Name: A.

ShyamSunder
Roll No: 191703

7. SATURATION FLOW STUDY

7.1 Objective: To calculate saturation flow at a signalized intersection.
7.2 Equipment: stop watch, data sheet, and video camera.
7.3 Theory: Ideal saturation flow for a signalized intersection is the difference in passage
time at the intersection stop line between two consecutive vehicles, once the queue moving in
stable manner.
According to Indo HCM 2017, it is the maximum discharge rate of vehicle at junction after
onset of green signal and is assumed to start after Vehicle.
Saturation flow is a very important road traffic performance measure of the maximum rate of
flow of traffic. It is used extensively in signalized intersection control and design.

7.4 Data Collection:

 At the intersection a reference line is drawn.
 Videos were taken as vehicles starts to cross reference line until last vehicle such that
entire width of carriageway was covered.
 Analysis of video was carried out and time at which last vehicle crosses the reference
line were noted.
 Count the number of vehicle in queue.
 Repeat the procedure for different samples and take average.

Transportation Division 1 Traffic Measurements Lab

NIT Warangal.
 Name:A.ShyamSunder
Roll No: 191703

7.5 Tables and Graphs:

Straight direction Right direction Total

cycle time(s) TW 3W CAR BUS LCV HCV pcu TW 3W CAR BUS LCV HCV pcu st+rt
1 0-5 18 3 0 0 0 0 8.7 3 0 0 0 0 0 1.2 9.9
5-10 3 0 0 1 0 0 2.8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.8
10-15 20 3 0 0 0 0 9.5 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.8 10.3
15-20 4 0 3 0 0 0 4.6 3 0 0 1 0 0 2.8 7.4
20-25 9 0 3 0 0 0 6.6 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.8 7.4
25-30 10 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.8 4.8
30-35 4 0 6 0 0 0 7.6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.6
35-40 6 0 3 0 0 0 5.4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.4
40-45 9 0 3 0 0 0 6.6 4 0 0 0 0 0 1.6 8.2
45-50 1 0 3 1 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
50-55 1 0 3 1 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
55-60 5 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
2 0-5 6 3 0 0 0 0 3.9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.9
5-10 11 4 3 0 0 0 9.4 3 0 0 0 0 0 1.2 10.6
10-15 17 0 3 0 0 0 9.8 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.8 10.6
15-20 6 0 0 0 0 0 2.4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.4 2.8
20-25 12 3 4 0 0 0 10.3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.8 11.1
25-30 7 0 0 0 0 0 2.8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.8
30-35 8 3 0 0 0 0 4.7 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.8 5.5
35-40 4 0 3 0 0 0 4.6 3 0 0 0 0 0 1.2 5.8
40-45 7 0 0 0 0 0 2.8 4 0 0 0 3 0 4.9 7.7
45-50 4 0 0 0 0 0 1.6 4 0 0 0 0 0 1.6 3.2

Transportation Division 2 Traffic Measurements Lab

NIT Warangal.
 Name: A.ShyamSunder
Roll No: 191703

7.6 Data Analysis:

Average saturation flow Calculated for whole intersection using Indo HCM 2017 method
7.7 Results:
Average saturation flow of the whole intersection
Average for Leg 1=8.94 pcu/sec
Average for Leg 2=7.9 pcu/sec
Average for Leg 3=9.85 pcu/sec
Average for Leg 4=6.54 pcu/sec
7.8 Applications:
 Used for green time allocation to optimize intersection throughput.
 It is used for Estimating the geometric and operational performance of
signalized intersections.
 Capacity is an adjustment of the saturation flow rate that takes the real
signal timing into account
References:

 C.J. Khishty and B. Kent Lall , Transportation Engineering

 Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) 2000
 Nicholas J.Garber, Lester A.Hoel, Raju Sarkar, Principles of Traffic
and Highway Engineering.
Web Resources
 http://nptel.ac.in/courses/105101008/downloads/cete_12.pdf

Transportation Division 3 Traffic Measurements Lab

NIT Warangal.