3rd Conference of Transportation Research Group of India (3rd CTRG)

Saturation Flow of Heterogeneous Traffic

At Signalized Intersections
Shubham Sehgala,*, Neelam J. Guptab,*, Subhash Chandc, S. Velumurugand
a

Shubham Sehgal, PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh, 160012, India, shubham.sehgal05@gmail.com

b
Neelam J. Gupta, Senior Scientist, CSIR-CRRI, New Delhi, 110025, India, neelamjn19@gmail.com
c
Subhash Chand, Principal Scientist, CSIR-CRRI, New Delhi, 110025, India, sbk.crri@nic.in
d
S. Velumurugan, Head & Senior Principal Scientist, CSIR-CRRI, New Delhi, 110025, India, Email ID
* Corresponding Author

ABSTRACT. Saturation flow rate is the maximum rate of flow of traffic during green phase at a
signalized intersection and this is an important parameter for the assessment of performance evaluation of
a signalized intersection. Eventually, it is used extensively in the design of signals and their performance
evaluation. Saturation flow is expressed as the number of passenger car units (PCU) of traffic flow per
hour in a dense flow conditions during saturated green intervals for a specific lane or lane-group or
approach of the intersection. Thus the signal design, capacity and performance of a signalized intersection
critically depend on and Passenger Car Unit (PCU) assigned to different vehicle types and thus this
phenomenon assumes more significance under heterogeneous traffic conditions as the traffic composition
plays a pivot role in the traffic discharge at a signalized intersection. In India the traffic is composed of
highly heterogeneous mix of vehicles and drivers dont follow traffic rules and lane discipline particularly
at the signalized intersections. It is noted in the literature that the traditional methods like the estimation
of average value of observed queue discharge and headways to estimate the saturation flow rate which are
mainly employed under homogeneous traffic conditions headway might lead to underestimation of the
saturation flow rate under the prevailing conditions of heterogeneous traffic on Indian roads. In this paper,
efforts have been made to develop appropriate methodology to calculate the PCU and saturation flow rate
accounting for heterogeneous traffic conditions prevalent in India. In the conclusion we find that the
saturation flow is directly dependent upon the traffic composition and the present guidelines by IRC lead
to either overestimation or underestimation of traffic.
Keywords: Signalized Intersection, Passenger Car Unit and Saturation Flow

Preamble
India is a developing country and its cities are undergoing rapid urbanization and in this
regard, the commensurate development of road network plays an important role in the
growth. India has large network of roads amounting to 4.8 million Kilometers
connecting length and breadth of the country through more than 42 Class I Cities
(Census-2011). Increasing urbanization is leading to the increase in the road traffic on
major metropolitan cities warranting the need for the creation of signalized
intersections. Adopting a model from an already developed country is not a feasible
solution to address the traffic heterogeneity as seldom lane based traffic is followed at
the intersections on Indian roads.

Literature Review
The traffic stream in developed countries mainly consists of cars and heavy vehicles
comprising of smaller proportion of buses and goods vehicles, which may be up to 20
%. On the other hand, in a developing country like India, road traffic in general and
urban roads traffic in particular is highly heterogeneous comprising of vehicles of
widely varying static and dynamic characteristics and the vehicles share the same road
space without any physical segregation. Expressing traffic volume as number of

3rd Conference of Transportation Research Group of India (3rd CTRG)

