TFC VOLUME STUDIES

[ TERM PROJECT]
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Abstract
Traffic engineers and planners need information about traffic. They need
information to design and manage road and traffic system, for planning and
designing traffic facilities, selecting geometric standards, economic analysis and
determination of priorities, justify warrant of traffic control devices such as signs,
traffic signals, pavement markings, school and pedestrian crossings. They also
use this information to study the effectiveness of introduced schemes,
diagnosing given situations and finding appropriate solutions, forecasting the
effects of projected strategies, calibrating and validating traffic models. Volume
studies gives the required information to the traffic engineers. This term paper
includes the basics of traffic volume studies, its methods and procedures. Also
traffic analysis of Warsak road Peshawar was carried out which includes
Inventory surveys such as educational institute studies, traffic control devices,
accident studies, speed studies, traffic volume studies were carried and the data
was collected. Standard statistical expressions were used to calculate volume to
capacity ratio of road. Data analysis yield that road is overloaded and is in
category F of Indian Roads Congress (IRC) standards. On the basis of results
and location of road, various suggestions and recommendations were given.

Intro
Traffic engineers and planners need information about traffic.
They use the information for planning and designing traffic
facilities, selecting geometric standards, economic analysis
and determination of priorities.
They also use this information to study the effectiveness of
introduced schemes, diagnosing given situations and finding
appropriate solutions, forecasting the effects of projected
strategies, calibrating and validating traffic models.

Intro
Traffic of a city affects all aspects of its citizens economic and
personal activities.
Traffic problem - a situation of mismatch between supply and
demands.
Solution of traffic problem - creating infrastructures (e.g., new
roads, expanding capacity) or policy changes (e.g., banning
heavy traffic during peak hour).

Intro
What is transportation system?
Traffic surveys - means of obtaining information about traffic.
This is a systematic way of collecting data to be used for
various traffic engineering purposes.
The main purposes of traffic survey are:
Traffic monitoring
Traffic control and management
Traffic enforcement
Traffic forecasting
Model calibration and validating etc.

Aim
To brief class about conduct of traffic volume studies
and traffic study of Warsak road Peshawer.

Seq
Literature Review

- Capt Hamad

Scope and Objective

- Capt Ummar

Methodology

- Capt Ali

Data Collection

- Capt Kamran

Data Analysis

- Capt Hamad

Recommendations
Conclusion

- Capt Sufian

- Capt Kamran

Literature Review
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Literature Review
Traffic data are needed in research, planning, designing and
regulation phases of traffic engineering and are also used in
established priorities and schedules of traffic improvements.
The traffic engineer must acquire general knowledge of traffic
volume characteristics in order to measure and understand the
magnitude, composition, and time and route distribution of
volume for each area under his jurisdiction.

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Literature Review
Volume studies
Volume/Flow
Rate of flow
Average Daily Traffic (ADT)
Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT)

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Literature Review
Parts of traffic studies
Inventory of road traffic physical features
Traffic stream characteristics- volume, speed, density, occupancy studies
etc.
Capacity studies of streets and intersections
System usage studies- Travel time and delay
Travel demand- home interview survey
Road users cost- Value of travel time, vehicle operating cost

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Literature Review
Parts of traffic studies
Parking supply & demand studies
Axle load survey
Mass transit performance and usage studies
Traffic accidents studies
Environmental impact studies of transport

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Scope & Objective

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Scope
The traffic volume count study is carried out to get following
useful information:
Magnitudes, classifications and the time and directional split of vehicular
flows.
Proportions of vehicles in traffic stream.
Hourly, daily, yearly and seasonal variation of vehicular flows.
Flow fluctuation on different approaches at a junction or different parts of
a road network system.

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Objectives
The purposes of carrying out traffic volume count are
designing, improving traffic system, planning, management
etc.
Design purposes
Improvement purposes
Planning Purposes
Dynamic Traffic Management Purposes
Other Purposes

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Methodology
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Methodology
There are two major methods of counting vehicle for volume
survey which are Manual and Automatic counting methods.
Manual Counting Method - vehicles are counted manually
Direct Method
Data

is

counted

by

using

hand

tally

and

manual

counters/enumerators.
Advantages - Traffic volume as well as vehicle classification

and turning proportions can be obtained

Disadvantages - Not practicable for long duration count and

when flow is high. Error is common when volume is high.

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Methodology
Manual Counting Method
Indirect Method
Data is collected using video camera. Video is captured for long
time and data is collected later by rewinding.
Advantages

Several traffic parameters can be obtained

from recorded film. Data can be cross checked and quality can be
ensured. This method is applicable when volume is high.
Disadvantages

- A suitable elevated place is required for

filming operation. Data cannot be used immediately after collection.

time consuming and tedious.

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Methodology
Automatic counting method

vehicles are counted automatically

without any human involvement

Contact system
Based on pneumatic, mechanical, magnetic or piezo-electric
method.
Contactless system
Based on electrical/optical, ultrasound/infrared radar, micro wave,
CCTV/video image processing method etc.

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Methodology
Advantages - Suitable for long duration or continuous count.

It does not need manpower and is free from human error. It is less
expensive as manpower is not needed. Count is not affected by bad
weather condition.
Disadvantages

Requires strict lane discipline. Non-

motorized vehicles are hard to detect by this method. Detailed

classification of vehicle is not possible. Accuracy is less than manual
method.

Counting periods

Vehicles can be counted for any duration.

Duration of count depends on the objective of data collection.

