CE 4251 Transportation Engineering-III

Lecture: 2 hrs/ week Credit: 2.00 Prereq. CE 351

The transportation planning process, traffic management concepts, traffic accident
investigations, city road and street networks, grade separation and interchanges,
pedestrian and bicycle facilities. The urban bypass, environmental aspects of
highway traffic and transportation projects, elements of traffic flow.

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 The Transportation Planning Process
Transportation planning is a comprehensive process for evaluating local,
regional, and statewide transportation needs in a collaborative and meaningful
way.Transportation planning is a process which consists of well defined tasks that
must be accomplished before the final set of information is presented to those
who must decide which course of action is best for an agency, region or community.
It allows for public involvement in setting long-term transportation visions and goals
in order to prioritize projects for federal transportation funding.

In national parks, transportation systems connect parks with surrounding

communities and provide visitors access to public lands. To enhance visitor
experience and ensure positive impacts to surrounding communities and
landscapes, these systems require coordinated planning. By getting involved in the
local transportation planning process, national park staff can build relationships with
other transportation stakeholders, align park transportation needs and activities with
state and regional priorities, and ensure important projects are included in
transportation plans to become eligible for additional federal funding.

Transportation planning process recognize the critical links between

transportation system and social goals

Transportation planning is a co-operative process design to foster involvement by all

the users of the system (business community, community groups, environmental
organization etc. through a public participation process).

Types:

1. Regional Planning
2. Urban Planning
3. Short-term Planning
4. Long-term Planning
5. Continuous Planning
6. Multi-modal Planning
7. Traffic Impact Studies Planning
8. Local Transport Studies Planning

Conventional planning refers to current practices for making transport

policy, program and investment decision.

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Objectives
 to understand the nature of different traffic problems
 to formulates proposals
o for safe and efficient movement of goods and people
o so that proposed facility serves community the best
o which has minimum impact on environment
 to prepare integrated transportation system (Rail, Road, waterway, airway)
 to ensure proper distribution of population in an urban area by preparing
appropriate urban transport system
 Introduce new technology.

Basic Assumptions and Principals of Transportation Planning

 Transportation planning must be area wide or regional in geographic area.

 Transportation planning must be conducted concurrently and cannot be
separated from land-use.
 Transportation planning must be continuous and requires constant updating,
validating and amendment.
 Transportation planning must be based on long-range area wide land plan
 Highway and transit system must be recognized
 Limited natural resources must be recognized

Relation between Land-use and Planning Process:

 Urban transport is a function of land-use
 Land-use is a function of transport also.
 Various kinds of activities based land-use
 Generates different amounts and kinds of traffic based on land-use pattern

Objectives of Land-use Planning and Control:

 To fix land-use activities and density of land-use
 To minimize number of trips
 To minimize length of trips
 To confine activities within the designed area
 To make all part of the area more accessible

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Diagram of Transport Planning Process

Three important
ingredients
are the part of
any

planning
models:
 Key- base,
current- year

Figure 1: Diagram of Transport Planning Process

characteristics of traveler and the transportation system in terms of
quantifiable variables (no’s of traffic lanes, household size, personnel income
patterns)
 To fix up the relation between the mentioned variables
 To forecast key traveler and transport system.

Collect and Maintain Transportation System Data

Knowing what your transportation network consists of and the condition and
performance of these facilities areimportant starting point for transportation planning.
Much of the transportation investment that occurs in a state or urban area is aimed
at upgrading the physical condition of a facility (e.g., repairing a road or building a
new bridge) or improving its performance (e g , providing new person carrying
capacity by providing preferential treatment for high occupancy vehicles or building a
new road to serve demand) Most state transportation agencies have a very

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extensive inventory of the slate's road system that includes such basic information as
the number of lanes, types of pavement, the last time the pavement was replaced,
the capacity of the road, accident records, and so on. Most transportation agencies
have an ‘inventory of the different assets that constitute a transit system. In most
cases the transportation engineers and planners involved with the transportation
system database have primary responsibility of keeping it up to date.

