Effect of Road Width and Traf Fic Volume On Vehicular Interactions in Heterogeneous Traf Fic
Effect of Road Width and Traf Fic Volume On Vehicular Interactions in Heterogeneous Traf Fic
Effect of Road Width and Traf Fic Volume On Vehicular Interactions in Heterogeneous Traf Fic
SUMMARY
Highway traffic flow phenomena involve several complex and stochastic variables with high interdependen-
cies. The variations in roadway, traffic and environmental factors influence the traffic flow quality signifi-
cantly. Capacity analysis of road sections under different traffic and geometric conditions need to quantify
the vehicles of widely varying characteristics to a common and universally acceptable unit. Passenger car unit
(PCU) is the universally adopted unit of traffic volume, keeping the passenger car as the ‘standard vehicle’
with reference to its static and dynamic characteristics; other vehicles are expressed to its equivalent number
in terms of PCUs. The studies carried out in this aspect represent the dynamic nature of impedance caused by
a vehicle while moving through a traffic stream. The PCU values recommended by the Highway Capacity
Manual are widely applied in many countries; however, their applicability is highly under debate because
of the variations in prevailing local traffic conditions. There are several factors that influence the PCU values
such as traffic, roadway, vehicle, environmental and control conditions, etc. Apart from vehicular character-
istics, the other two major factors that influence the PCU of vehicles are the following: (i) road width and
(ii) traffic volume. In this study, estimation of PCU values for the different types of vehicles of a highly
heterogeneous traffic on 7.5- and 11.0-m-wide roads, using micro-simulation technique, has been dealt with.
It has been found that the PCU value of a vehicle type varies significantly with variation in road width and
traffic volume. The results of the study indicate that the PCU values are significantly influenced by the said
two factors. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
KEY WORDS: flow; headway; traffic safety capacity; transport planning; transportation analysis
1. INTRODUCTION
Road capacity, in general, can be understood as the maximum possible volume of traffic that can pass
through a given road section. Thus, the knowledge of traffic volume is an important basic input
required for accurate estimation of road capacity. Expressing traffic volume as the number of vehicles
passing a given section of road or traffic lane per unit time will be inappropriate when several types of
vehicles with widely varying static and dynamic characteristics are comprised in the traffic. The prob-
lem of measuring the volume of such heterogeneous traffic has been addressed by converting the dif-
ferent types of vehicles into equivalent passenger cars and expressing the volume in terms of passenger
car unit (PCU) per hour. PCU is the universally adopted unit of measurement of traffic volume derived
by keeping the passenger car as the ‘standard vehicle’. Under fairly homogeneous traffic conditions,
the vehicles follow traffic lane, and the volume or capacity under such conditions is expressed in terms
of passenger cars per hour per lane. The vehicles of highly heterogeneous traffic with widely varying
physical and operational characteristics, such as the one prevailing on Indian roads, occupy on the
basis of the availability of space any convenient lateral position on the road without any lane disci-
pline. Under such conditions, expressing traffic volume in terms of PCU per hour per lane is irrelevant,
*Correspondence to: Karuppanagounder Krishnamurthy, Department of Civil Engineering National Institute of Technology
Calicut, Calicut, Kerala 673601, India. E-mail: kk@nitc.ac.in
and the volume of traffic has to be expressed by taking the whole width of roadway into consideration.
The interaction between moving vehicles under such heterogeneous traffic condition is highly
complex.
