1/11/2017

Trafficengineering(transportation)Wikipedia

Trafficengineering(transportation)
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Trafficengineeringisabranchofcivilengineeringthatusesengineering
techniquestoachievethesafeandefficientmovementofpeopleandgoods
onroadways.Itfocusesmainlyonresearchforsafeandefficienttraffic
flow,suchasroadgeometry,sidewalksandcrosswalks,cycling
infrastructure,trafficsigns,roadsurfacemarkingsandtrafficlights.Traffic
engineeringdealswiththefunctionalpartoftransportationsystem,except
theinfrastructuresprovided.
Trafficengineeringiscloselyassociatedwithotherdisciplines:
Transportengineering
Pavementengineering
Bicycletransportationengineering
Highwayengineering
Transportationplanning
Urbanplanning
Humanfactorsengineering.

Complexintersectionswithmultiple
vehiclelanes,bikelanes,and
crosswalksarecommonexamplesof
trafficengineeringprojects

Typicaltrafficengineeringprojectsinvolvedesigningtrafficcontroldeviceinstallationsandmodifications,
includingtrafficsignals,signs,andpavementmarkings.However,trafficengineersalsoconsidertrafficsafetyby
investigatinglocationswithhighcrashratesanddevelopingcountermeasurestoreducecrashes.Trafficflow
managementcanbeshortterm(preparingconstructiontrafficcontrolplans,includingdetourplansforpedestrian
andvehiculartraffic)orlongterm(estimatingtheimpactsofproposedcommercialdevelopmentsontraffic
patterns).Increasingly,trafficproblemsarebeingaddressedbydevelopingsystemsforintelligenttransportation
systems,ofteninconjunctionwithotherengineeringdisciplines,suchascomputerengineeringandelectrical
engineering.

Contents
1 Trafficsystems
1.1 Laneflowequation
2 Highwaysafety
3 Seealso
4 References

Trafficsystems
Traditionally,roadimprovementshaveconsistedmainlyofbuildingadditionalinfrastructure.However,dynamic
elementsarenowbeingintroducedintoroadtrafficmanagement.Dynamicelementshavelongbeenusedinrail
transport.Theseincludesensorstomeasuretrafficflowsandautomatic,interconnected,guidancesystemsto
managetraffic(forexample,trafficsignswhichopenalaneindifferentdirectionsdependingonthetimeofday).
Also,trafficflowandspeedsensorsareusedtodetectproblemsandalertoperators,sothatthecauseofthe
congestioncanbedetermined,andmeasurescanbetakentominimizedelays.Thesesystemsarecollectively
calledintelligenttransportationsystems.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_engineering_(transportation)

1/3

1/11/2017

Trafficengineering(transportation)Wikipedia

Laneflowequation
Therelationshipbetweenlaneflow(Q,vehiclesperhour),spacemean
speed(V,kilometersperhour)anddensity(K,vehiclesperkilometer)is

Observationonlimitedaccessfacilitiessuggeststhatuptoamaximum
flow,speeddoesnotdeclinewhiledensityincreases.However,abovea
criticalthreshold,increaseddensityreducesspeed.Additionally,beyonda
furtherthreshold,increaseddensityreducesflowaswell.
Arampmeterlimitstherateatwhich
Therefore,speedsandlaneflowsatbottleneckscanbekepthighduring
vehiclescanenterthefreeway
peakperiodsbymanagingtrafficdensityusingdevicesthatlimittherateat
whichvehiclescanenterthehighway.Rampmeters,signalsonentrance
rampsthatcontroltherateatwhichvehiclesareallowedtoenterthe
mainlinefacility,providethisfunction(attheexpenseofincreaseddelayforthosewaitingattheramps).

Highwaysafety
Highwaysafetyengineeringisabranchoftrafficengineeringthatdealswithreducingthefrequencyandseverity
ofcrashes.Itusesphysicsandvehicledynamics,aswellasroaduserpsychologyandhumanfactorsengineering,
toreducetheinfluenceoffactorsthatcontributetocrashes.
Atypicaltrafficsafetyinvestigationfollowsthesesteps[1]
1.Identifyandprioritizeinvestigationlocations.Locationsareselectedbylookingforsiteswithhigherthan
averagecrashrates,andtoaddresscitizencomplaints.
2.Gatherdata.Thisincludesobtainingpolicereportsofcrashes,observingroaduserbehavior,and
collectinginformationontrafficsigns,roadsurfacemarkings,trafficlightsandroadgeometry.
3.Analyzedata.Lookforcollisionspatternsorroadconditionsthatmaybecontributingtotheproblem.
4.Identifypossiblecountermeasurestoreducetheseverityorfrequencyofcrashes.
Evaluatecost/benefitratiosofthealternatives
Considerwhetheraproposedimprovementwillsolvetheproblem,orcause"crashmigration."For
example,preventingleftturnsatoneintersectionmayeliminateleftturncrashesatthatlocation,only
toincreasethemablockaway.
Areanydisadvantagesofproposedimprovementslikelytobeworsethantheproblemyouaretrying
tosolve?
5.Implementimprovements.
6.Evaluateresults.Usually,thisoccurssometimeaftertheimplementation.Havetheseverityandfrequency
ofcrashesbeenreducedtoanacceptablelevel?Ifnot,returntostep2.

Seealso
Buslane/buspriority/busrapidtransit
Gridlock
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_engineering_(transportation)

2/3

1/11/2017

Trafficengineering(transportation)Wikipedia

Hierarchyofroads
ITS
Kernersbreakdownminimizationprinciple
Microsimulation
Queueingtheory
Roadsafetyaudit
Roadtrafficcontrol
Roadtrafficsafety
Routeassignment
Signaltiming
Solomoncurve
Threephasetraffictheory
Trafficcongestion/trafficflow/trafficsignals
Trafficcongestion:ReconstructionwithKerner'sthreephasetheory

References
1.RoadSafetyFundamentals.Ithaca,NY:CornellLocalRoadsProgram.
September2009.

WikimediaCommonshas
mediarelatedtoTraffic
engineering.

Homburger,KellandPerkins,FundamentalsofTrafficEngineering,
13thEdition,InstituteofTransportationStudies,Universityof
California(Berkeley[1](http://www.its.berkeley.edu/publications/)),1992.
Das,ShantanuandLevinson,D.(2004)AQueuingandStatisticalAnalysisofFreewayBottleneck
Formation.ASCEJournalofTransportationEngineeringVol.130,No.6,November/December2004,
pp.787795
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Traffic_engineering_(transportation)&oldid=756358344"
Categories: Transportationengineering Roadtrafficmanagement

Thispagewaslastmodifiedon23December2016,at18:06.
TextisavailableundertheCreativeCommonsAttributionShareAlikeLicenseadditionaltermsmayapply.
Byusingthissite,youagreetotheTermsofUseandPrivacyPolicy.Wikipediaisaregisteredtrademark
oftheWikimediaFoundation,Inc.,anonprofitorganization.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_engineering_(transportation)

3/3