Collect and Maintain Socioeconomic and Land-use Data

Transpiration planning focuses on the provision of transportation facilities and
services to meet existing or expected demand for travel. A fundamental is concept in
transportation planning that significantly influences the way such demand is
estimated is called derived demand. Derived demand means that a trip is taken to
accomplish some activity at the destination and that the trip itself simply a means of
reaching this activity. Transportation planning must therefore relate trip making to the
types of activities that occur in a regionand also to the characteristics of the trip
maker that will influence the way these trip are made.This is done by combining
similar uses of landinto a land use category that can then be used in transportation
planning to estimate how many trips are attracted to each type of land-use (e.g., the
number of trips to schools, shopping centers. residential units, and office complexes.
etc) Land use

Define Goals and Objectives:

Transportation systems not only provide the means of moving from one
location to another, they also relate to much broader issues. For example,
investment in transportation facilities has been used to encourage economic
development, to reduce the levels of motor vehicle pollution, to enhance the
mobilityof the elderly and handicapped, and to revitalize center cities. It is thus, very
important early in the planning process to establish the specific goals and objectives
that the transportation plan and recommended projects will be striving to achieve.

Goals are generalized statements that indicate the desired achievement of a

transportation plan. Examples of goals statements might be, “The transportation
system should meet the mobility needs of the population'" or "The transportation
system should provide enhanced economic development opportunities.Objectives

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are more specific statements that indicate the means by whichthose goals will be
achieved. For example the goal of meeting the mobility needs of the population could
have the following objectives associated with it: "Provide transit service to major
markets in the region,” “Reduce congestion on major highways." and "Promote
bicycle and pedestrian transportation”.
The identification of goals and objectives is critical in that they define the
evaluation criteria that will be used later in the planning process to assess the
relative impacts of alternative projects and strategies. These criteria are often called
measures of effectiveness.

Evaluation Techniques
 In an urban system, a number of alternatives transport plans are feasible for a
given set of goals and politics
 In order to select the best from these, it is necessary to evaluate the
alternatives as to how it fulfills desired objectives.
 Traditional tool for the evaluation of alternative proposals-CBA (Cost Benefit
Analysis)
 New generation tool-MCE (Multi Criterion Evaluation/Analysis Technique
using Fuzzy Logic=>Fuzzy Multi Logic Evaluation
 Traditional planning process is static in nature, comprises surveying, data
analysis and production plan.
 Now-a-days planning is considered as a dynamic process and heavily relies
on information system (demographic/spatial/socio-economic-cultural data)
(GIS).
 As most of the socio-cultural data are in inexact nature-Fuzzy set theory is
required to described these type of data
 At this stage, it may be necessary to revise the plans and go back to the initial
stage of design to evolve further alternatives.

The inventory of existing Travel Pattern include

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  Collection of origin and destination(O/D) of journey by home interview,
roadsideinterview, registration number plate survey, pre-paidpost card survey,
screen line and cordon survey.
o Collection of data on movement of good vehicles
o Collection of data on movement of rail transit

The inventory of existing Transport Facilities include

 Inventory of roads forming the transport network, including dimensions, type
and condition of surface, capacity, control devices, volume of traffic etc.
 Inventory of public transport buses, their operating speed, headway,
schedules, capacity, terminals, and passengers carried etc.
 Parking inventory (on-street, off-street) loading and loading facilities for goods
vehicles
 Accidentdata
 Inventory of rails/water/air transit facilities

The inventory for Land-use and Economic Activities Includes

 Information on land use type (residential, industrial, commercial, recreational
etc.) and intensity for various zones
 Zoning laws in operation
 Future land-use plan, if any
 Population statistics, usually from census operation
 Household structure including family income, car ownership, family size and
sex etc
 Employment pattern
 School attendance

The above data which describes the socio-economic characteristics, the travel
pattern, the existing land-use pattern and the transportation system are analyzed to
determine ant quantifiable relationship between these measurements.

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Four Stages of Planning Process:

Step 1: Trip Generation-determine the mathematical relationships between the

numbers of trips produced in a zone and the land-use and socio-economic
characteristics

 How many trips emerge from each land-use?

 How many trips attracted to each land-use?
 Where do they come from
 Where do they trip end

Trips are estimated from

o socio-economic variables
o No of household
o Household income
o No of cars
o Land use
o Employment centers
o Recreation
o Shopping

Step 2: Trip Distribution-connect the trip-ends predicted by the trip generation

models between any set of two zones.