The present study is aimed at quantifying the vehicular interactions in heterogeneous traffic under
different roadway and traffic conditions. A micro-simulation technique has been used to model the
heterogeneous traffic flow observed on Indian roads, and the vehicular interaction has been quantified
in terms of PCU.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
With the aim of the study being the quantification of the interaction of different vehicle types with other
vehicles in heterogeneous road traffic, it was first decided to identify the major factors influencing the
extent of interaction so that the relevant literature can be identified and reviewed. Apart from vehicular
factors, the other major factors influencing the extent of the interaction are road geometry and volume of
traffic (the environmental factors and driver behaviour, which may also influence the extent of interac-
tion, are held as invariants for the purpose of this study). As this study is focused on vehicular interac-
tion at the micro level, as the first step, a straight stretch of road on level terrain is considered. Thus, the
width of the road way is the only geometric aspect considered for this study. The literature review is thus
focused on aspects related to the effect of traffic volume and road width on vehicular interaction. The
search for literature on effect of traffic volume on vehicular interaction revealed that most of the studies
conducted in this regard are related to lane-based and fairly homogeneous traffic (e.g. [1,3] and Srinivas
et al. 2004). A few studies conducted under heterogeneous traffic conditions (e.g. [4–6]) deal only with
macro-level aspects of vehicular interactions, either on the basis of field observed data or with the use of
mathematical techniques. The literature review on impact of road width on vehicular interaction
revealed that the studies are all related to lane-based traffic conditions (e.g. [7–10]), and no studies per-
taining to lane-less heterogeneous traffic condition, dealing with this aspect, have been reported. Thus,
the available literature provided only a limited base for the present study.
3. OBJECTIVES
The general objective of the work reported here is to study the effect of road width and traffic volume,
on the level of interaction between vehicles under heterogeneous traffic conditions prevailing on
Indian roads. The specific objectives of this study are the following: (i) to quantify the vehicular inter-
actions in heterogeneous traffic in terms of PCU, using micro-simulation technique, and (ii) to study
the effect of road width and traffic volume on PCU values of vehicles.
4. SIMULATION FRAMEWORK
On Indian roads, as mentioned earlier, because of the high level of heterogeneity of traffic, the vehi-
cles, while manoeuvring, occupy any lateral position on the road, on the basis of space availability.
In view of this, while modelling the heterogeneous traffic flow, appropriate vehicle movement logics
need to be developed to simulate the stated conditions of traffic flow. As per the adopted methodology
for this study, the entire road space is considered as a single unit. The road space is then considered to
be a surface made of small imaginary squares (cells), thus transforming the entire space into a matrix.
The vehicles will be represented, with dimensions, as rectangular blocks occupying a specified number
of cells, whose coordinates are defined in advance with reference to a fixed origin. This technique will
facilitate identification of the type and position of vehicles on the road stretch at any instance of time
during the simulation process [11]. For the purpose of simulation, the time-scan procedure is adopted.
The scan interval chosen for the simulation is 0.5 s. To address the problem of arrival of more than one
vehicle within the scan interval of 0.5 s at higher volume levels, we have adopted a 0.05-s precision for
generation of time headway. This 0.05-s precision facilitates generation of a maximum of 20 vehicles
per second when the traffic volume is very high. Accordingly, a check will be made for every 0.05 s for
vehicle arrivals and the arrived vehicles, if any, will be put on to the entry point of the study stretch of
the road, on a first-come-first-served basis. The simulation process, which is intended to model traffic
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Adv. Transp. 2014; 48:1–14
DOI: 10.1002/atr
TRAFFIC OPERATIONS AND MANAGEMENT 3
flow through mid-block sections of urban roads, basically, consists of the following three modules:
(i) vehicle generation; (ii) vehicle placement; and (iii) vehicle movement. The flow chart shown in
Figure1 depicts the major logical steps involved in the overall simulation process.
Start
Yes
Is cumulative Move all
precision step = scan vehicles
No
No
Is current time =
Headway to output
No
Is simulation time
over?
Yes
End
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Adv. Transp. 2014; 48:1–14
DOI: 10.1002/atr
4 K. KRISHNAMURTHY AND V. T. ARASAN
kept as backlog, and its entry is shifted to the next scan interval. During every scan interval, the vehi-
cles remaining in the backlog will be admitted first, before allowing the entry of a newly generated
vehicle.
5. MODEL VALIDATION
The validation problem arises because various approximations to reality are made in creating the model.
