LESSON 3

Traffic Flow Variables

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 Traffic Stream Variables
■ The nature of traffic flow on highway facilities at any particular moment
may be described by a number of parameters known as stream variables.
■ Stream variables help define the characteristics of traffic flow on highway
facilities and provide an indication of the level of usage and efficiency of
the roadway system.
■ The variables also provide transportation engineers and planners the
basic data in the evaluation of the effectiveness of capacity improvement
measures.
■ If vehicular flow is not interrupted by factors external to the traffic
stream, then the following variables are generally used to describe the
flow:

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a) Speed (u)
■ This is the rate of change in distance per unit time.
■ Since vehicles in a stream have different speeds which keep changing
as the highway is traversed, it is usual to characterize the stream flow
by an average speed value.
■ Average or mean speeds commonly used are the time mean speed (Ut)
and the space mean speed (Us).
■ The time mean speed is the arithmetic average of the speeds of the
individual vehicles as they pass a point (spot speed) whereas the space
mean speed is the average speed computed on the basis of the mean
time taken by the vehicles to move over a given section of roadway.

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■ Consider the case of N vehicles travelling on a road along a section of
length L with individual spot speeds of Ui. By definition, Ut is given as
(3.1)
■ For this length of roadway section, the travel time of each individual
vehicle assuming constant speed is

■ The average travel time Ta for the N vehicles is, therefore,

.
■ But , hence, Us is given by

(3.2)
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b) Spacing (s)
■ This is the distance between successive vehicles measured from the
front bumper of the leading vehicle to the front bumper of the
following vehicle.

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c) Clearance/gap

■ Clearance is the interval or distance between successive

vehicles measured from the rear bumper of the leading vehicle
to the front bumper of the following vehicle.
■ The time measure (in seconds) of this interval is called gap.
(3.3)
d) Headway
■ The time in seconds between successive vehicles as they pass
a point on a roadway.

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e) Rate of flow (q)
■ This is the number of vehicles passing a point during a given time
interval less than one hour, but expressed as an equivalent hourly rate.
■ The relationship between headway (h) measured in seconds and the
rate of flow (q) in veh/hr is given as;

(3.4) 3600
q
h
■ In traffic flow measurements, the standard time interval usually used is
a 15-minute period since it is the time interval at which stable flow can
reasonably be expected to exist.

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f) Capacity (qmax)
 This is the maximum rate of traffic flow that a highway is
capable of supporting.
g) Volume
■ This is the actual number of vehicles observed or predicted to
be passing a point during a given time interval.
h) Concentration or Density (k)
■ This is the number of vehicles occupying a unit length of
roadway at a given time. It has units of veh/km (or veh/mile).

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■ If vehicles on the average maintain a spacing “s” and if at a given instant
of time N vehicles occupy a length L of the roadway then,
L = Ns
and, hence, (3.5)
■ In Eqn. (3.5), the parameter s must have units consistent with the
parameter k, i.e., s is expressed in kilometres and k in veh/km.
■ Instead, if s is measured in metres the relationship between the two
parameters becomes;

(3.6)

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■ Traffic flow can be
characterized adequately by
the variables, u, k and q.
■ The relationship between
the three variables is given
by the following expression;
(3.6)
■ The figures express the
relationship between any
pair of the variables.

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■ Critical points on these curves are free flow speed (uf), jam
concentration (kj) and capacity (qm).
■ At free-flow conditions, the concentration of vehicles on the
roadway is so low that drivers can travel at their maximum
desired speeds and execute lane change manoeuvres without
any interference from other vehicles.
■ The free-flow speed is the maximum permissible speed
associated with free-flow condition.

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■ The jam concentration (kj) corresponds to the conditions of a
traffic jam situation where maximum packing of stationary
vehicles per unit length of roadway occurs.
■ On a q-k curve, there are two flow conditions at which q=0;
a) Free flow condition (when k=0)
b) Jam condition (when k0).
■ On a u-k curve, free flow condition occurs at k=0 while the jam
condition occurs at u=0.
■ On a q-k plot (also u-q plot), the maximum flow or capacity occurs
at intermediate values of speed and concentration, km=0.5kj.

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■ Up to this intermediate condition , i.e. km=0.5kj, increasing speeds
lead to increasing flow; beyond this point, increasing speeds lead to
decreasing flow.
■ Flow exhibits a decline at the high-speed end because need drivers
need to keep increasingly longer spacing for safety reasons.
■ A trade-off exists between speed and flow; higher speeds are
attained only by sacrificing the throughput capability of the
highway.
■ On a q-k curve, a ray drawn from the origin to any point on the
curve has a slope representing the corresponding space mean
speed.