Step 3: Modal Split-determines the mode of travel chosen by the traveler and can
be considered at any stage between generation and assignment
How many trips by:
o Private car
o Bike
o Walk
o Car pool

Step 4: Network Assignment- is the procedure by which the route chosen by a trip
maker is determined

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 o Which particular route does not take the trip
o Equilibrium principle “on trip maker can achieve better travel time by changing
route”

Forecasting Analysis of Future Conditions Plan Synthesis

 Transport plans are long-range in scope and involve planning for 20 to 25
years ahead
 It is therefore becomes necessary to do predictions of travel pattern (no. of
trips, type of trip/mode choice-public/private transport trips/Heavy Goods
vehicles trips, pedestrian) and needs (demand) for the future economic year.
 Future land-use pattern also need to be predicted
 Future transport demand is tied with future
o Economic activity(i.e. future employment pattern, depends on type of
industries-labor intensive/heavy/small industries etc.)
o Population growth (depends on birth/death-natural): birth also depend
on living standards/speed of life, social values
o Land-use pattern (depend on government policy/site specific economic
activity etc.).
o Car-ownership (depends on economic activity/government policy etc.)
o Alternative mode of choice
 Economic Activitycan be predicted by empirical/semi-empirical model
analysis.
 Population forecast can be done by using prediction model. In this regard
detailed studies of the birth, death and migration are required in formulating
population prediction model.
 Car-ownershipis predicted by analyzing past data along with future economic
growth, urban planning, road network planning, government policy on
transport, expansion of road, public transport.
 The prediction growth inland-use patternsuch as residential, industrial,
commercial, recreational and open spaces can be determined by formulating
suitable land-use allocation models.

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 The future land-use activity arrangement and information concerning
future income levels, family size, car ownership rates, employments,
population and other economic activity factors are then fed as inputs to the
previously formulated trip generation model (to find out transport demand). He
output will be the trip generation rate.
The other stages such as trip distribution, assignment and model split
are gone through by using the future predicted parameters governing travel
pattern and respective models formulated for the base year (traditional
approach: fixed trip distribution based on O-D data, link capacity which is
related to road geometry/condition, traffic control and regulation, travel time
and delay data, all these data are deterministic in nature and estimated before
fed into model, cannot address congestion issue properly; new approach:
based on IT which includes real time information/time dependent route
guidance, dynamic trip distribution, increased link capacity can handle
congestion issue). The data are fitted into a tentative network planned for the
designed year.
 State and local authorities involved in the route selection process may well be
primarily concerned with efficient network operation and construction costs of
alternative routes.

Program Adoption and Implementation

 The best alternative emerging from the evaluation study is selected for
adoption and implementation
 The stages in which the project is to be implemented are decided with due
consideration for the financial resources
 The necessary organization for handling the project is built up and the work
executed

Difficulties in Transport Planning Process

 Even though considerable advancement has been made in model building to
accurately synthesize the travel demand, the probabilistic nature of people’s
behavior/unexpected technological breakthrough can make the plan go away.
 The dynamic behavior of urban system makes the whole process iterative
with a continuous need for review and feedback

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  Difficult to validate a model.

Bangladesh
 Getting reliable/sufficient data for different parameters, information for model
development and validation
 Discontinuity in long-term government policy/complete U-tern form the
previous goals and objectives
 Lack of control over land-use pattern

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 TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Traffic Management is
 the science of optimizing output of existing system without significant investment
 usually warranted when the demand is greater than the supply
 helps to exploit the existing system to the ultimate capacity
 reduces investment required for expansion of the system
 usually concerned with the low-cost short-term measures.

Objectives:
 to Improve overall roadway capacity
 to ensure safety
 overall objective is to minimize conflicts between both vehicle- vehicle and vehicle-
pedestrian

Conflicts can easily be minimized by

 Segregating
o Vehicle and pedestrian
o Moving and parked/stationary vehicles
o Motorized and non-motorized vehicles
o Fast moving and large slow moving vehicles (freight)

 Controlling and Regulating

o Vehicular and pedestrian movements
o Internal frictions within the traffic streams (viz. cross/turning/merging/overtaking
etc.)
o Trip demands
 Improving
o Roadway elements
o Vehicle configuration
o Traffic control and regulation system
o User’s behaviors
o Public transport facilities

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 o Tele communication system
Management Approach
 Supply management
 Demand Management

 Supply Management-to improve roadway capacity and safety by

o Physical measures
 Low cost
i. Correcting/improving roadway geometry and surface condition
ii. Islands/channelization, curbs, flaring, exclusive left/right turning
lanes/markings etc.
iii. Pedestrian guard rail/median barrier
iv. Controlled pedestrian crossing
v. Bus lay-by
vi. Street lighting
vii. Co-ordinated/vehicle actuated/Area traffic control
viii. Traffic calming measures (speed barrier)
 Expensive
i. Widening of junctions/links
ii. Grade separation: both for vehicle and pedestrian
iii. Segregated transit facilities: Elevated/Bus way/Under-ground
iv. Pedestrianization/pedestrian mall-at shopping center or where pedestrian
density is very high
v. Construction of new link/road, off-street parking lots, terminals etc.