The goal of the validation process is to produce a model that represents true system behaviour closely
enough for the model to be used as a substitute for the actual system for the purpose of experimenting
with the system. Validation is usually achieved through the calibration of the model—an iterative
process of comparing the model with actual system behaviour and using the discrepancies between
the two and the insights gained to improve the model. This process is repeated until model accuracy
is judged acceptable. Accordingly, the model of heterogeneous traffic flow was validated using field
observed traffic data.
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Adv. Transp. 2014; 48:1–14
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TRAFFIC OPERATIONS AND MANAGEMENT 5
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Adv. Transp. 2014; 48:1–14
DOI: 10.1002/atr
6 K. KRISHNAMURTHY AND V. T. ARASAN
Bus and
Bicycle Truck 2.5%
L.C.V.
9.6% 3.3%
Car
M.T.W. 27.8%
40.9%
M.Th.W.
15.9%
Figure 2. Field-observed traffic composition. L.C.V., light commercial vehicle; M.T.W., motorised two-wheelers;
M.Th.W., motorised three-wheelers.
parameters, which are stochastic in nature, are represented through appropriate probability distribu-
tions. In the traffic flow phenomenon, vehicle arrivals and headways are random in nature and hence
are to be represented using probability distributions. The arrival and headway data were obtained by
running the video of the traffic flow at a slower speed ( one-eighth of the actual speed) to enable
recording of all the vehicle arrivals manually by observing the details displayed on the monitor of
the computer. The number of vehicle arrivals, in successive 5-s intervals, was recorded, covering
the whole of the hourly volume of traffic. The data, thus obtained, after grouping into classes, were
used to represent the vehicle arrivals through suitable distributions. In this study, it was found, through
chi-squared test, that the observed arrival pattern has a significant fit with Poisson distribution (calcu-
lated value of chi-squared was 12.13 against the critical value of 16.92).
Similarly, for the observed traffic volume of 3704 vehicle per hour, the inter-arrival time between
successive vehicles was measured by noting down the time gap between successive vehicle arrivals
by playing the video of the traffic flow at one-eighth of the original speed. Because the measurement
pertains to the total width of road space and because the traffic had a considerable number of smaller
vehicles like motorised two-wheelers, a significant proportion of the observed headways was very
small, resulting in a mean headway, t, of 1.03 s. The headway data, classified over a time interval of
0.8 s, were found to fit into the negative exponential distribution. The goodness of fit was tested using
a chi-squared distribution. The calculated chi-squared value is 13.19 against the critical value from a
chi-squared table, for seven degrees of freedom at a 5% level of significance, of 14.07. Thus, the
observed headway data fitted well into the assumed negative exponential distribution. For a depiction
of the goodness of fit of the headway data, cumulative frequency distribution of the observed and
theoretical headways (inter-arrival time) were plotted on the same set of axes, as shown in Figure 3.
It can be seen that the distribution of observed and theoretical headways match with each other to a
large extent, corroborating the inference obtained through the chi-squared test.
The vehicles generated during the simulation process will be placed at the start of the simulation
stretch of road after assigning free speeds corresponding to the vehicle types. The free speeds of the
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Adv. Transp. 2014; 48:1–14
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TRAFFIC OPERATIONS AND MANAGEMENT 7
Cumulative % Frequency
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0 0.8 1.6 2.4 3.2 4 4.8 5.6 6.4 7.2 8
Headway in Seconds
different categories of vehicles were considered to follow normal distribution [13]. The average reac-
tion time of drivers was taken as 0.7 s [14].
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Adv. Transp. 2014; 48:1–14
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8 K. KRISHNAMURTHY AND V. T. ARASAN
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 6500 7000 7500
Volume in number of vehicles per hour
varying roadway and traffic conditions. It can also be seen that the capacity values for the traffic com-
position considered are about 4300 and 6800 vehicles per hour for 7.5- and 11.0-m-wide road spaces.
