TRAFFICENGINEERING

TRAFFICFLOWBEHAVIOURS
SHOCKWAVESINTRAFFICSTREAMS
QUEUESINTRAFFICSTREAMS
GAPSINTRAFFICSTREAMS
TRAFFICCONGESTIONS
TRAFFIC CONGESTIONS
MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.
 FLOW DENSITY(q k)DIAGRAM

q)
Flow (q

qcap
q2 2
1
q1

k1 km k2 kj Density (k)

MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.

 THEWATERFLOWANALOGY
Backwater W i
Weir

Whenthecapacityoftheweiropeningissmallerthantheupstreamflow.
Backwater is created
Backwateriscreated.
Thisislikeaqueuecreatedupstreamofabottleneck.
Thetailofthequeuemovesupstreamuntiltheupstreamin
The tail of the queue moves upstream until the upstream in
flowandtheoutflowfromtheopeningbecomeequal.
Thisphenomenoniscalledshockwave.
So,theformationofqueueupstreamofabottleneckislikethe
formationofbackwatercausedbyaweir.
MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.
FUNDAMENTAL DIAGRAM OF TRAFFIC AND SHOCK WAVES

q 2 q1
4
u
Thequeueformsontheupstreamofthebottleneck;
q (veh/h)
w
k 2 k1
wethereforeusethediagramoftheupstreamflowdiagram.
W k
Workarea (C t
(CreatesaBottleneck)
B ttl k)
qcap,u
qmax
3
UpstreamFlow
p

1
q1 Slopegivesvelocityuw
of shock wave for q1
ofshockwaveforq
BottleneckEntry
4 qcap,b 2
2 q2
3
BottleneckFlow
Upstream

q3
Speeddecreasesand
1
densityincreasesbut
noqueue.

k1 km k2 kj k (veh/km)
MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.
FUNDAMENTAL DIAGRAM OF TRAFFIC AND SHOCK WAVES

q (veh/h)

3 Velocityuw oftheformedshockwave
1400
isgivenbytheslopeofline1 2

1200 2

1
1000

25 70 120 k (veh/km)
MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.
 ENTRANCEOFSLOWMOVINGTRUCKINASTREAMOFFASTMOVINGVEHICLES

Vehicle that p
passed d0 jjust before the truck entered

Distance
e SPACING
A

h2

B
s1 s2

A
d1
B
h1
d HEADWAY

ZONEOFFLOWCONDITION1(FREEFLOW)

t t1 Time
Vehicle that came just after the truck entered

MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.

 SHOCKWAVESATSIGNALISEDINTERSECTION
FLOWTYPE NUMBER SHOCKWAVETYPE WAVESPEED
1 NORMALFLOW
NORMAL FLOW 1 3
1 BACKWARDFORMING
BACKWARD FORMING 13
2 ZEROFLOW 2 3 FRONTALSTATIONARY 23
Disstance

3 JAMMED(STOPPED) 3 4 BACKWARDRECOVERY 34
4 SATURATED FLOW
SATURATEDFLOW 2 4
2 FORWARD MOVING
FORWARDMOVING 24
1 4 FORWARDRECOVERY 14
EndofOurStudy
ownstreamSide

1
2 4 2
Do

INTERSECTION 23 12 23
GREEN RED GREEN RED Etc.
UpstreamSSide

E Q S
3 3

L
T 1
1

t0 t1 t2 t3 t4 t5 t6
MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING Time
TOMEKAC.L.T.G.
 SHOCKWAVESCLASSIFICATION

FRONTALSTATIONARY
Distance

LowerDensities
Lower Densities LowerDensities
Lower Densities
D

ToTheLeft ToTheRight

AREAOFHIGHDENSITY

LowerDensities LowerDensities
ToTheLeft ToTheRight

REARSTATIONARY
LowerDensities
FartherUpstream

MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING

Time
TOMEKAC.L.T.G.
EXAMPLE01:
Duringthemorningpeakhours,vehiclesarriveattheHoseaKutako/JohnMeinert signalised
intersectionfromthenorthernindustrialsideataflowrateof1800veh/h/lanewithaspeed
of60km/h. Thelanesgetjammedatadensityof155veh/km. Atsaturationtheroadis
known to carry 2100 veh/h/lane with the density of 82 veh/km
knowntocarry2100veh/h/lanewiththedensityof82veh/km.
Iftheredsignaltimeis20seconds,calculate;

aa. e queue e gt e t e g ee p ase sta ts

Thequeuelengthwhenthegreenphasestarts.
b. Themaximumlengthofthequeue.
c. Thetimeneededtoclearthequeuewhenthegreensignalstarts.
d. Ifthegreensignalalsotakes20seconds,canthequeuegetdissipated?

MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.

 TRAFFICFLOWTHEORY

QUEUINGTHEORYINTRAFFICFLOW

MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.

 QUEUINGSYSTEM
Aqueuingsystemhasthefollowingcomponents;
q g y g p ;
CustomersWaiting Spendtimew

ArrivingCustomers ServedCustomers
QUEUE SERVER

NumberofCustomersinqueuesystem Spendtimew

Queueshavesomedisciplinesthattheyfollowandcanbemodelled

Queuingmodelsaredefinedandusedto;
Describethebehaviourofqueuingsystems
Describe the behaviour of queuing systems
Evaluatesystemperformance
MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.
 QUEUELENGTHSANDQUEUEDESCIPLINES
AQueueLengthcanbe
A Queue Length can be either;

Unlimited e.g. carsinalineataroadblock(checkpoint)

LimitedorFinite e.g. numberofemailmessagesallowed

QueueDiscipline(rulesbywhichthenextcustomertobeservedis
Queue Discipline (rules by which the next customer to be served is
selected)

FIFO (FirstIn,FirstOut) or FCFS (FirstCome,FirstServe)

LIFO (LastIn,FirstOut) or LCFS (LastCome,FirstServe)
SIRO (ServiceInRandomOrder)
Priority
MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.
 QUEUEMODELS
Queuemodels
Queue models areusedtoanalyse
are used to analyse thequeuebehaviours;
the queue behaviours;

Thesebehavioursaredeterminedbythreefactors;
Vehiclearrivals Deterministic(D)orStochastic(M)
Serveroperations
Server operations Number of Servers
NumberofServers
Vehicledepartures Deterministic(D)orStochastic(M)
Queuemodelsarethereforedescribedbythreecharacters
Assumptionsmadeonarrivals
p LetterD orM

Assumptionsmadeondepartures LetterDorM

NumberofServes Number/IntegerN
MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.
 Examplesofqueuemodelscommonlyusedintrafficengineering;
D/D/1
/ / Deterministicmodel
M/D/1 Stochastic model
M/M/1 Stochastic
S h i model
M/M/N Stochastic model

Numberofavailableservers

Departureassumptions

Arrivalassumptions

D/D/1isasimplemodelthatcanbesolvedmathematicallyor
graphically
hi ll

MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.

 QUEUEDIAGRAMFORD/D/1MODEL
Attimet,
...
Therewasatotalofna vehiclesthatarrived,
NumberrofArrivinggVehicles

140 AND
Therewasatotalofnd vehiclesdeparted

120 Resultingaqueue lengthofna nd vehicles

ArrivalFunctionA(t)
100

80 na

QUEEUE
Point of Queue Dissipation
PointofQueueDissipation
60
DepartureFunctionD(t)
nd
40 n DELAY Thenth vehiclearrivedatt1
AND
Departedatt2.
20
Resultingadelayoft2 t1 minutes
0
0 2 t1 4 6 t2 8 t 10 12 14 ... Time(min)
MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.
 APPLICATIONOFD/D/1MODEL
EXAMPLE02:
Thetrafficpolicetake15secondstocheckthevehiclestravelling
fromOkahandja toWindhoekduringthemorningpeakhouratthe
Roadblock.Thevehicleswereobservedtoarriveattherateof420
veh/hat07:00,droppingto150veh/hat07:30,whichdropped
further to 90 veh/h at 08:00. Calculate;
furtherto90veh/hat08:00.Calculate;
a. Themaximumtimeneededtoclearthequeuethatwasformed.
b. Themaximumqueuelength.
q g
c. Theaveragedelaypervehicle.
d. Theaveragequeuelength.

MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.

 ehicles
(78,312)
300
A4
ArrivingVe

45veh
250 A3
(60,240)
No.ofA

(30,210) A2
200

A1 90veh
150

(30,120)
100

Time(min)
MODULE03 TEM620S
30 60
TRAFFICENGINEERING
90 TOMEKAC.L.T.G.
 THEPOISSONDISTRIBUTION
The Poisson distrib tion is defined b
ThePoissondistributionisdefinedby:

x
e
f( )
f(x)
x!
Where:
f(x) istheprobabilityofxoccurrencesinaninterval
istheexpectedvalueormeanvalueofoccurrenceswithinan
interval
e isaconstantorEuler'snumber(baseofnaturallogarithm).
e = 2 71828
e=2.71828

MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.

