand
Volume: the total number of vehicles that pass over a given point or section
of a lane or a roadway during a given period of time (annual, monthly, weekly
daily, or hourly).
Flow rate: The equivalent hourly rate at which vehicles pass over a given point
Of lane or roadway during a given interval less than 1 hour, usually 15 min.
PHF = Vhr./(Vmax15min * 4)
Cont’d
1200
PHF = 0.8
• The assumed design speed should be logical for the topography, adjacent
land use, and highway functional classification;
• All of the pertinent features of the highway should be related to the design
speed to obtain a balanced design;
• The design speed chosen should be consistent with the speed a driver is
likely to expect;
• The speed selected for design should fit the travel desires and habits of
nearly all drivers, the design speed chosen should be a high-percentile value..
nearly all inclusive…whenever is feasible.
Cont’d
Operating speed- is a general term typically used to describe the actual speed
of a group of vehicles over a certain section of roadway.
Definition by GREEN BOOK: the speed at which drivers are observed operating
Their vehicles during free flow conditions. The 85th percentile of observed
Speeds s the most frequently used measure of the operating speed associated
with a particular location or geometric feature.
The expected value of Q85 and the posted speed limit has the following linear
relationship:
e.g.
LOS B LOS C
LOS A
Highway Capacity & LOS (cont’d)