 Regulatory Measures
o Capacity Improvement (generally for peak-hours)
 Banning Right/U-Turns
 Entry Restriction: for a particular vehicle to city center
 Access control from side roads
 Banning/restriction of freight vehicles (forced to use off-peak times)
 One-way operation
 Tidal-flow operation (peak period measures(
 Parking controls
 Use of terminal facilities for larger size vehicles
o Safety Improvement (generally for off-peak periods)

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  Speed restriction
 Overtaking restriction
 Over weight restriction
 Auto free zone

 TechnologicalMeasures
o Intelligent/automatedhighway/vehicle
o Advanced traffic Information system
 Drivers: Route guidance/Navigation system
 Users: up-to-date travel information system
o Advanced Traffic control and management system
 Auto cruise control/collision avoidance
 Active marking/headlight
 Adaptive traffic signal control
 Use of variable message sign (VMS) or dynamic signs
 Auto –surveillance/incidence detection/enforcement

 Demand Management─ It is warrant when supply is less than demand even after
taking all traffic control and management measures and t the same time there is no
scope or plan for immediate road for expansion program; prerequisite conditions – need
to provide alternative mode of transport.
o Restrictive Measure
 Parking control/park and ride
 Fiscal measures: road pricing, extra tax on entry license/fuel etc.
 Control over vehicle ownership
o Strategic Measures
 Providing improved public transport, walking and bike facilities
 Giving maximum priority to High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) and space
efficient mode
 Encouraging school busses/commuter busses, carpooling etc.
 Introducing flexible office hour, staggered shopping time etc.
 Providing improved tele-communication & IT facilities
 Strict land use planning and control.

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Fig.: Junction Treatment for Turning Movements

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 One-Way Road System

Introduction:
Two-way traffic system
 Operational Difficulties at
o At priority controlled x-section-
 There are 24 potential vehicular conflicting points (excluding 4 U-turns)
between turning and straight-ahead vehicles of the same approach and
between right-turning and opposing straight-ahead vehicles
 Also conflicts between pedestrians and turning vehicles
o At un-divided mid-blocks/links-two opposite traffic stream cause
 Undue/hazardous conflicts and
 Inefficient use of median interface area
o At approach-turning vehicles cause high relative speed differences with straight-
ahead vehicles

 Consequences
o These conflicts especially causes by turning vehicles
 Make intersection operation more complicated
 Reduce intersection performance and
 Are a principal cause of both congestion and accidents.

 Limitations of traditional Managements Measures

o At intersections channelization/flaring/exclusive turning lane can reduces conflicts
between turning and straight-ahead vehicles of the same approach but unable to
reduce conflicts between right-turning and opposite-straight vehicles.
o Protective turning measure is also inefficient, since it usually results a fairly long
signal cycle of roadway width.
o Though median-island at mid-blocks can reduce undue conflicts but restrict efficient
use of roadway width.
o Moreover, both median-island and channelization take a considerable amount of
roadway space.

 Improved regulatory measures-introducing of one-way traffic system regulation has

the potential
o To reduce vehicular conflicts
o To improve overall roadway safety and efficiency.

One-way Traffic Operation

o One-way systems are those in which motor vehicles movement on any carriageway
within the system is limited to one direction.
o It Is a regulation type of measure.
o Primary objective of this system is to improve traffic movement and therefore
increasing roadway capacity
o Simplest tool for relieving the traffic congestion without expensive reconstruction.
o Self enforcing type of measure Compared to parking restriction
o It is less expensive and easier to enforce, but less effective than the parking
restriction.
o Unlike parking restriction, people well come this type of measures provided there
are alternative routes.
o Most effective in the congested central areas of cities where

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  Proportion of turning movements and pedestrian concentrations are very high
and
 road network have gird-iron pattern
o Studies have shown that the conversion of two-way streets to one-way operation
 increases roadway capacity by as much as 50% (USA)/100% (UK)
 reduces total accidents by 50% even with Increase in total traffic volumes

Types of One-way System

 Full system- a road on which traffic moves in one direction in all times and usually
suitable for non-commuting /all-purposes road with having alternative parallel roads.
 Partial System-a road on which traffic moves in one direction (usually heavier
direction of flow) only in peak periods to match with the distinctive pattern of tidal-flow
condition and other times carry two-way traffic usually suitable for commuting road.