 RewritingthePoissondistributionequation,wehave:

t
n t
e
P(n)
n!
Where:
P( )
P(n) i th
istheprobabilityofnvehiclesarrivinginanintervalt
b bilit f hi l i i i i t lt
isthemeanarrivalrateintimeintervalt
t isthetimeintervaloverwhichvehiclesareobserved
n isthenumberofincidentvehicles
e isthemathematicalconstant(orEuler'snumber)
e=2.71828

MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.

 IMPORTANTSTOCHASTICQUEUEELEMENTS
M/D/1 M/M/1 M/M/N

2 2 P0N1 1
Q = 2
2(1) (1) N!N 1 N
Averagequeuesize(innumberofvehicles)

+Q 1
w = =
2(1)
2 (1 ) (1)
(1 ) ()
( )
Averagewaitingtimepervehicles

2 1 1 +Q
t = =
2(1) (1)
Average queuing time per vehicle (total delay)
Averagequeuingtimepervehicle(totaldelay)

MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.

 OTHERCHARACTERISTICSOFTHEM/M/NQUEUINGSYSTEM
1
P(0) =
N 1
nc N
+

nc! N! 1 N
nc =0

x n
P(0)x
P(0)
For nN
n!
P(n) =
P(0)xn
For nN
N!xNnN

P(0)xN+1
P(n>N) =

N!xNnN 1 N
MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.
Where:

P(0) = Probabilityofhavingnovehicleinthesystem

P(n) = Probabilityofhavingnvehiclesinthesystem

P(n>N) = Probabilitythatthenumberofvehiclesinthesystem
isgreaterthanthenumberofdeparturechannel
(i.e.theprobabilityofwaitinginaqueue)

n = Numberofvehiclesinthesystem

N = Numberofdeparturechannels

nc = Departurechannelnumber
= Trafficintensity
T ffi i t it

MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.

EXAMPLE03:

EachvehicleexitingfromtheWernhill parkmallspends24sfor
payment.Vehiclesarriveatanaveragerateof2vehicleseveryminute.
If only one exit outlet is open;
Ifonlyoneexitoutletisopen;

i. UsingtheM/M/1modelcalculate;
a TheaveragequeuesizeQ
a. The average queue size Q
b. Theaveragewaitingtimew
c. Theaveragetotaldelayt
d. Theprobabilityofhaving4vehiclesinthequeue.

ii. UsingtheM/D/1modelcalculate;
a. TheaveragequeuesizeQ
b. Theaveragewaitingtimew
c Theaveragetotaldelayt
c. The average total delay t

MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.

 EXAMPLE04: CapacitatedorFinitequeue

a. Arampcanhold40vehiclesbeforespillingover.Duringnonpeak
periods,thearrivalrateontherampwas240vehiclesperhour.
The entry of the vehicle on the high speed highway from the ramp
Theentryofthevehicleonthehighspeedhighwayfromtheramp
allows250vehiclesperhour.Determine;

ii. Theprobabilityoftheramptobeempty,halffullandfull.
Th b bilit f th t b t h lf f ll d f ll
ii. Theexpectednumberofvehiclesontheramp.

b If
b. Ifthearrivalratereducesto200vehiclesperhour,calculatethe
h i l d 200 hi l h l l h
newvalues.

MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.

 EXAMPLE05: ApplicationoftheM/M/Nqueuemodel

Theentrancetoastadiumhadfivepassageswherecontrolchecksare
The entrance to a stadium had five passages where control checks are
done.Inoneverycrucialmatchduringthefootballleaguespectators
arrivedattheentranceatarateof1420personsperhour.
On entering the stadium each person spent an average of 10 seconds
Onenteringthestadium,eachpersonspentanaverageof10seconds
forcontrolcheckatapassage.Experienceshowsthatthearrivaland
departureratesarebothexponentiallydistributed.Ifonlyfour
passageswereoperating,determine;

i. Theaveragequeuelength.
ii. Theaveragetimespentina(queue)system.
iii. Theprobabilitythatyouwillwaitinaqueuehavingbeing
informed of the situation while you were on your way to the
informedofthesituationwhileyouwereonyourwaytothe
stadium.
iv. Thechangestoeachvaluecalculatedaboveifthestadium
managerdecidestoopenthefifthpassage.
d id t th fifth

MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.

 TRAFFICFLOWTHEORY

GAPSANDGAPACCEPTANCE

MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.

 TERMSRELATEDTOGAPANALYSIS
Gap Theheadwayinamajorstream,evaluatedandusedbyadriverina
The headway in a major stream, evaluated and used by a driver in a
minorstream

Merging Avehicleinonetrafficstreamjoinsanothertrafficstreammovinginthe
samedirection

Diverging Avehicleinatrafficstreamleavesthattrafficstream

Weaving Avehiclefirstmergesintoastreamoftrafficthenmergersintoasecond
stream,ORthemaneuverofdriverstakingplaceatthecloverleaf
interchange
g

Timelag T2 T1
T1 T2

Space lag
Spacelag At an instant T
AtaninstantT
d2
d2 d1

MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.

