Traffic Management

Introduction
- It is the science of optimizing the output of existing
system without any significant investment.
- It is usually warranted when the demand is greater
than the supply.
- It helps to exploit the existing system to its ultimate
capacity.
- It reduces investment required for expansion of the
system.
- It is usually concerned with the low-cost short-term
measures.
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Objectives

- To improve overall roadway capacity

- To ensure safety
- Overall objective is to minimize conflicts between both
vehicle-vehicle and vehicle-pedestrian
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Conflicts can easily be minimized by

Segregation
- Vehicle and pedestrians
- Moving and parked/stationary vehicles
- Motorized and non-motorized vehicles
- Fast moving and large slow moving vehicles
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Conflicts can easily be minimized by

Controlling and regulating

- Vehicular and pedestrians movements

- Internal frictions within the traffic stream (viz.
cross/turning/merging/overtaking etc.
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Conflicts can easily be minimized by

Improving

- Roadway elements
- Traffic control and regulation system (Signs, Signals,
Markings)
- User’s behaviours
- Public transport facilities
- Pedestrian facilities
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Management Approaches

- Supply management
- Demand management

Supply Management

- To improve roadway capacity and safety by

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Physical measures

Low cost
- Correcting/improving roadway geometry and surface
condition
- Islands/channelization, curbs, flaring, exclusive
left/right turning lanes, signs/markings etc.
- Pedestrian guard rail/median barrier
- Controlled pedestrian crossing
- Bus lay-by
- Street lighting
- Co-ordinated/ vehicle actuated traffic control
- Traffic calming measures
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Expansive

- Widening of junctions/links
- Grade separation: both for vehicles and pedestrian
- Segregated transit facilities: Elevated/ Bus way/
underground
- Pedestrianization/ pedestrian mall – at shopping
center or where pedestrian density is very high
- Construction of new link/road, off-street parking lots,
terminals etc.
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Regulatory Measures

Capacity improvement (generally for peak-hours)

- Provision of clear-ways (parking, standing restriction)
- Banning right/U-turns
- Entry restriction: for a particular vehicle to city center
- Access control from side roads
- Banning/restriction of freight vehicle (force to use off-
peak hour)
- One-way operation
- Tidal-flow operation
- Parking control
- Use of terminal facilities for larger size vehicles
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Regulatory Measures

Safety improvement (generally for off-peak-hours)

- Speed restriction
- Overtaking restriction
- Overweight restriction
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Technological Measures

Safety improvement (generally for off-peak-hours)

- Automated Highway
- Advanced Traffic Information System
- Drivers: Route guidance/Navigation System
- Users: Up to date travel information system
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Route Guidance and Navigation Systems
• Route guidance systems are one of the main components
of travel and transportation management.
• Route Guidance and Navigation Systems (RGNS) are used
to help drivers navigate. These maps have mainly been
designed to accommodate drivers with normal color
vision.
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Drivers Route Guidance/Navigation System

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Drivers Route Guidance/Navigation System
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Automated Highway
In an automated highway system, the car will be guided by
the road rather than by the driver. Sensors and communication
devices will link the road and the vehicle to maximize driving
performance.
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Automated Highway

HUD: Head Up Display CRT: Cathode Ray Tube, CCD: Charged Couple Device
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• Traffic Message Channel (TMC) is a technology for delivering
traffic and travel information to motor vehicle drivers.
• Traffic information concerns the conditions of road network
use and can include predictive and current (real-time)
information on traffic conditions. Stronger forms of direction
include hazard messages or incident warning, and eventually
control measures such as notice of road obstructions, lane
control, or speed control.
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https://youtu.be/2kDFMxL9mFg
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Technological Measures

Advanced traffic control and management system

- Active marking
- Adaptive traffic signal control
- Use of variable message signs (VMS)
- Auto-Surveillance/Incident detection
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• Adaptive signal control technology adjusts the timing of red,
yellow and green lights to accommodate
changing traffic patterns and ease traffic congestion.

• Adaptive traffic control system (ATCS) is a traffic

management strategy in which traffic signal timing changes,
or adapts, based on actual traffic demand. This is
accomplished using an adaptive traffic control system
consisting of both hardware and software.
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Adaptive Traffic Light Control System
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Incident Detection System
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• Mobile Radio Communication System (MRCS) – This MRCS is
provided to successfully create a voice communication on the radio
between emergency mobile vehicles like an ambulance or patrolling
vans and Control Room.
• Major Driver Source (MDS)
• Automatic Traffic Counter and Classifier (ATCC) - It gathers real-
time traffic data, including vehicle count,
classification, traffic volume, average traffic speed, time headway,
direction of travel and occupancy.
• Emergency Call Box (ECB) - The ECB are made available on
either side of the road. The calls from ECB's are received at
control centre, usually located in the Maintenance and
Operation base (MOB).
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The basic requirement for traffic surveillance is to define how

road traffic can be controlled and the process through which
wireless sensor based systems should be analyzed.
The traffic control system is a real time application in which the
wireless sensor based network serves well.
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Traffic Surveillance System
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Demand Management

- It is the warrant when supply is less than demand even

after taking all traffic control and management measures
and at the same time there is no scope or plan for
immediate road expansion program.

