Introduction

Transport Planning or Transportation is a fundamental element for functioning of any society,

region or state. It demonstrates a very close relationship with the study of life, the range and
location of productive and leisure activities and the goods and services, which will be
available for consumption. New technologies of transportation have been very closely
correlated with the development of modern society. From the definition of transportation
planning we find that Transportation planning is the field involved with the siting of
transportation facilities (generally streets, highways, sidewalks, bike lanes and public
transport lines). Under this field traffic volume survey plays a vital role to determine the
existing condition and to forecast the future condition of traffic volume. Traffic Volume is
the number of vehicles crossing a section of road per unit time at any selected
period. Traffic volume is used as a quantity measure of flow and the commonly
used units are vehicles per day and vehicles per hour.
Traffic capacity of any road is an important part of the planning. It influences the traffic flow
in a city. Traffic capacity is expressed as the maximum number of vehicles a lane that can
pass a specified point in unit time usually an hour.
The volume of traffic repeats not only the numbers of people requiring to be moved but also
their affluences. The volume of transport between two urban centers depends upon the quality
of highway and availability of various transportation modes between these urban centers. The
volume also depends upon the interaction between these urban centers.

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Study area
Khulna is the third largest industrial city in Bangladesh is the divisional headquarters. It is the
third largest populated town with about 0.80 million population in Bangladesh. It is situated
on the right bank of the river Bhairab. Since 1842 it has been the headquarters of a subdivision. Being a major city of the country it has developed a modern transportation network.
The uses of a variety of traffic routes have completed a great impact on daily city life. With
the enhancement of population and with the economic tricks, the volume of inter-city
transportation increases in a simultaneous rate day by day. Our study area is Moylapota
intersection which is one of the busiest road of Khulna city. In this point traffic volume is
relatively high, compared with other busy points. All type of vehicles such as rickshaw,
rickshaw van, easy bike, motorcycle, bicycle, scoter, pushcart, suv, bus, micro bus, truck, car
etc. move in this road.

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Objectives and Need of the Study

One of the fundamental measures of traffic on a road is the volume of traffic
using the road in a given interval of time. It is also termed as flow and it is
expressed in vehicles per hour or vehicle per day. When the traffic is composed
of a number of vehicles, it is the normal practice to convert the flow into
equivalent Passenger-Car Unit (PCU), by using certain equivalency factors. The flow
is then expressed as PCUs per hour or PCUs per day.
Knowing the flow characteristics one can easily determine whether a
p a r t i c u l a r section of the road is handling traffic much above or below its capacity. If a
traffic is heavy, the road suffers from congestion with consequent loss in journey
speeds. lower the speeds causes economic loss to the community due to time lost by the
occupants of the vehicles and the higher operational cost of vehicles. Congestion also lead to
traffic hazards. There for traffic volume data are require to draw up schemes for
improvement of road network and also to allocate the scare economic resources most
advantageously
The study comprises the following objectives which are given below:
1. To study the existing volume of traffic in Moylapota intersection.
2. To find out the volume of traffic both fast moving and slow moving.
3. To identify the traffic characteristics.
4. To explore the present traffic condition.
5. To find out the causes and consequences of traffic congestion.
6. To find out the possible solutions.

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Methodology
Our survey topics is Traffic volume survey of Traffic intersection of Khulna city and our
study area is Moylapota intersection. This study maintains a systematically well-arranged
methodology for the achievement and successful accomplishment of the report. The
methodology divided into some segments as,

Conceptualization: Concepts about the study are developed from the previous relevant
studies and papers like report, thesis, books etc. From those previous works, effects and
causes of traffic congestion and also undertaken measures to reduce traffic congestion have
been known. Those concepts are very essential to conduct this report. For the survey we
prepared a survey form to measure the traffic volume.

Tally Sheets:
Recording data onto tally sheets is the simplest means of conducting manual counts. The data
can be recorded with the tally mark on a pre-prepared survey form.

Field procedure: Related information like traffic volume, the inbound and outbound
traffic of the intersection. Transportation type of the area are collected by means of objective
observation. The main objective of the survey is to observe the vehicular traffic flow, to
identify the traffic characteristics, to explore the present traffic condition. We surveyed the
study area both weekend and weekday to find out and measure the traffic volume with the
survey form. In the survey time we the group members are placed each station. Then we start
our survey together in time. In the weekend survey, we spent 1hr continuously. But, in the
weekday we surveyed 15 min cycle in 4 order. Thus, we have finished our traffic volume
survey.