 THECRITICALGAPANDITSCONCEPT
Theminimumaveragegaplengththatwillbeacceptedbydrivers.
The minimum average gap length that will be accepted by drivers.

Greenshields Thegapacceptedby50%ofthedrivers

Thegapforwhichthenumberofaccepted
Raff gaps shorter than it is equal to the number
gapsshorterthanitisequaltothenumber
ofrejectedgapslongerthanit.

MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.

 GAPACCEPTANCEANDREJECTIONMODEL
The gap acceptance behavior of vehicles at uncontrolled
intersections is investigated using binary choice model.

There are 2 choices available to the driver waiting for an

acceptable gap:

Accept the gap and enter to the intersection,

OR
Reject the gap and wait for the next available gap.
gap

MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.

 TIMESPACEDIAGRAMANDGAP
Thedriverinaminorstreamevaluatestheavailabilityofgaps.
Heentersthemainstream(oracceptthegap)onlywhenthe
availablegapisequaltogreaterthanthegaphefeelssafe,
i.e.hiscriticalgap.
MAJORROAD

MERGINGVEHICLE
NCEALONM
DISTAN

TIME
MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.
 CRITICALGAPASDEFINEDBYHCM2000
Thecriticalgap,tc,isdefinedastheminimumtimeintervalinthe
majorstreettrafficstreamthatallowsintersectionentryforone
minorstreetvehicle
tc,x =ttc,base +ttc,HV PHV +ttc,G G
G tc,T t3,LT (E
(Equation171)
i 17 1)
where
tc,x
cx = critical
criticalgapformovementx(s),
gap for movement x (s),
tc,base = basecriticalgapfromExhibit175(s),
tc,HV = adjustmentfactorforheavyvehicles(1.0fortwolanemajorstreets
and2.0forfourlanemajorstreets)(s),
PHV = proportionofheavyvehiclesforminormovement,
tc,G = adjustmentfactorforgrade(0.1forMovements9and12and0.2for
Movements7,8,10,and11)(s),
G = percentgradedividedby100,
tc,T = adjustmentfactorforeachpartofatwostagegapacceptance
process(1.0forfirstorsecondstage;0.0ifonlyonestage)(s),and
t3,LT = adjustmentfactorforintersectiongeometry(0.7forminorstreetleft
adjustment factor for intersection geometry (0 7 for minor street left
turnmovementatthreelegintersection;0.0otherwise)(s).
MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.
 FOLLOWUPTIMEASDEFINEDBYHCM2000
Thecriticalgapistheminimumtimeintervalbetweenthefront
The critical gap is the minimum time interval between the front
bumpersoftwosuccessivevehiclesinthemajortrafficstreamthat
willallowtheentryofoneminorstreetvehicle.

Whenmorethanoneminorstreetvehicleusesonemajorstreet
gap,thetimeheadwaybetweenthetwominorstreetvehiclesis
calledfollowuptime.

tf,x
f x =t
tf,base
f base +t
tf,HV
f HV PHV ((Equation172)
q )

where
tf,x
fx = followuptimeforminormovementx(s),
p ()
tf,base = basefollowuptimefromExhibit175(s),
tf,HV = adjustmentfactorforheavyvehicles(0.9fortwolanemajorstreets
and1.0forfourlanemajorstreets),and
PHV = proportionofheavyvehiclesforminormovement.

MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.

EXAMPLE06:
Thepeakhourflowwithinthemergingsectionofahighwayis1620veh/h.
p g g g y /
Arrivalsofthevehiclesonthehighwayisassumedtobedescribedbythe
Poissondistribution.Ifthecriticalgapforthemergingvehiclesis3.25s,
determine the number of acceptable gaps for the waiting vehicles
determinethenumberofacceptablegapsforthewaitingvehicles.

EXAMPLE 07:
EXAMPLE07:
Heavytrafficflownearthemergingareaofahighwayflowsat2250veh/h.
The minimum gap in the main traffic stream is 0 5 seconds while the
Theminimumgapinthemaintrafficstreamis0.5secondswhilethe
criticalgapforthemergingvehiclesis3.5seconds.

Determine the number of acceptable gaps for the waiting vehicles

Determinethenumberofacceptablegapsforthewaitingvehicles.

MODULE03 TEM620S TRAFFICENGINEERING TOMEKAC.L.T.G.