Chapter 5--Fundamental principles of Traffic Flow
%The primary elements of traffic flow
È Flow, Density, and Speed, Time headway, Space headway
%Flow (q) : It is the number of vehicles passing a specific point or short section in a given
period of time in a single lane. It is expressed as an hourly rate on a per lane basis
(veh/hr/lane).
%Speed (u): It is the distance traveled by a vehicle during a unit of time and is
expressed in mph, km/hr. There are two unique speed parameters
ƒ Free flow speed (uf) is the speed which exists when flows approach zero under free-
flow conditions (model parameter)
ƒ Optimum speed (uo) is the speed which exists under maximum flow conditions
%Average Speed: Time mean speed- is the arithmetic mean of the speeds of vehicles
passing a point on a highway during an interval of time.
%Space mean speed - is the harmonic mean of the speeds of vehicles passing a point on a
highway during an interval of time. This is the speed that is involved in flow-density
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relationships.
%Example: The following figure shows vehicles traveling at constant speeds on a two-lane highway
between sections X and Y with their positions and speeds obtained at an instant of time by
photography. An observer located at point X observes the four vehicles passing point X during a
period of T sec. The velocities of the vehicles are measured as 45, 45, 40, and 30 mi/h respectively.
Calculate the flow, density, time mean speed, and space mean speed.
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%Density (k)(Concentration): It is the number of vehicles occupying a section of
roadway in a single lane. It is expressed on a per mile and a per lane basis
(veh/mile/lane). The two unique density parameters
ƒ Jam density is that density that occurs when both flow and speed approach zero
ƒ Optimum density occurs under maximum flow conditions
%Time headway (h) is the difference between the time the front of a vehicle arrives at a
point on the highway and the time the front of the next vehicle arrives at that same point.
%Space headway (d) is the distance between the front of a vehicle and the front of the
following vehicle and is usually expressed in feet or meter.
%Boundary conditions : Maximum flow , Density
corresponding to max. flow, Speed corresponding to max. flow
%Model parameters : Jam density , Free flow speed
A. Fundamental Diagram of Traffic Flow
% It is the relationship between density and the
corresponding flow of traffic on a highway
% When the density on the highway is zero, the flow is
also zero
% At maximum density (jam), the flow must be zero
% As density increases from zero, the flow will also
initially increase from zero to a maximum value.
 B. The relationship between concentration, flow and speed #We are looking at traffic in one direction on a two lane road. Measurements when traffic flow is close
% For any given stable traffic condition, the three parameters k, q and u are directly related to capacity have shown a maximum flow of 1500veh/hr (qm) and a space mean speed of 45km/hr
%The general equation relating flow, density, and mean speed is given as: (um). Assume a linear relationship between speed and density (concentration).
Flow = Density * mean Speed Find formulas and make graphs of the relationship between:
q(veh/hr) u(km/hr) *k(veh/km) A. Speed and density (u and k)
B. Speed and flow (u and q)
C. Empirical Relationship C. Flow and density (q and k)
% Mathematical relationships describing traffic flow can be classified into two general categories— A. Speed and Density (u and k)
macroscopic and microscopic
uf
% Macroscopic approach considers flow density relationships u uf  [ ]u k uf um u 2 45u 2 90 km / hr
% Microscopic approach considers spacing’s between vehicles and speeds of individual vehicles kj
% There are several attempts to fit relationships for observed data uf ukj 4qm 4 u1500
È The most easily done is with density and speed
qm Ÿ kj 67 veh / km / lane
4 uf 90
% The three most commonly used macroscopic models are the Greenshields, Greenberg and 90
Underwood’s models. u 90  ( )k 90  1.3433k
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Greenshields Model B. Speed and Flow (u and q)
% The mean speed and density can be determined by derivation of q with respect to u and k respectively To find the relationship between speed and flow, we have the basic formula q= f(u,k)
% Therefore at maximum flow, Expressing k=f (u) from question a) above we have, q k uu
9 The density is half of the jam density kj uf kj  (
kj
)uu
k km u uo k
uf
9 The speed is also half of free flow speed 2 2 Inserting equation 2 in equation 1, we obtain
9 Thus, at the maximum flow, the density kmis half the jam density. The maximum flow for the kj kj u u  (
kj
) u u2
q u u [ kj  ( ) u u] q
Greenshields relationship can therefore be obtained from above equations uf uf
kj 67 2
5 —୤ ‫  כ‬୨ From
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the above data, q kj u u  ( )uu2 q 67 u u  ( )u 67 u  0.744 u 2
“ ୫ ൌ  ୫ ‫— כ‬୫ ൌ uf 90
Ͷ

C. Flow and Density (q and k): Relationship between flow and density can be found by inserting
equation in question a) above in equation 1.
uf
q k u ( uf  [ uf ] u k ) q u f u k  k 2 90 u k  1.3433k 2
kj kj
No. K u
From the set of data given in table below;
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A. Calibrate Greenshields model using the data give in the table
2 129 15
B. Find the maximum flow
3 20 40
C. Find the speed corresponding to a flow of 1500 veh/hr Greenberg Model
4 70 25 %Greenberg (1959) proposed a logarithmic relationship between speed and concentration
u = c loge (b/k) k j
u u0 ln( )
%When maximum is flow, The optimum density is k attained when speed is optimum
kj
k km
e
%When k approaches to 0, the free flow speed becomes infinity

Underwood’s Model
Underwood (1961) proposed an exponential relationship between speed and density
u u f e  k / km
uf
At maximum flow, the optimum speed u uo
e
7 When u approaches to 0, traffic jam is occurred and it is infinitive
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