Benefits of One-way System

Increase Capacity
 as it makes traffic operation simpler and smoother by
o Eliminating conflicts between right turning and opposing straight ahead
vehicles

 reducing conflicts between turning and straight ahead vehicles, pedestrian and
vehicles, moving and parked vehicles etc.
 Making parking/un-parking maneuvers easier/safer, less obstructive
 as it increases average speed of traffic stream by making flow smoother and
uninterrupted
 as it making geometric and operational delays by making simple traffic signal design
 as it enables efficient usages of the carriageway

Improve safety as
 Removal of opposing stream eliminates right-angle collisions at intersections, head-
on collision at mid-blocks
 Removal of turning movements, eliminate rear-end collisions at approach
 Crossing becomes safer and easier.

Negative Aspects
 Some motorists must have travel extra distance to reach their destinations
 Non-local drivers may find it difficult to reach their point of interest
 Transit operation may adversely affected
 Mid-block traffic collisions may increase as a result of improper waving by drivers due
to increasing lane changing opportunity

References:
Institute of Traffic Engineers, “Transportation and Traffic Engineering Handbook”, Second
Edition.
O’ Flahetry, C. A., Highway and Traffic “, volume 1, Second Edition, 1983

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 Two-Way

Fig.: Potential Conflicting Points at Intersection with No/Priority Control

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Fig.: Potential Conflicting Points at Intersection with No/Priority Control

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 Total Conflicts/Arm
 With Red Light=3
 With Green Light=5
Fig.: Potential Vehicle-Pedestrian Conflicting Points at Signalized Intersection

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Fig.: Potential Vehicle-Pedestrian Conflicting Due to Wrong Side Parking

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 Restriction on Turning Movements

Introduction
 Turning vehicles (viz. right/U-turn) make junction operation complicated, as they
obstruct flow through the junction while negotiate:
o With the opposing straight-ahead vehicles and as well as with tight turning
path to complete their maneuvers
 A few right/U-turning vehicles can cause a disproportionate loss of junction capacity

Effect of Right Turning Vehicles

 Reduce junction capacity
o As often slowed down and obstruct the following straight-ahead vehicles
o As the presence of right-turning vehicles in a particular lane trends to inhibit
the use of this lane by straight-ahead vehicles
o As they cause conflicts with the vehicles approaching from the opposing
direction
o As the right-turning vehicles that remain in the intersection after the expiry of
green period, delay the start of the next phase.
 Cause safety Problem:
o When right turners showed down suddenly or try to make turn without giving
indicator, cause the chance of rear-end collisions with the following straight-
ahead vehicles
o When right turner misjudge the speed of opposing vehicles, cause right-angle
collisions

Control Technique
 Geometric Measures
o Channelization
 To force turning from proper position
 To prevent turns at a time and thereby
 To reduce conflicts among right turners and with following straight-
ahead vehicles
o Flaring
 To create exclusive right-turning lane and thereby
 To reduce effect of right-turners on the following straight-ahead
vehicles.
o Protective Measures
 Extended green period
 Early cut-off-the green time of the opposing arm is cut-off by a few
seconds before the arm having the right-turn movements
 Separate phase- a separate green period is inserted in the cycle

Benefits of Controlling Right/U-Turns

 Eliminates conflicts between turning vehicles and vehicles approaching from the
opposite direction and thereby traffic operation smooth/unobstructed-resulting
o Increased discharged speed

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 o Increased junction capacity
o Reduce rate of accident

 Simplify Junction Operation and thereby

o Aids pedestrian
o Simplifying signal design
o Aids enforcements
Left Turns
 Left turns usually cause minimum vehicular conflicts and hence they are rarely
banned
 Left turns are banned (restricted) to provide safe parking, crossing
o When the number of pedestrians on the cross road is usually heavy and
o When there is no pedestrian phase I the traffic signal or no separate signal
setup signal at the cross

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 ROAD SIDE MANAGEMENT

Causes of Side Friction

 Poor side road surface quality
 Roadside non-motor activities
o On street trading
o Dust bins
o Stagnant water
 On street bus stops
 Scatter parking along the road
 Frequent entry of side roads

Consequence of Side Friction:

 Reduce roadway capacity (due to loss of effective road width)
 Make roadway operation hazardous/unsafe (due to increase undue vehicular
conflicts with pedestrians. parked vehicles, road-side objects etc.