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Methodology Diagram:

Conceptualization
Done by teacher
Selection of the topics
Selection criteria

1. Make trip by once vehicle

2. shares the Fare

Prepare tally form

Data collection
Selection of the temporary
station for surveying.
Calculation the traffic volume

Presentation by maps tabular from

and textual from

Analysis

Report writing

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METHODS FOR COUNTING TRAFFIC

VOLUME
(1) Mechanical counters
(2) Manual counts

(1) Mechanical counters: These may be either fixed type or portable type. The mechanical
counter can a u t o m a t i c a l l y r e c o r d t h e t o t a l n u m b e r o f v e h i c l e s c r o s s i n g a
s e c t i o n o f t h e r o a d i n a desired period. The working may be by the effect of impulses
or stimuli caused by traffic movement on a pneumatic hose placed across the roadway or by
using any other of sensor. T r a f f i c c o u n t i s r e c o r d e d b y e l e c t r i c a l l y o p e r a t e d
counters and recorders capable of recording the impulses. The impulses
c a u s e d b y v e h i c l e s o f l i g h t w e i g h t m a y n o t b e enough in some cases to actuate.
The main advantages of mechanical counter is that it can w o r k t h r o u g h o u t t h e d a y
a n d n i g h t f o r t h e d e s i r e d p e r i o d , r e c o r d i n g t h e t o t a l h o u r l y volume,
which may not be practicable in manual counting. The main drawback of the
mechanical counter is that it is not possible to get the traffic volumes of various classes
of traffic in the stream and the details of turning movements.

(2) Manual counts: This method employs a field team to record traffic volume on the
prescribed record sheets. By this method it is possible to obtain data which is not be
collected by mechanical counters, such as vehicle classification, turning movements and
counts where the loading condition or number of occupants are required. But it is
not practicable to have manual count for all the 24 hours of the day. Hence it is
necessary to resort to statically sampling techniques in order to cut down the manual
hours involved in talking complete counts, First the fluctuation of traffic volume
during the hours of day and the daily variations are observed. Then by selecting typical short
count period, the traffic volume study is made by manual counting. Then by statistical
analysis the peak hourly traffic volumes as well as the average daily traffic volumes are
calculated. This method is very commonly adopted due to the specific advantages over other
methods.
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Traffic Volume Survey

In our traffic volume survey we are assigned to survey the traffic volume of Moylapota
intersection. From the following method we follow the manual count method. Under this
method we arrange our working process into some steps.
The following steps ware performed for traffic volume study:
(1) Preparation of site layout
(2) Vehicle Count Survey
(3) Traffic Volume Survey Analysis
Analysis of Traffic Volume Composition
Hourly Variation of Traffic Volume in Vehicle/hr and PCU/hr(MODE WISE)
Hourly Variation of Traffic Volume in Vehicle/hr and PCU/hr
(direction wise)

(1) Preparation of site layout

After selection our study area we visit there and prepare a site layout map which is
given below:

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(2) Vehicle Count Survey: Volume Count data is as following -

Week end survey information:

Inbound Vehicle
Vehicle Type

Total

Rickshaw

324

372

120

340

142

1298

Rickshaw Van

53

68

48

110

19

298

Easy Bike

241

281

124

375

23

1044

Bicycle

193

143

56

185

56

633

Pushcart

12

19

Scooter

16

24

Carrier

Car

40

23

32

102

Micro Bus

21

35

63

SUV

15

29

Bus

Truck

Motor Cycle

218

175

92

133

61

679

Others

11

Total inbound vehicles

4215

Outbound Vehicle
Vehicle Type

Total

Rickshaw

130

248

315

341

250

1284

Rickshaw Van

42

37

88

65

29

261

Easy Bike

151

325

317

212

29

1034

Bicycle

109

125

156

142

74

606

Pushcart

18

Scooter

13

20
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Carrier

Car

33

28

32

101

Micro Bus

22

13

21

60

SUV

10

31

Bus

Truck

Motor Cycle

82

153

141

234

65

675

Others

10

Total outbound vehicles

4118

Vehicle per hour in week end = (4215 + 4118) or, 8333

Vehicle per day in week end = (8333 24) or, 199992
Week Day Survey Information:
Inbound Traffic
Vehicle Type