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 Categories of Traffic Flow
■ Traffic flow on transportation facilities may be categorized as
either interrupted flow or uninterrupted flow.
■ An interrupted flow is any traffic flow that is called
periodically to slow down significantly or stop completely due
to the presence of elements external to the stream such as toll
booths, stop and yield signs, traffic signals, speed humps and
other types of traffic control devices, irrespective of how much
traffic exists on the road.

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■ Uninterrupted flows are flows whose stream conditions are
devoid of the influence of fixed elements or any traffic control
devices to the extent that any changes in the flow conditions
are purely the result of interactions among vehicles and the
geometric characteristics of the roadway (such as length and
degree of curve, gradients, sight distance, etc.).
■ Traffic on freeways is considered to be uninterrupted flow.
■ Even if congestion on such roadways brings vehicular flow
almost to a halt, flow is still considered uninterrupted because
the reason for the congestion and slow-down is internal to the
traffic stream and not due to external factors.

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 Traffic Bottlenecks and Shock Waves
■ Traffic interruptions and bottlenecks to flow, such as sudden
reduction in available lanes or the presence of a stalled vehicle, cause
disturbances to the smooth flow of traffic and may result in the
formation of long queues of vehicles.
■ Such queues may take a long time to dissipate and cause
considerable delay to motorists.
■ Interruptions and bottlenecks to traffic flow cause compression and
decompression of vehicles and create what is known as traffic shock
waves in the traffic stream.
■ A traffic shock wave is said to exist or is created whenever two traffic
streams of varying stream conditions (q, u, k) meet.

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■ Consider a traffic stream moving on a roadway at a given rate of
flow, speed, and concentration defined by point A on the q-k
diagram shown in Fig. 3.3 below.
■ If for some reason a vehicle within the stream, for example,
decides to slow down and there is no possibility of passing it,
then all other vehicles following will have to slow down to match
the speed of the slow-moving vehicle.
■ In time, a convoy or platoon of vehicles will be observed
travelling at the speed of the lead vehicle. The stream conditions
within the platoon will be described by point B in Fig. 3.3.

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Fig. 3.3. Change in traffic flow conditions due to flow interruption

A
B

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■ The platoon will be defined by the vehicle at the front and the last
vehicle to join at the rear.
■ If the platoon condition persists for a long time, traffic conditions in
front of the platoon will approach free flow.
■ Two shock wave conditions characterize the platoon condition; one
is seen between the platoon conditions and the free flow
conditions in front of the platoon; the other is between the
platoon condition and approach condition represented by the last
vehicle about to join the platoon at the rear.
■ The platoon formation creates a compression of vehicles.

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■ Whenever an opportunity for passing the slow moving vehicle at the
front of the platoon arises or when the slow-moving vehicle decides to
increase speed or move off the road, the vehicles behind it will be put
in a release condition, i.e., they will be free to increase their speeds.
■ When this happens, another shock wave would be created in the traffic
stream; this time between the platoon condition and the release
condition.
■ This shock wave is associated with the decompression of the vehicles.
■ This phenomenon of traffic shock waves associated with the
compression and decompression of vehicles is a daily characteristic of
city-area traffic streams which are regularly interrupted by traffic
signals, stop and yield signs or stalled vehicles that restrict passing
opportunities on the roadway, etc.

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■ The speed of a traffic stream shock wave is given by the slope
of the chord connecting the two stream conditions that define
the shock wave (in Fig. 3.3, the slope of chord AB).
■ Consider, for example, two stream conditions q1, k1 and q2, k2
meeting.
■ The shock wave velocity, usw, associated with the meeting of
the two stream conditions is given by;
(3.7)

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■ If usw>0, the shock wave is travelling in the direction of traffic
flow (downstream).
■ If usw<0, the shock wave is travelling upstream (for example, in
the case of a vehicular stream interrupted by a traffic signal or
temporary road closure by say an accident).
■ if usw=0, the shock wave is stationary with respect to the
roadway. In the case of the rear of a platoon, it simply means
the last vehicle to join the platoon at any moment does so at
the same point on the roadway.