Road-side control Measures

 Ensuring high-quality road surface near the edge
 Providing effective drainage facilities
 Using pedestrian guard-railing and median barrier
o To discourage random pedestrian crossing
o To force them to utilize designated facilities for them
 Controlling parking practice
 Introducing junction clearway
 Enforcing road-side non-motor activities
 Controlling access.

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 TRAFFIC ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION

General
 Accident is a natural phenomenon and expected in road, as vehicle in controlled by
human
 There is a minimum to do when accident occurred in random nature
 Accident may take place even with high standard road because of random errors
(mechanical/human)
 When accidents occurred deterministically-counter-measures are need to be taken
accordingly
 To take appropriate remedial measures accident study is essential

Objectives
 Traffic accident studies is an indispensable tools of traffic management
 To evaluate existing design
 To compute the financial losses incurred
 To study the causes of accidents and suggest corrective measures at potential
location

Accidents and Traffic Engineer

o Traffic engineer must devise ways to reduce accidents through better planning,
design, construction, maintenance and traffic operation
o Traffic engineer also concerned about the regulation and management of traffic to
ensure safer travel
o The cost of traffic accidents helps the traffic engineer in evaluating improvement
scheme aimed at reducing the accidents.

Prerequisite conditions
There should have
o A systematic accident record keeping system
o Standard definition of accident/depth/injury/property damage
o Uniform symbols to translate
 Collision types
 Vehicle classification

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  Road environment conditions (geometric, pedestrian/parking activities,
surface condition)
o Standard reporting form
o Up-to-date large scale road maps
o Guide line regarding tolerable number of accidents at any given location to initial
accident study.

Accident Studies comprises Six Basic Steps

o Obtain adequate vehicle accident records
o Select high accident frequently locations in order of severity
o Prepare collision diagrams, and sometimes physical-condition diagrams, for each
selected location
o Summarize facts
o Supplement accident data with field observations during hours when most collisions
have been reported
o Analyze the summarized the facts and field data and prescribe remedial treatment

Collective Accident Records:

o Collection of accident records
o Prepare spot maps

Selecting Dangerous Locations:

o Isolate locations having large numbers of accidents
o In isolating the trouble spot a rating number to each accident can be assigned

Preparing Collision Diagram

Each collision is represented by a set of arrows to show the direction of before and after
movement. The collision diagram provides a powerful visual record of accident occurrence
over a significant period of time.
o It is a graphical representation of accident event
o The diagram need to be drawn to scale
o The date and hour of each accident are shown alongside one of the arrow
o If weather and visibility are important these are also indicated
o Color coding can be used if further information is required
o A collision diagram is required to supplement the recorded data

Summarizing Facts
It is normally helpful to obtain the summaries of the following
o Total number of each type of accident
o The number of collisions on each arm of the intersection
o The number of accidents during various periods of the day
o The number of accidents occurring under different weather conditions
It is very probable that at this certain trends will appear which may indicate physical features
which need correction

Field Observations
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Visiting the intersection/black spot
A study of the behavior of traffic at the site and observation of the physical and operational
features controlling traffic may suggest probable counter measures.

Final Analysis
o Propose positive recommendations leading to a substantial reduction in accidents
o Recommendations may consist of standard traffic management measures such as
 Installation of traffic signals or pedestrian crossings
 The prohibition of certain turning maneuver
 Increased usage of signs and markings
 Improvements of lighting facilities
 Limitation of parking
 The need for channelization at intersection
 The use of median

Main Causes of Accidents

Broadly the factors that cause accidents can be considered under the following headings:
o Road User error-drivers and pedestrians (60%)
o Faulty Road Environment-roadway geometry and environmental conditions
(30%)
o Mechanical failure (10%)

Road Users

Drivers
Driver is the key factor in most of the accidents. He drives it, steers it, accelerates it,
decelerates it, brakes it and stop it-above all he takes decision before react/response to a
stimulus-as such his behavior influences and controls the vehicle while his behavior itself is
controlled by his personality, training, attitudes, physical and mental condition. He need to
take many important decisions in a fraction of second.

