Traffic Volume Study
List of Content
1. Introduction
2. Scope and Objectives
3. Methodology
4. Data collection
5. Data analysis
6. Conclusion
Introduction
1.1. Traffic Survey:
Traffic engineers and planners need information about traffic. They need information to design and manage road and traffic system. They use the information for planning and designing traffic facilities, selecting geometric standards, economic analysis and determination of priorities. They use this to justify warrant of traffic control devices such as signs, traffic signals, pavement markings, school and pedestrian crossings. The 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.
Transportation system is a dynamic system. Information about traffic must be regularly updated to keep pace with ever-changing transportation system. Data must be collected and analyzed systematically to get representative information.
Traffic surveys are the means of obtaining information about traffic. This is a systematic way of collecting data to be used for various traffic engineering purposes.
1.1.a. Main purposes of traffic survey:
The main purposes of traffic survey are: traffic monitoring, traffic control and management, traffic enforcement, traffic forecasting, model calibration and validating etc.
1.1.b. Parts of traffic studies:
Traffic studies include:
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, O-D survey
Travel demand- home interview survey
Road users cost- Value of travel time, vehicle operating cost
Parking supply & demand studies
Axle load survey
Mass transit performance and usage studies
Traffic accidents studies
Environmental impact studies of transport
1.2. Traffic Volume Study:
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.
1.3. Definitions:
1.3.a. Volume/flow: The total number of vehicles that pass over a given point or section of a lane or roadway during a given time interval. It is the actual number of vehicle observed or predicted to passing a point during a given interval.
1.3.b. Rate of flow: The equivalent hourly rate at which vehicles pass over a given point or section of a lane or roadway during a time interval less than 1hr. usually 15 min.
1.3.c. Average Daily Traffic (ADT): The volume during a given time period divided by the number of days in that time period and expressed in terms of vpd.
Automobile traffic jams have always been a problem. From the past decade until today, the amount of people driving has increased tremendously, therefore crowding the highways particularly in major cities. Since Atlanta is one of US's most important cities, it is not an exception to the case. Along the next paragraphs I will discuss problems concerning specifically Ga. 400 highway, which I believe is the worst in Atlanta when it comes to automobile traffic.
Various aspects of traffic congestion in Toronto have been analyzed in detail. It is clear that Toronto is facing a serious problem of traffic congestion since it is the most congested city in North America. Traffic congestion in Toronto costs over $ 2 billion annually and it is caused by a variety of factors. These factors are categorized into non-recurring and recurring factors. However, the paper focused on recurring factors which contribute to the largest proportion of traffic congestion in Canada. These include increased automobile use, poor planning and lapse in implementation of laws which govern traffic systems. This leads to the use of many private cars by employees who commute to work as opposed to use of public transport systems resulting in congestion. Traffic congestion in Toronto has various adverse effects including barriers to emergency services, delays, idle time and opportunity costs as well as pollution.
Capacity is the main determinant of analysing the traffic performance of roundabouts. The movements of the vehicles were observed at 2 roundabouts in Varanasi. Gap acceptance and follow up time were estimated for cars for one hour analysis. The relation between a roundabout performance measure and capacity is expressed in terms of degree of saturation (volume – Capacity ratio). The capacity analysis is done based on gap acceptance method that is adopted by Tanner based on the HCM 2010. The traffic movement data with vehicle characteristics were collected from 2 roundabouts in Varanasi. These 2 roundabouts are directly related to their approach leg numbers.Approach entry capacity has been analysed for all 2 roundabouts at their legs. Effective capacity verses entry flow relationship have been developed in order to find out the causes of their over Saturation (v/c ratio greater than 0.85) And the result indicates; number of entry lanes, number of circulatory lanes and high traffic flow are the major causes of their over saturation.
In the past few years, Colorado Springs has seen a substantial population increase (St. Louis-Sanchez 2014). This has led to an increase of a variety of issues. Due to the increase, one of the biggest issues is that the roads cannot handle the new volume of traffic, and the drivers that are new to the region cannot always handle the roads, particularly in the winter. While the city continues to attempt to widen the roads, this only causes more congestion and stress no matter how temporary. On top of the added hassle of construction, roads can only be expanded so much before there is not any more room. Larger roads also means a larger winter maintenance operation, more money spent filling potholes, and repaving more roads. There are three different solutions to this problem, and they all can work together and build on one another.