After a careful study of the various approaches adopted for the estimation of PCU of vehicles, it was
found that the methodology of approach of the Transport and Road Research Laboratory [15], London,
UK, may be appropriate for the heterogeneous traffic being dealt with. The PCU has been defined by
TRRL as follows:
on any particular section of road under particular traffic conditions, if the addition of one
vehicle of a particular type per hour will reduce the average speed of the remaining vehi-
cles by the same amount as the addition of, say x cars of average size per hour, then one
vehicle of this type is equivalent to x PCU.This definition has been taken as the basis
for derivation of PCU values in this study.
The PCU value for the different types of vehicles, at various volume levels, was estimated by taking
the average stream speed as the measure of performance. Accordingly, the stream speed of the
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Adv. Transp. 2014; 48:1–14
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TRAFFIC OPERATIONS AND MANAGEMENT 9
heterogeneous traffic of chosen composition (Figure 2), for a chosen volume, was first determined.
Then, a certain percentage (50%) of cars was replaced by the reference vehicle type (for which the
PCU value is to be estimated) in the traffic stream, such that the average stream speed remained the
same as before. This was achieved by varying the number of the reference vehicles introduced to sub-
stitute the removed cars until the original speed of the traffic was obtained by simulation. Then, the
number of cars removed divided by the number of reference vehicle type introduced will give the
PCU value of that vehicle type. To account for the possible variation due to randomness, three random
number seeds (three seeds were found to be optimal in this case after trying with more number of
seeds) were used for the simulation, and the average of the three values was taken as the PCU value.
This procedure was repeated for different volume levels, falling over a wide range. The trends of var-
iation of PCU values for the different types of vehicles, obtained as per the said procedure, for 7.5- and
11.0-m-wide road spaces are shown in Figures 5–9. It may be noted that the traffic volume has been
3.5
2.5
1.5
0.000 0.125 0.250 0.375 0.500 0.625 0.750 0.875 1.000 1.125
Volume to capacity ratio
2.2
2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.000 0.125 0.250 0.375 0.500 0.625 0.750 0.875 1.000 1.125
Volume to capacity ratio
Figure 6. Passenger car unit (PCU) value for light commercial vehicles (LCV).
2.4
Auto PCU Value
2.2
2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.000 0.125 0.250 0.375 0.500 0.625 0.750 0.875 1.000 1.125
Volume to capacity ratio
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Adv. Transp. 2014; 48:1–14
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10 K. KRISHNAMURTHY AND V. T. ARASAN
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.000 0.125 0.250 0.375 0.500 0.625 0.750 0.875 1.000 1.125
Volume to capacity ratio
indicated as the ratio over capacity (capacity values taken from Figure 4) for ease of perception of the
traffic volume levels considered for making the plots.
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Adv. Transp. 2014; 48:1–14
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TRAFFIC OPERATIONS AND MANAGEMENT 11
due to the introduction of the subject vehicle. When the traffic volume levels are near the capacity level
of the given roadway section, the vehicles are forced to move with smaller relative speed differences
between a car and other subject vehicles. At this condition, the static characteristics (physical dimen-
sions) of the subject vehicle play a major role in the impedance offered by the vehicle, when compared
with their dynamic characteristics, which play a significant role at lower volume levels. This results in
the decreasing trend of the PCU value of the subject vehicle at higher volume levels. The lateral dis-
tribution of vehicles on the given roadway section is found to be influenced by the traffic composition
and volume [16–18].
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0.000 0.125 0.250 0.375 0.500 0.625 0.750 0.875 1.000 1.125
Volume-to-Capacity ratio
Figure 10. Speed–flow relationship for cars on the 7.5- and 11.0-m-wide road spaces.
