Dr. Alex M.

Sanchez
Lecture 08b
FIELD MEASUREMENTS
From a previous example given in class:

Its been calculated that therelationship

between v and k isequal to: v = 54.4 0.24 k

How we can get thatrelationship?

Dr. Alex M. Sanchez

FIELD MEASUREMENTS
You need to remember that flow, speedand
concentration are related.
Therefore, to have an appropriate relationship, we
need to measure two variables to get the third one
using the q = v.kequation.

Method of the Moving Observer

Dr. Alex M. Sanchez

 METHOD OF THE MOVING OBSERVER
CASE 1)
If one person is standing up and starts counting the
number of vehicles that passes by him/her, no, during a
time T, it can be said that:
q = no / T or no = q.T
CASE 2)
If one person travels a distance L, at a speed V during a
time T and counts the number of parking or stopped
vehicles he/she passes, np, it can be said that the vehicle
concentration is equal to:
k = np / L o np = k.V.T

Dr. Alex M. Sanchez

METHOD OF THE MOVING OBSERVER
Now, consider the case when the person is moving
within the stream. In this case, mo vehicles will
overtake the person and mp vehicles will beovertaken
by the person.
Now, let the difference m as the relative numberof
vehicles counted as:
m = mo mp = q.T k.V.T

If we divide both sides byT

m/T = q kV

Dr. Alex M. Sanchez

METHOD OF THE MOVING OBSERVER
m/T = q kV
Do not confuse velocity V, which is the one experienced bythe
measurer, with the average flow speed v

This equation is the basic equation of moving observer

method, which relates q, k to the counts m, t, and v, that
can be obtained from thetest.
However, we have two unknowns, q and k, but only one
equation.
For generating another equation, the test vehicle is run
twice once with the traffic stream and another one against
traffic stream.
Dr. Alex M. Sanchez
METHOD OF THE MOVING OBSERVER
Since there are two variables, a second independent test is
required.

Regularly, one test is done going with the traffic (mw). The
other one is done against to the traffic (ma)
mw/Tw = q - kVw
ma/Ta = q +kVa (the + sign is to account for the negative effect)

mw ma
Then, solving for q
Tw Ta
Dr. Alex M. Sanchez
METHOD OF THE MOVING OBSERVER
To calculate the space mean speed vs the equationis
rewritten as the following equation:
mw/Tw = q - kVw
mw/Tw = q (q/v)(L/Tw)
It is known that L/v is equal to the time Tave in which an
average vehicle travels a distance L. Then:
mw/Tw = q q Tave/Tw
mw/Tw = q (1 Tave/Tw)

vs is the space mean speed, which is equal toL/Tave

Dr. Alex M. Sanchez

METHOD OF THE MOVING OBSERVER
Solving for Tave = average travel time in the vehicle
flow Tave = Tw mw/q

We know:
vs = L /Tave

Then
vs = L/(Tw-mw/q) For increase accuracy and reliability,
the test is performed a number of
times and the average results are to
And k=q/vs be taken.

Dr. Alex M. Sanchez

 Exercise 1:
The length of a road stretch used for conducting the moving observer
test is 0.5 km and the speed with which the test vehicle moved is 20
km/hr.
The number of vehicles encountered in the stream while the test
vehicle was moving against the traffic stream is 107, and
When the observer is moving with the traffic stream:
The number of vehicles that had overtaken the test vehicle is 10,
and
The number of vehicles overtaken by the test vehicle is 74
Find the flow, density and average speed of the stream.

Dr. Alex M. Sanchez