Total

Rickshaw

538

455

421

162

372

1948

Rickshaw Van

77

83

118

85

51

414

Easy Bike

426

307

313

100

95

1241

Bicycle

188

220

164

121

82

775

Pushcart

12

11

26

Scooter

17

38

Tralier

Car

68

83

30

18

19

218

Micro Bus

33

27

77

SUV

31

18

52

Bus

11

Truck

15

Motor Cycle

240

409

182

130

146

1107

Others

12

Total inbound vehicles

5943

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Out bound Traffic

Vehicle Type

Total

Rickshaw

327

201

165

430

241

1364

Rickshaw Van

91

110

99

67

47

414

Easy Bike

300

290

134

145

313

1182

Bicycle

197

168

137

112

212

826

Pushcart

15

Scooter

18

29

Tralier

18

Car

85

23

14

24

61

207

Micro Bus

28

14

57

SUV

20

12

39

Bus

10

Truck

10

10

28

Motor Cycle

347

150

143

101

220

961

Others

12

14

31

Total outbound vehicles

5181

Vehicle per hour in week day = ( 5943 + 5181) or, 11124

Vehicle per day in week day = (11124 24) or, 266976

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(3) Variation on traffic volume:

Variation on inbound traffic

Inbound Variation in traffic volume

11
12

Others

679

Motor Cycle

1107

Truck

4
15

Bus

8
11
29
52

SUV

63
77

Micro Bus

102

Car

218
3
9

Tralier
Scooter

24
38

Pushcart

19
26
633

Bicycle

775
1044

Easy Bike

1241
298

Rickshaw Van

414
1298

Rickshaw

1948
0

500

1000

1500

weekendTotal

weekday Total

2000

2500

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Variation on outbound traffic

Outbound Variation in traffic volume

10
31

Others

675

Motor Cycle

961
6
28

Truck

8
10

Bus

31
39

SUV

60
57

Micro Bus

101

Car

207

Tralier

4
18

Scooter

20
29

Pushcart

18
15
606

Bicycle

826
1034

Easy Bike

1182
261

Rickshaw Van

414
1284
1364

Rickshaw
0

200

400

600

weekendTotal

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

weekday Total

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Calculation of PCU:
Week end
Vehicles Types

Inbound

Outbound

Total

vehicles/hr

vehicles/hr

vehicles/hr

PCU values

Practical
Traffic
Capacity/hr

Rickshaw

1298

1284

2582

0.5

1291

Rickshaw Van

298

261

559

0.5

279.5

Easy Bike

1044

1034

2078

0.75

1558.5

Bicycle

633

606

1239

0.25

309.75

Pushcart

19

18

37

2.5

92.5

Scooter

24

20

44

0.4

17.6

Trailer

28

Car

102

101

203

203

Micro Bus

63

60

123

123

SUV

29

31

60

120

Bus

16

48

Truck

10

30

Motor Cycle

679

675

1354

0.4

541.6

Week day
Vehicles Types

Inbound

Outbound

Total

PCU

Practical

vehicles/hr

vehicles/hr

vehicles/hr

values

Traffic
Capacity/hr

Rickshaw

1948

1364

3312

0.5

1656

Rickshaw Van

414

414

828

0.5

414

Easy Bike

1241

1182

2423

0.75

1817.25

Bicycle

775

826

1601

0.25

400.25

Pushcart

26

15

41

2.5

102.5

Scooter

38

29

67

0.4

26.8
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Trailer

18

27

108

Car

218

207

425

425

Micro Bus

77

57

134

134

SUV

52

39

91

182

Bus

11

10

21

63

Truck

15

28

43

129

Motor Cycle

1107

961

2068

0.4

827.2

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3-D Image of Moylapota Intersection:

Top view

Side view
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Conclusion:
As a planner, we need information about traffic. We should have enough information to
design and manage road and traffic system. Generally, we use the information for planning
and designing traffic facilities, selecting geometric standards, economic analysis and
determination of priorities. We also use this to justify warrant of traffic control devices.
Sometimes we use this information to study the effectiveness of introduced schemes,
diagnosing given situations and finding appropriate solutions, forecasting the effects of
projected strategies, calibrating and validating traffic models. As we all know, transportation
system is a dynamic system. Information about traffic must be regularly updated to keep pace
with ever-changing transportation system. And traffic system can be called the heart of
transportation system. Again, traffic surveys are the means of obtaining information about
traffic. In our Traffic volume survey, we tried to have a look over total traffic at Moylapota
intersection. So, last of all, we can say that as a planning student, we all must acquire general
knowledge of traffic volume characteristics through traffic volume survey in order to measure
and understand the magnitude, composition, and time and route distribution of volume for
each area under his jurisdiction.

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References:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/51981259/Traffic-Volume-survey

http://www.scribd.com/doc/59266481/Report-on-Traffic-Volume-Study

http://www.123helpme.com/traffic-volume-study-view.asp?id=159706

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