Prerequisite condition
- Need to provide alternative mode of transport.
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Restrictive Measures

- Parking control/park and ride

- Fiscal measures: Road pricing, extra tax entry license/ fuel
etc.
- Control over vehicle ownership
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• Park and ride is a form of integrated transport that allows
private transport users to park their vehicles at a large car
park and travel into the city center using a public transport
mode.
• Road pricing are direct charges levied for the use of roads,
including road tolls, distance or time based fees, congestion
charges and charges designed to discourage use of certain
classes of vehicle, fuel sources or more polluting vehicles.
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Strategic Measures

- Providing improved public transports, walking and bike

facilities
- Giving maximum priority to High Occupancy Vehicle
(HOV) and space efficient mode
- Encouragement school buses/ commuter buses,
carpooling etc.
- Introducing flexible office hour, staggered shopping time
etc.
- Strict land use planning and control
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• Carpooling is the sharing of car journeys so that more than
one person travels in a car, and prevents the need for others
to have to drive a location themselves.
• By having more people using one vehicle, carpooling reduces
each person's travel costs such as: fuel costs, tolls and the
stress of driving.
• HOV: A road vehicle that carries a lot of people such as a bus
 One-way Road System
Two-way Traffic System

- Operation difficulties at
- At a priority controlled intersection – there are
- 32 potential vehicular conflicting points (excluding
4 U-turns) between turning and straight-ahead
vehicles of the same approach and between right-
turning and opposite straight-ahead vehicles
- Also conflict between pedestrians and turning
vehicles
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Two-way Traffic System

- At undivided mid-blocks/links – two opposite traffic

stream cause
- Undue/hazardous conflicts and
- Inefficient use of median interface area
- At approach
- Turning vehicles cause high relative speed
differences with straight-ahead vehicles
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Consequences

- These conflicts especially caused by turning vehicles

- Make intersection operation more complicated
- Reduce intersection performance and
- Are a principal cause of both congestion and
accidents
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Limitation of Traditional Management Measures

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

- To reduce vehicular conflicts to a minimum level and

- To improve overall roadway safety and efficiency
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One-way Traffic Operation

- One-way systems are those in which motor vehicles

movement on any carriageway within the system is
limited to one direction
- It is a regulatory type measure
- Primary objective of this system is to improve traffic
movement and thereby increasing roadway capacity
- Simplest tool for relieving the traffic congestion without
expensive reconstruction
- Unlike parking restriction, people welcome this type of
measures provided there are alternative routes
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One-way Traffic Operation

- Most effective in the congested central areas of cities

where
- Proportion of turning movements and pedestrian
concentrations are very high and
- Road network have grid-iron pattern
- Studies have shown that the conversion of two-way
streets to one-way operation
- Increases roadway capacity by as much as 50% (USA)
and 100% (UK)
- Reduces total accidents by 50% even with increase in
total traffic volumes
- Self enforcing type of measures
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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 in the heavier direction of flow) only in
peak-periods to match with the distinctive pattern of
tidal-flow condition and other times carries two-way
traffic; usually suitable for commuting road.
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Benefits of one-way System

Increase Capacity
As it make traffic operation simpler and smoother by
- Eliminating conflicts between
- Right-turning and opposing straight-ahead vehicle at
junction
- Opposing straight-ahead vehicles at mid-block/link
- Reducing conflicts between
- Turning and straight-ahead vehicles of the same
approach (thereby decrease relative speed
differences among approaching vehicles)
- Pedestrians and vehicles (both turning and straight-
ahead traffic)
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Benefits of one-way system

Increase capacity
- Moving and parked vehicles (due to increase of lane
changing opportunity)
- Making parking/un-parking maneuvers easier/safer and
less obstructive
- As all vehicle move in the same direction
- There is no wrong-side parking
- As it increases average speed of traffic stream by making
flow smoother and uninterrupted
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Benefits of one-way system

Increase capacity
- As it reduces geometric (lost time/cycle) and operational
delays by making
- Traffic signal design simpler with minimum number of
phases
- As it enables efficient usage of the carriageway by making
- Extreme left/right and interface areas undivided road
fully usable (as motorists find it more convenient and
less confusing to drive in the absence of turning and
opposing vehicles)
- Odd lanes, median, channels, islands etc. fully usable
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Benefits of one-way system
Improve safety
- Removal of opposing stream, eliminates
- Right-angle collisions at intersections
- Head-on collisions at mid-blocks
- Accidents related to headlight glaring problems
- Removal of turning movements, eliminate rear-end
collisions at approach
- Crossings become safer and easier
- As there is no turning and opposing vehicles, drivers
and pedestrians need to look-in and negotiate with
only one direction of flow
- As suitable gaps are automatically generated with
traffic signal
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Benefits of one-way system

Other benefits
- Journey become smoother and comfortable
- Increase average journey speeds
- Reduces journey times
- Improves reliability of journey times
- May allow on-street angular parking
- Lessen need for police control
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Negatives 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 increases as a result of
improper weaving by drivers due to increase in lane
changing opportunity
- While there is usually a reduction in the total number of
accidents, the higher speeds may increase the severity of
accidents
However, study shows that the total advantages significantly
out-weigh the total disadvantages.
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Implementation Requirements

- Must have suitable alternative roads (preferably grid-iron

type of road network)
- Need to assess the impact on
- Transit operations
- Freight movement
- Road side business and major traffic generators
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Signing

- One-way scheme should be thoroughly signed at all

points where the motorists make a decision
- ‘No entry” and “Two-way” traffic signs should be placed
at the entrances and exits of all the intersections within
the scheme.
- Where necessary supplementary “No left turn” or “No
right turn” signs should also be displayed.
- In most cases signs should be installed on both sides of
the carriageway.
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