Sources of Errors
 failing to maintain/adjust safe speed
 failing to maintain safe headway
 making decision during lane changing/overtaking, crossing junction, turning,
merging/diverging, in response of traffic signal
 intersection with animal crossings
 overtaking competition
 under-estimating vehicles' loading condition
 interacting with pedestrians

Accident risk depends on Drivers Physical and Mental Condition

 Age of Drivers
 Sex of the Drivers
 Marital Status
 Alcohol and Drugs

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  Fatigue
 Use of Crash Helmets

Pedestrians
Sources of accidents
 use of road instead of foot-path
 crossing attempt without looking around
 miscalculation of approaching vehicle's speed

Effect of Road Environment on Accident

The characteristics of a road have a great influence on road accidents. Improvement to the
conditions of the road can bring about a measurable change in the accidents.
Sources of accidents
 Road Curvatures
 Vertical Alignment
 Sight Distance
 Superelevation
 Carriageway Width
 Width and Condition of Shoulders
 Road Signs and Markings
 Pavement Surface Condition
 Formation Delineators and Guard Rails
 Lighting
 Median
 Junction

Vehicle
 Vehicle plays a dominant role in road safety
 although the present day cars are safe but because of poor maintenance it may
perform unexpectedly
 one rough estimate shown that mechanical deficiencies cause about 5% of all traffic
accident
 braking System
 vehicle lighting system
 tires
 vehicle inspection and maintenance

Difficulties
 as the factor which cause and influence the severity of accidents are very numerous,
it may be very difficult in many instances to determine the true causes

 it is largely depends on accident report (as such reporting/description is very

important aspects of accident studies - for proper accident analysis/studies every
incident should be reported to police, report should be clear and details along with
witness of incident (which may be treated as a probable cause)

Use of Accident Data

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Engineering uses

 to justify safety measures

 to determine adequacy, size, shape and legibility of traffic signs
 to justify lraffle control devices such as traffic signals
 to design planning pedestrian safety facilities
 to implement speed zoning and speed control
 to justify traffic regulating measures
 to design safe and efficient street lighting
 to improve intersection layout
 to justify to provide channelizing islands, refuge islands and central verges
 in planning safety measures for traffic during construction
 in improving horizontal and vertical alignment
 to provide adequate sight distance
 to determine suitable width of pavement, shoulders and bridges
 to improve surface condition (slippery, less skid etc)
 to modify super-elevation and camber

Enforcement Uses

 developing manual control and street patrolling

 enforcing curb parking regulations
 enforcing vehicle inspection measures

Administrative and Policy Issues

 initiating traffic safety programs

 determining accident costs
 to identify the need to amend any legislative measures
 to review the procedures for registration and licensing of vehicles

Educational Uses
 in planning and organizing school safety educational programs
 in planning and organizing driver safety educational programs

As accident data have many uses:

 must be reported to police immediately (to get actual accident numbers)
 data should be accurate and comprehensive
 must be reported on a standard form for uniformity
 definition of accident must be defined
 data should be coded properly to facilitate analysis by using computer

Road Users Groups According to Vulnerability

 Pedestrians (most exposed)
 Driver/Passenger of NMV:
o Cycle: unstable vehicle
o Push cart poor control at loaded condition
o Rickshaws: passenger stability is poor

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 o Rickshaw van .
 Driver/Passenger of Motor cycle
 Other motor vehicles at high speeds

Accident Prone Road Sections

 Intersections
o priority types
o roundabout
o signalized
 curved section
 straight section

Accident Prone Environment

 night time
 wet/foggy weather

Fatalities rates depends on

 roadway condition/design standard
 average speed of traffic stream
 traffic management
 street lighting
 degree of motorization
 vehicle population
 total vehicle-km
 degree of urbanization
 population density
 vehicle composition
 vehicle legislation
 medical care
 proportion of Pedestrian/NMVT/Cycle/Motorcycle
 awareness of pedestrian
 driving behavior

Mode of Accidents
o collision - between vehicles
o hitting - between vehicle and pedestrian/road furniture
o overturning - due to loss of control
o brake failure - mechanical fault
o slipping - due to poor road surface condition