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■ The shock wave associated with the platoon condition (qp, kp)
and the free flow condition (qf =0, kf =0) at the front of the
platoon has the following velocity:
(3.8)
■ Similarly, the shock wave associated with the platoon
condition (qp, kp) and the approach condition (qa, ka) at the
rear of the platoon has the following velocity:
(3.9)

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■ In principle, during platoon formation, the shock wave at the front of the
platoon of vehicles has a speed equal to the speed of the vehicle at the
front, simply the speed of the platoon.
■ If Rp is the rate of platoon or queue growth, then
(3.10)
■ At the end of time t measured from the start of platoon formation, the
platoon or queue length, Lp is given by
(3.11)
■ The number of vehicles, Np, contained in this length of platoon is given
by
(3.12)

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■ When an opportunity arises for vehicles in the platoon to increase their
speed, a release condition is created at the front of the platoon and
another shock wave, this time, between the platoon condition and the
release condition is created.
■ The velocity of the release shock wave is evaluated using the two stream
conditions defining that shock wave.
■ The release shock wave will always travel upstream (against traffic flow).
The release condition will begin the dissipation of the platoon or queue
of vehicles earlier formed.
■ At complete platoon dissipation, another shock wave is again created,
this time, between the release condition and the approach condition at
the rear of the just dissipated platoon.

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■ Thus the deceleration and acceleration of vehicles in a traffic stream in
response to various stimuli create a series of shock waves or accordion-
like movements that travel back and forth along the traffic stream.
■ If usw(rl) is the shock wave associated with the release and platoon
conditions, then the rate of platoon dissipation, Rd, is the speed of the
release shock wave in front of the platoon relative to the speed of the
shock wave at the rear of the platoon, i.e.,
(3.13)
■ The time taken for the platoon of length Lp to dissipate completely is
given as
(3.14)

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■ The time to the
dissipation can
also be obtained
graphically by
plotting the shock
wave at the front
and rear of the
platoon on a time-
distance graph in
which the slopes of
the lines represent
the corresponding
show wave
velocities
Fig. 3.4. Time-distance plot of location and rear of platoon
from point of flow interruption

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Example problem
A stream of traffic moving on a highway at a speed of 80km/h and a
concentration of 20veh/km was forced to stop as a result of a traffic
incident that had caused a temporary road closure downstream. Flow
resumed at an average speed of 30km/h and a concentration of 65veh/km
1hour 15 minutes later. If the density of the stationary platoon of vehicles
formed by the temporary closure was 165veh/km, calculate
i. the length of the platoon at the instance when flow resumed and the
number of vehicles involved.
ii. the time taken for the platoon of vehicles formed by the temporary
closure to dissipate completely.

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Solution
■ Flow characteristics
Approach conditions: qa=1600veh/h, ka=20veh/km
Platoon conditions: qp=0, kp=165veh/km
Release condition: qrl=1950veh/h, krl=65veh/km
■ Note that for flow conditions is used where necessary.

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i) During platoon formation

■ Velocity of shock wave at the front of platoon, usw(front)=0

■ Velocity of shock wave at the rear of platoon,

■ Rate of platoon growth,

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■ Hence, length of platoon at the instance when flow resumed,
i.e., at t=1.25hr

■ Number of vehicles within the platoon,

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ii. During release
■ Velocity of release shock wave in front of platoon,

■ Rate of platoon dissipation,

(the negative value of Rd simply means dissipation)

■ Time taken for platoon to dissipate,

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 Application of Traffic Flow Variables
a) Measure of uniformity of flow or demand
■ Elements of traffic flow may be used to measure demand uniformity and
peaking in traffic flow.
■ Traffic flow is generally critical during peak period when the demand for
road space is highest.
■ Peaking of demand within the peak period would cause disruptions and
shock waves which may take a very long time to dissipate completely.
■ To quantify the degree to which traffic flow is uniform or demand will
peak, the parameter peak hour factor (PHF) is used.

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Consider a traffic stream that is being observed continuously.
If flow observations are at continuous 15-minute intervals, then there will
be a 15-minute period within the peak hour during which the traffic flow
rate is the highest.
The ratio of the peak hour volume to the maximum rate of flow within the
peak hour is termed the peak hour factor, i. e.
(3.15)
where,
V=peak hour volume
N15=highest 15-minute volume within the peak hour

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■ PHF values range between zero and unity.
■ The closer the value is to unity, the more uniform the traffic flow or
demand whereas the closer the value is to zero, the more peaked
the flow.
■ In either words, the peak hour factor measures flow uniformity.
Theoretically, however, PHF has a minimum value of 0.25.
■ Therefore, in reality, PHF lies between 0.25 and 1.

