UNIVERSITE DES MASCAREIGNES

Module -IIT
TRAVEL TIME AND DELAY STUDIES
Travel time = the time required to travel from one point to another on a given route. For a
given route it is important to identify the locations, durations, and causes of delays. A travel
time and delay study can give a good indication of the level of service.

Applications of Travel Time and Delay Data

- efficiency of a route
- locations with relatively high delays
- causes for delays
- before-and-after studies
- relative efficiency of a route
- travel times on specific links
- economic studies
Definitions
Travel time: time taken by a vehicle to traverse a given section of a highway/road.
Running time: time a vehicle is actually in motion
Delay: time lost due to causes beyond the control of the driver.
Operational delay: delay caused by the impedance of other traffic.
Fixed delay: caused by control devices such as traffic signals, regardless of the traffic volume
Travel-time delay: difference between the actual travel time and the travel time obtained by
assuming that a vehicle traverses at an average speed equal to that for an uncongested
traffic flow.
Methods for Conducting Travel Time and Delay Studies
A. Methods Not Requiring a Test Vehicle
(i) License-Plate Observations: observers need to be positioned at the beginning and end of
the test section.
Each observer records the last three or four digits of the license plate of each vehicle that
passes, and also the time at which the vehicle passes.
By matching the times of arrival at the beginning and end of the test section for each license
plate recorded and calculating the difference between these times is the traveling time of
each vehicle. The average of these is the average traveling time on the test section. A
sample size of 50 matched license plates is required.

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(ii) Interviews: obtaining information from people who drive on the study site regarding
their travel times and experience of delays. This method requires the cooperation of the
drivers.
(iii) ITS Advanced Technologies:
Use of Cell phones or GPS satellite system whereby technology is used to determine average
speeds and travel times along highways/road segments.
B. Methods Requiring a Test Vehicle: floating-car, average-speed, and moving-vehicle
techniques.
Average-Speed Technique
The test car is driven along the length of the test section at a speed which is the average
speed of the traffic stream. The time required to traverse the test section is noted. The test
run is repeated and the average time is recorded as the travel time.
Floating-Car Technique or Moving-Vehicle Technique (moving observer) :
- Test car is driven by an observer along the test section.
- The driver attempts to pass as many vehicles as those that pass his test vehicle.
- Time taken to traverse the study section is recorded. This is repeated, and the
average time is recorded as the travel time.
- Sample size is usually less than 30.
The observer makes a round trip on a test section. The observer starts at section X-X, drives
the car eastward to section Y-Y, turns the vehicle around drives westward to section X-X
again. (Figure below).

The following data need to be collected;

FOR EAST BOUND TRAVEL
(i) The time taken to travel east from X-X to Y-Y (TE), in minutes.
(ii) The time it takes to travel west from Y-Y to X-X (TW), in minutes.

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(iii) The number of vehicles traveling east in the opposite lane while the test car is traveling
west (NE).
(iv) The number of vehicles that overtake the test car while it is traveling east from X-X to Y-
Y. (OE)
(v) The number of vehicles overtaken by test car while it is traveling east from X-X to Y-Y (PE)
Calculations:
The volume (VE) in the eastbound direction can then be obtained from the expression:
VE = (NE + [OE – PE])/ (TW + TE)
The average travel time in the eastbound direction is obtained from:
t = TE – (OE – PE)/VE
Ex 1. A test car was used on a North-South road 0.75 km long, and the following data was
recorded. Calculate the traffic volume, average travel time and sms in both directions.
North Travel time No of vehicles in No of vehicles No of vehicles
trip No (minutes) opposite direction overtook test car overtaken by test car
1 2.65 85 1 0
2 2.7 83 3 2
3 2.35 77 0 2
4 3.0 85 2 0
5 2.42 90 1 1
6 2.54 84 2 1

South Travel time No of vehicles in No of vehicles No of vehicles

trip No (min-sec) opposite direction overtook test car overtaken by test car
1 2.33 112 2 0
2 2.30 113 0 2
3 2.71 119 0 0
4 2.16 120 1 1
5 2.48 105 0 2
6 2.54 100 0 1

Ex2.
North Travel time No of vehicles in No of vehicles No of vehicles
trip No (min-sec) opposite direction overtook test car overtaken by test car
1 1-50 38 1 4
2 2-02 42 2 3
3 2-00 40 1 5
4 1-56 38 1 4
5 1-58 38 1 4
6 1-48 35 1 6
7 2-13 41 2 2

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South Travel time No of vehicles in No of vehicles No of vehicles
trip No (min-sec) opposite direction overtook test car overtaken by test car
1 2-05 27 3 4
2 2-00 26 2 4
3 2-10 28 4 4
4 1-58 25 2 5
5 2-15 30 4 3
6 2-07 28 3 3
7 2-10 31 2 3

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