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Adv. Transp. 2014; 48:1–14
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12 K. KRISHNAMURTHY AND V. T. ARASAN
50
40
km/h
30
20
10
0
0.000 0.125 0.250 0.375 0.500 0.625 0.750 0.875 1.000 1.125
Volume to capacity ratio
50
40
30
20
10
0
0.000 0.125 0.250 0.375 0.500 0.625 0.750 0.875 1.000 1.125
Volume-to-Capacity ratio
Figure 11. Speed–flow relationship for buses and trucks on the 7.5- and 11.0-m-wide road spaces.
the knowledge of the composition of the heterogeneous traffic, it is possible to know the number of
vehicles of each category present in the traffic stream at the capacity flow level of 4300 vehicles per
hour. The PCU values of the different vehicle categories, at capacity–flow condition, were obtained
from Figures 5 to 9. Then, the number of vehicles in each category multiplied by the corresponding
PCU value gives the PCU equivalents of each category of vehicles. The sum of the equivalent values
then gives the capacity flow of heterogeneous traffic in PCU per hour. On the same lines, the flow in
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Adv. Transp. 2014; 48:1–14
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TRAFFIC OPERATIONS AND MANAGEMENT 13
3000
y = 2816x + 162.5
Volume in PCU
2500 R² = 0.9691
2000
1500
1000
500
0
0.000 0.125 0.250 0.375 0.500 0.625 0.750 0.875 1.000 1.125
Volume-to-Capacity ratio
Figure 12. Traffic volumes in passenger car unit (PCU) on 7.5-m-wide road space under homogeneous and
heterogeneous traffic.
y = 5501.1x + 212.62
5000
R² = 0.9793
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
0.000 0.125 0.250 0.375 0.500 0.625 0.750 0.875 1.000 1.125
Volume-to-Capacity ratio
Figure 13. Traffic volumes in passenger car unit (PCU) on 11.0-m-wide road space under homogeneous and
heterogeneous traffic.
PCU per hour of the heterogeneous traffic, for the selected set of volume–capacity ratios, was esti-
mated. Then, plots relating the set of volume-to-capacity ratios and the corresponding flow were made
for the cars-only and heterogeneous traffic. The two plots, made on the same set of axes, are depicted
in Figure 12. It can be seen that both the plots are closely related to each other, indicating that the PCU
estimates made are fairly accurate at all volume levels. To explain the accuracy of estimates on statis-
tical basis, we performed a t-test by relating the flow in the number of cars per hour for the selected set
of volume-to-capacity ratios and the corresponding heterogeneous traffic flows expressed in PCU per
hour. The calculated value of t (t0) is 2.06 against the critical value (from t table) of 2.30. This implies
that the traffic flow estimates made in PCU per hour significantly represent the simulated flows of the
cars-only traffic. Hence, it can be said that the PCU estimates are fairly accurate.
The results of a similar check performed in the case of the 11.0-m-wide road are depicted in
Figure 13. The results (the calculated value of t is 1.98 against the critical value of 2.17) indicate that
the PCU estimates are fairly accurate in the case of the 11.0-m-wide roads also.
8. CONCLUSIONS
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Adv. Transp. 2014; 48:1–14
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14 K. KRISHNAMURTHY AND V. T. ARASAN
with changes in traffic volume. Thus, for the traffic condition considered for this study, there is a
reason to treat the PCU value for a vehicle type as a dynamic quantity rather than as a constant.
(3) It is found that, by virtue of the complex nature of interaction between vehicles under the hetero-
geneous traffic condition, at low volume levels, the PCU value of vehicles increases with increases
in traffic volume, whereas under higher volume conditions, the PCU value decreases with an
increase in traffic volume.
(4) The results of the simulation experiment to study the effect of road width on PCU values indicate
that for any vehicle type in heterogeneous traffic, the PCU value increases with increase in the
width of road space.
(5) The check performed to ascertain the accuracy of the PCU estimates by comparing the flow of
cars-only traffic and the PCU equivalent of heterogeneous traffic on 7.5- and 11.0-m-wide road
spaces indicates that the estimates are fairly accurate.
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DOI: 10.1002/atr