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 Fig. 3.1. Morning traffic volumes in
successive 15-minute periods
Time Vehicles
6.00-6.15 45
6.15-6.30 49
■ Sample calculations 6.30-6.45 32
Consider the traffic data 6.45-7.00 40
in Table 3.1 collected 7.00-7.15 48
during the morning of a 7.15-7.30 52
7.30-7.45 56
typical day on a major 7.45-8.00 60
road in an area: 8.00-8.15 69
8.15-8.30 62
8.30-8.45 57
8.45-9.00 53
9.00-9.15 43
9.15-9.30 32
9.30-9.45 29
9.45-10.00 25
10.00-10.15 19
10-15-10-30 17
10.30-10.45 15
10.45-11.00 18
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 Fig. 3.2. Hourly volumes based of four
successive 15-minute periods
■ To determine the morning Hourly volume
Hour
peak hour, the flow 6.00-7.00
(veh)
166
volumes for four 6.15-7.15 169
successive 15-minute 6.30-7.30 172
periods for the entire 6.45-7.45 196
7.00-8.00 216
duration must be 7.15-8.15 237
determined. This is 7.30-8.30 247
7.45-8.45 248
illustrated by the data in 8.00-9.00 241
Table 3. 2. 8.15-9.15 215
8.30-9.30 185
8.45-9.45 157
9.00-10.00 129
9.15-10.15 105
9.30-10.30 90
9.45-10.45 76
10.00-11.00 69

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■ From Table 3.2, the The highest 15-minute volume within
highest hourly volume is the peak hour is 69 and the peak hour
248 and it occurred volume is 248 vehicles. Hence,
during the period 7.45-
8.45. Therefore 7.45-
8.45 is the morning peak The high value of the factor is an
hour. The traffic within indication that traffic flow within the
the peak hour is peak hour was substantially uniform.
distributed as follows
(refer to Table 3.1):

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b) Measure of level of service

■ In highway capacity analysis the term level of service (LOS) is used

as a composite of several operating characteristics that are
supposed to measure the price of travel along a segment of the
highway facility as perceived by the users.
■ In simple terms, level of service measures the quality of flow on
the facility and is affected by the freedom to manoeuvre, speed
and congestion levels.
■ There are six levels of service designated LOS A to LOS F used in
qualifying the flow conditions on a highway facility. Below is a
qualitative description of each level of service.

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LOS A
■ This represents free flow conditions or conditions when there are
virtually no vehicles on the road.
■ At this level, individual road users are virtually not affected by the
presence of other vehicles in the traffic stream.
■ Freedom to select desired speeds and to manoeuvre within the traffic
stream is extremely high.
■ The general level of comfort and convenience to motorists, passenger or
pedestrian is excellent.

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LOS B

■ This level of service is in the range of stable flow, but the presence of
other vehicles begins to be noticeable.
■ Freedom to select desired speed is relatively unaffected, but there is a
slight decline in the freedom to manoeuvre within the traffic stream.
■ The level of comfort and convenience provided is somewhat less than
that associated with LOS A, because the presence of other vehicles in the
traffic stream begins to affect individual behaviour.

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LOS C

■ This is still in the range of stable flow, but marks the beginning of the
range of flow in which the operation of the individual users become
significantly affected by the presence of others.
■ Manoeuvring within the traffic stream requires substantial vigilance on
the part of the user.
■ The general level of comfort and convenience declines noticeably at this
level.

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LOS D
■ At this level, traffic density is high but flow is still stable. Speed and
freedom to manoeuvre are severely restricted.
■ Road users experience a generally poor level of comfort and
convenience.
■ Small increases in traffic flow will cause operational problems.

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LOS E
■ This represents operation conditions at or close to capacity level. All
speeds are reduced to a low but relatively uniform value.
■ Freedom to manoeuvre within the traffic stream is extremely difficult and
can only be accomplished by forcing a vehicle or pedestrian to give way.
■ Comfort and convenience levels are very poor and driver or passenger
frustration is generally high.
■ Small increases in traffic flow are likely to cause breakdown in flow.

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LOS F
■ This is the worst condition of traffic flow as it represents jam conditions.
■ Traffic flow is virtually at a standstill and characterized by long platoons
and “stop-and-go” or “go-slow” conditions.

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