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Data Collection
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Data Collection
Data Collection Segment - stretch of approximately 2
kilometers of Warsak Road, from the starting point at Saint
Marry School
Data Collection Details

Educational Institutes
Main cause of the congestion on the Warsak road is the abundance of
educational institutes. It was necessary to conduct Educational institute
survey to find the number of these institutes. After visiting each institute
a list of schools and their vehicles was created.

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Data Collection

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Data Collection

Accidents Data
Accident studies were conducted on Warsak road. Data received from
police is :

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Data Collection

Speed Studies
Keeping in mind the importance of speed studies, spot speed study

was conducted on Warsak Road. Spot speeds of the vehicles were

calculated. Calculated vehicles were grouped on the basis of their
speed.
Speed (Km/hr)

No. of
vehicles

0 -10
10-20
20-30
30-40
40-50
50+

09
17
51
31
17
00

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Data Collection

Traffic volume studies

Traffic volume studies consist of the surveys to

find the following which are presented in graph.

Hourly traffic
Peak hour traffic
Passenger car unit (PCU)

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Data Analysis & Results

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Data Analysis and Results

Volume Capacity Ratio - Data obtained from field was
analyzed to get Volume to Capacity Ratio of Road. The basic
equation to find the volume to capacity ratio is
V/C = SF/ (Ci*N*Fw*Fp*Fhv)

Service flow rate (SF)

Service flow rate is defined as the maximum 15 minute traffic volume
expressed as hourly volume. Peak 15 minute traffic was 877, observed
during 12:30p.m to 12:45 p.m. multiplying this by 4 gives us 3508. This
is the maximum 15 minute flow expressed as hourly flow. So SF =
3508.

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Data Analysis and Results

Ideal capacity (Ci)

Ideal capacity is given by the highway capacity manual and is equal to
2000 passenger cars per lane per hour.

Ci = 2000 pc/ lane /hr

Number of lanes (N)

Number of lanes on one side of the road are 2

Adjustment factor for the restricted land width (Fw)

Basic and ideal capacity of the road is based on the assumption that at
least 6ft lateral clearance is provided on either side of the road. On
Warsak road lateral clearance is provided only on one side of the road.
Fw = 0.81

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Data Analysis and Results

Non-Regular driver Adjustment Factor (Fp)

Fp is a very abstract factor and depends on the skills of the driver.
However, we found that most of the drivers observed during the survey
were regular user of the road.

Fp = 1.00

Heavy Vehicle Adjustment Factor (FHv)

Determining the adjustment factor for the presence of heavy vehicles is
a two-step process:
Finding the passenger-car equivalents for buses
Number of buses observed, were 545 and total number of vehicle were
19950/day. So proportion of buses in total vehicles was calculated as
follows PT = 545/19950 = 0.03

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Data Analysis and Results

Using these passenger-car equivalents and percentage of buses in total
vehicles, FHv can be calculated using follow equation.

Now putting the values in equation 2 heavy vehicles adjustment factor

was calculated.
fHV = 1 {1 + 0.03 (3 1)}= 0.94
After determining all the inputs required for finding the V/C, we put all
the values in equation 1 to get the result as below:
V/C = SF / (Ci*N*Fw*Fp*Fhv)
V/C = 3508/(2000*2*0.81*1.0*0.94)
V/C = 1.15

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Data Analysis and Results

If we see table 2, roads having v/c ratio greater than 1 are put in
category F according to the Indian Roads Congress (IRC).

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Data Analysis and Results

Passenger car unit (PCU)- Once the numbers of vehicles were
calculated under each category, we calculated the PCU by
multiplying the number of vehicles in each category with the
corresponding factor as given in table 3 and 4.
Vehicles type

Number of
Vehicles

Veh Type

P.C.U

Cars

6900

Car

Cycle

272

Motorcycle

628

Cycle/
Motorcycle

0.5

Rickshaw

733

Rickshaw

Cart

14

Cart

Buses/Trucks

545

Truck/bus

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Data Analysis and Results

Multiplying each type of vehicle with its corresponding factor, the PCU
at the peak hours was calculated as shown below:
P.C.U (Peak hour) = (6900*1) + (272*0.5) + (628*0.5) + (733*1) + (14*4)
+ (545*3)

9,774

Acceptable limits
According to Highway capacity manual (HCM 1985) maximum P.C.U
allowable for Multilane highways is 2,000pcphpl. (Pcphpl = passenger
cars per hour per lane). As the numbers of lanes on Warsak road are
four (04), Total allowable P.C.U allowable should be 8,000. In our
situation it came out to be 9,774. This value clearly suggests that
Warsak road has crossed its maximum allowable P.C.U limits.

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Recommendations
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Recommendations

Warsak road is four lane divided highway. But at some places it is restricted
to two lanes only. Reasons for restrictions include encroachments and
surface break-down of road. The road should be brought back to its actual
condition by removing encroachments and repairing the surface of road.

There are too many educational institutes on Warsak road. Efforts should
be made to shift some of them to any other area of the city.

An alternative route should be provided to divert some traffic.

Traffic control devices should be installed on priority basis.

For long term results, people should be educated about traffic rules and
regulations.

Traffic rules should be strictly imposed.

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Conclusion
Volume data is one of the primary bases for all traffic engineering analysis,
planning, design, and operation. Volume data must be accurately collected. It
must be reduced to understandable forms, and properly analyzed to obtain the
prescribed objective of the study. It must then be presented clearly and
unambiguously for use by traffic engineers and others involved in the planning
and engineering process. No geometric or traffic control design can be
effective if it is based on incorrect data related to traffic volumes and true
demand. The importance, therefore, of performing volume studies properly
cannot be understated.

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THANKS
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