Speed is a common piece of American road movies. Characters are speeding away from something like the law in Thelma and Louise. Or they are speeding towards something like a mother in Paris, Texas. People are in a hurry to find or escape from whatever it is that is a part of their lives in these films. This is something that can connect to someone in real life.
Traffic control establishes a set of rules and regulations that people rely on to help avoid collisions and other hazards. With almost 160 million motorists and 3.8 million miles of public roads in the United States, traffic control on the highways is an important aspect of daily life. Without the control of speed there would be more fatalities than we already have now. Speed limits should be obeyed. A motorist going too slow could cause an accident. When everyone is traveling at the speed limit, a car comes up going 40 mph; if you break everyone will, too, perhaps causing a collision. Motorists depend on traffic control to avoid collisions and travel safely to their destination.
According to an estimation by Transport for London, in 2010 “the mode of transport most commonly used for journey stages in London was a car” with about 35% of the responses. Car transportation was followed by “walking (21%), bus (20%), underground (10%), rail (9%), and cycling (2%)” (Transport for London, 2010). Because traffic volume is related to the amount of transportation vehicles on the road for a certain period of time, any vehicle that commutes on roadways adds to the traffic volume. For example, cars, trucks, and busses all add to the volume of traffic in an area. In London specifically, cars are the most commonly used form of transportation which contributes to the high traffic
Traffic jam is one of the most serious problems of urbanization, almost all the modern cities are facing different levels of traffic jam problems. In general, people can ease the traffic jam and not compromise the quality of life by a policy of sustainable development in two aspects including formulating a more efficient transport pattern and changing the urban construction.
Transportation Engineering deals with the planning, design, construction, traffic operation and evaluation of streets, highways, airports, and transit systems.
In today's changing business environment, information technology plays an incredibly important role in almost every aspect of the day to day life of almost every industry. The transportation industry is, of course, no different. From the transport of goods from manufacture, to warehousing, to retail, to end-user, the industry relies on information technology to get things done. The transportation of people is the exact same; incredibly important to get done yet impossible without the impact of information technology.
Never the less these problems have arisen and present a very serious issue for not only our generation but for future generations also. Therefore, changes need to be made in Urban transport.
Traffic lights are signaling devices located at road intersections and pedestrian crossings, they are now part of our everyday life. Before traffic lights were invented, policeman would control traffic, but accidents would still occur frequently. This is when J.P Knight took action in 1868 and made the first traffic light. It was installed outside the British Houses Of Parliament but didn’t last long since it exploded in 1869 due to a gas leak. It was only in 1912 that a man named Lester Wire created an electrical traffic light that is still used today. There are three main types of traffic lights: fixed timed, semi actuated and fully actuated. Fixed time traffic light are light where “signals change according to a pre-set timing. The signals will cycle all the time even if there is no vehicle or pedestrian demand.” (a). In semi actuated signals vehicle detectors and push buttons are installed on streets and roads. The traffic signals will remain green until either a group of vehicles is detected or a pedestrian pushes a button. Lastly in fully actuated lights “ signals are programmed to change with minimum green times depending on the traffic and pedestrian demand on all approaches. The signals will change based on the demand from each approach.” (b).
The development of every nation hinges on the effectiveness of their transportation systems. Movement of goods, services and people to and from locations is made possible by transportation systems. The importance of effective transportation systems cannot be over-emphasized. Many countries face transportation problems and my country Ghana is no exception. A trip of about 30 minutes usually takes about an hour or more due to traffic jams. This is seriously impacting productivity and has become a topical issue in the country. The situation is the same in Uganda where I currently work. To this end, Transportation Engineers are needed to design roads/ highways that will stand the test of time, plan effective traffic management systems to reduce
It is important to follow all traffic laws to keep everyone safe on road. The amount of traffic accidents and losses drops significantly when people are obeying the rules on the road. Sometimes we forget what a big responsibility it is to drive carefully. Traffic laws are designed to protect you and other drivers on the streets. If we don’t follow them we are not only putting ourselves in risk but also other innocent people. By knowing the rules of the road, practicing good driving skills, you help play a vital role in preventing a crash. You will also be making the safety policies more effective. Many components play a major role in road safety including speed limits that are posted and making sure safety equipment is properly installed and used.
The research is able giving a chance to let us conduct a research in our university and addressing the issues might be involved. There are making our research can get the suggestion or opinion among UUM students towards the rail transportation. The factor that influenced the social behavior can be identified while conduct the research. We believe that the research we conducted can be explored more suggestion on solutions to improve the rail transport services and it will be mentioned in conclusion part.