Accident/Collision Type
o one-Vehicle accidents
o two-vehicle accidents
o head on collision
o rear end collision
o right angle collision
o brush/side swipe

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 Accident Counting/Reporting
 Convention of counting deaths occurring within
o France - 6 days
o Italy - 7 days
o UK - 30 days
o USA - 1 yr
o International Standard- 30 days

 Fatality rate/Death rate on the basis of

o Population
o Registration
o Travel length (vehicle-km) .
Statistical Methods for Analysis of Accident Data
 analysis of accident data is required to find out fact/plausible causes of that
incident
 it is also important to see the effectiveness of accident prevention measures
qualitative methods of data analysis of the accident can provide insight into
the causes that contributed to the accident and often help to identify the black
spots on the street system

Why statistical analysis is required?

 accidents are governed by the laws of chance and the occurrence of accident
is a random event w.r.t time or distance
 accident occurrence follow probabilistic (Poisson) distribution
 to see whether accident data from a particular site follow random behavior or
deterministic in nature-statistical analysis is the only available tool for this
purpose

A number of statistical methods are currently being applied in accident research.

These include:
Regression methods
Poisson distribution
Use of Chi-square test for comparing accident data

Regression Methods
 this method is useful to co-relate different factors with accident
 to develop accident prediction model

Poisson distribution
 useful to know the probability of accidents
 occurrence of accidents is a random event w.r.t time or distance can be expressed in
terms of Poisson distribution, whose probability function is as follows:

P(r) = [e-m mr ] /r
P(r) = 1= P(0) + P(1) + P(2) + P (3)+………………+ P()

Where p(r) = probability of occurrence of r accidents during a year

m= average rate of occurrence of accidents in a length of travel of M km

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 if p be the probability of having an accident per km traveled then,
m=p.M

from past records an estimate of m, the expected average number of accidents and
confidence limits can be established
if the observed number of accidents at a particular site falls beyond these limits it can
be deduced that there is a significant change in the accident causation and that the
observed value is not merely due to change.

Bangladesh
 poor record keeping system:
 inexperience/negligence in record keeping (police)
 lack of awareness/interest of road users in reporting
 lack of communication facilities
 lack of enough police personnel/fast moving vehicle
 loose insurance regulation

Main Causes
 Poor/faulty road geometry
 lack of traffic control measures
 poor vehicle maintenance
 ineffective vehicle testing and inspection system
 lack of proper driving training facility
 lack of respect to traffic rules and regulations
 poor education
 poor legislative enforcement - penalty
 dangerous driving attitude
 uncontrolled pedestrian crossings
 uncontrolled road side parking
 overloading
 mixed mode

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INTERSECTION AND INTERCHANGE

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 An intersection is an at-grade junction where two or more roads meet or
cross. Intersections may be classified by number of road segments, traffic controls, and/or
lane design.

Types of Intersection
Intersection area should be designed to provide adequately for turning and crossing
movements with consideration given to sight distance, signs, grades and alignment.

Simple at grade intersections consists of a junction of three, four or more road segments. A
junction of three approaches is indicated as a branch, T or γ .

The key advantages of a rotary intersection are listed below:

1. Traffic flow is regulated to only one direction of movement, thus eliminating

severe conflicts between crossing movements.
2. All the vehicles entering the rotary are gently forced to reduce the speed and
continue to move at slower speed. Thus, none of the vehicles need to be
stopped, unlike in a signalized intersection.
3. Because of lower speed of negotiation and elimination of severe conflicts,
accidents and their severity are much less in rotaries.
4. Rotaries are self governing and do not need practically any control by police
or traffic signals.
5. They are ideally suited for moderate traffic, especially with irregular geometry,
or intersections with more than three or four approaches.

Although rotaries offer some distinct advantages, there are few specific limitations for
rotaries which are listed below.

1. All the vehicles are forced to slow down and negotiate the intersection.
Therefore, the cumulative delay will be much higher than channelized
intersection.
2. Even when there is relatively low traffic, the vehicles are forced to reduce their
speed.
3. Rotaries require large area of relatively flat land making them costly at urban
areas.
4. The vehicles do not usually stop at a rotary. They accelerate and exit the
rotary at relatively high speed. Therefore, they are not suitable when there is
high pedestrian movements.

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CITY ROAD AND STREET NETWORK

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 URBAN BYPASS

Environmental Aspects of Highway Traffic and Transportation Projects

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