01154453

Component

Knowledge of fundamental traffic flow characteristics such as speed, volume and density and the associated analytical techniques are essential requirements in planning, design, and operation of transportation systems. Concentration is a traffic measure which explains the extent of usage of road space by vehicles, encompassing both density and occupancy. Traffic density, expressed as number of vehicles per unit length, can not be appropriate for accurate measurement of traffic concentration due to variation in the length and speed of vehicles. Occupancy takes into account the variations in traffic composition and speed, in its measurement, simultaneously and gives a more reliable indicator of the extent of road being used by vehicles and hence, occupancy is more meaningful than density. However, the concept of occupancy can not be directly applied under heterogeneous traffic conditions, as the traffic has no lane discipline and hence, it is necessary to consider the whole of the width of road as single unit to analyze the traffic flow. This paper describes an appropriate methodology to estimate the occupancy of heterogeneous traffic. A new macroscopic traffic characteristic named ‘Area Occupancy’ is proposed here. The concept of area occupancy is validated using micro simulation technique.

01147878

10-2052

English

15p

2010

Transportation Research Board 89th Annual Meeting

DVD

Figures (5) ; References (11) ; Tables (3)

Highway design; Highway operations; Traffic density; Traffic flow; Traffic speed; Traffic volume; Vehicle mix

Heterogeneous traffic; Occupancy

Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2010 Paper #10-2052

TRIS, TRB

Jan 25 2010 10:56AM