Vehicles Traffic Flow and Density

Traffic flow and density as used in highway design. Calculate vehicle traffic flow (vehicles per hour) and vehicle density (vehicles per mile or per km).

Vehicles Traffic Flow and Density

Traffic flow and density as used in highway design.

Vehicle Traffic Flow

The vehicle traffic flow on a road can be expressed as:

q = n × 3600 / t

Where:

  • q = vehicle flow (no. vehicles per hour)
  • n = no. vehicles passing in t seconds
  • t = time for passing vehicles (s)

Vehicle Density

Vehicle density can be expressed as:

Imperial (vehicles per mile): k = n × 5280 / l

Metric (vehicles per km): k = n × 1000 / l

Where:

  • k = vehicle density (vehicles per mile or per km)
  • n = no. of vehicles occupying a length l of the road
  • l = the length of road occupied by the vehicles (ft for imperial, m for metric)
Calculator

Inputs

Results

Vehicle Traffic Flow-- vehicles/h
Vehicle Density (Imperial)-- vehicles/mile
Vehicle Density (Metric)-- vehicles/km
MetricValueUnitDescription
Vehicle Traffic Flow Formulaq = n × 3600 / tvehicles/hFlow rate calculation
Vehicle Density Formula (Imperial)k = n × 5280 / lvehicles/mileDensity with imperial units
Vehicle Density Formula (Metric)k = n × 1000 / lvehicles/kmDensity with metric units
Vehicles Traffic Flow and Density | MEPKit Engineering Tools | MEPKit