vehicles passing a given section of road per unit time will be inappropriate when the
vehicle types with widely varying static and dynamic characteristics are present in the
Indian road traffic. Passenger Car Units (PCUs) values are used to convert a traffic
stream composed of different vehicle types into an equivalent traffic stream with
standard passenger cars taken as the reference vehicle. Under homogeneous traffic
conditions the volume or capacity can be easily expressed in terms of PCU per hour per
lane. Since the pattern of occupancy of road space by vehicles under heterogeneous
traffic condition differs significantly from that of homogeneous traffic, the volume of
traffic has to be expressed taking the whole width of roadway as the basis, which entails
a little bit more complexity. Moreover, in India the vehicles tend to negotiate through
the lateral gap available between the vehicles so as to reach the head of the queue at the
signalized intersections.
Studies on Passenger Car Units (PCU) for the signalized intersections in India are
primarily carried out referring to IRC SP 41 (1994). This is because this is the only
authentic Indian guideline developed about two decades back for the design of at-grade
signalized intersections in rural and urban areas. The above code suggests PCU values
for different modes of traffic and their usages for design of grade intersections. The
studies done elsewhere reveals that the impacts of different light-duty trucks (LDTs) on
the capacity of signalized intersections were analyzed [1]. The Neural Network (NN)
approach for capturing the non-linear effects of traffic volume and its composition level
on the stream speed was explored [2]. An empirical study to determine the PCU of
different types of vehicles that reflected the actual traffic conditions of Dhaka
Metropolitan City was carried out [3]. The principal methods of measurement of
saturation flow and the selection of a proper method to measure saturation for the traffic
condition prevailing in developing countries was reviewed [4]. The flow rate method to
estimate the PCU values of motorized two wheelers was accomplished with the help of
a recently developed agent-based simulation model. The simulation of the movement
characteristics, which was capable of representing the pattern of movement of
motorized two wheelers, was also accomplished [5]. The existing basic methods for
saturation flow estimation were reviewed and their applicability for Indian traffic
streams was summarized [6]. The determination of PCU factor at mid-block section was
dealt using space headway method under Indian context [7]. There would be a need for
dynamic PCU instead of static PCU recommended by Indian Road Congress, IRC: SP41. Therefore based on the various methods reviewed, it would be prudent to deploy
dynamic PCU method. The saturation flow rate is a fundamental parameter to measure
the intersection capacity and time the traffic signals. Traditional saturation flow rate
estimation methods were mostly developed based on the assumption that the queue
discharge headway is a fairly constant and that the average headway estimated from the
first 4-to-10 or 4-to-12 vehicles is representative of the saturation headway meaning
every vehicle in a stable moving platoon consumes seconds [8,9]. However, variability
in queue discharge headways is addressed in more recent studies [10-19] and it is found
that traditional methods, which simply use the average of discharge headway to estimate
the saturation headway might lead to underestimate saturation flow rate. Errors in
saturation flow rates used to estimate vehicle delays carry over onto delay predictions
and level of service (LOS) predictions. Therefore, it is necessary to study and to
improve accuracy of the estimation of saturation flow rate.
Keeping in mind the above reviewed literature and the prevailing traffic conditions on
the Indian roads, a different approach has to be adopted. In this regard, it was felt to

Sehgal, J. Gupta, Chand and Velumurugan

3rd Conference of Transportation Research Group of India (3rd CTRG)

prudent to calculate the PCUs based on the field data as the foremost step. In this paper,
efforts have been made to calculate the dynamic PCU of different vehicle types based
on its clearance time and the area occupied by the individual vehicle assuming that
performance of signalized intersection depend on space and time occupancy of the
vehicles in the traffic stream at the signalized intersection area. The traffic flow at
signalized intersection was captured through Videography. The clearance time data was
decoded from video data and area occupied by different vehicles in the stream was
calculated from their physical dimensions. Based on this, a unique methodology was
developed to calculate the dynamic PCU and saturation flow for heterogeneous traffic
conditions in India.

Study Area
Ten approaches of three 4-arm signalized intersections were selected for the present
study having different approach widths ranging from 6.4m to 11.5m. Intersections
selected for this study are right angle intersections and have level gradient on all
approaches and least interference to entry or exit traffic due to pedestrians, bus stops,
parked vehicles, etc. (figure 1). All the approaches of the intersections reach saturated
stage for major part of the green interval at almost each phase during peak hour, as
traffic flow is very heavy. The traffic does not follow lane discipline and consists of
more than 12 different types of vehicles varying in speed and sizes. The candidatesignalized intersections considered include:
1- Stadium Chowk, Noida,
2- NTPC Chowk, Noida
3- DTC Depot Chowk, Dwarka, New Delhi.

Stadium Chowk, Noida

NTPC Chowk, Noida

DTC Depot Chowk, Dwarka

Figure 1: View of Study Intersection.

Sehgal, J. Gupta, Chand and Velumurugan

3rd Conference of Transportation Research Group of India (3rd CTRG)

Study Methodology
Literature review reveals the ideal base conditions for capacity analysis for signalized
intersections would be uniform traffic and lane driving. US-Highway Capacity Manual
(US-HCM) provides a basis for the capacity analysis based on saturation flow which is
further based on headway measurement at the stop line during saturated flow conditions
for these ideal conditions [9]. Later on different adjustment factors were applied for
different influencing factors. But such an approach is not feasible for the Indian road
and traffic conditions. Most of the solution offered by the Traffic Engineers worldwide
has very less adaptability for the Indian traffic, so we need a completely new outlook to
this major problem.
The solution proposed in this paper is to measure the saturation flow in the field by
measuring the classified traffic flow at the stop line during the green phase at 5 second
interval. Also various factors like width of road, composition of traffic, cycle length,
green phase etc. are also measured so that their impact on the saturation flow is studied.
In order to address the variability in flow due to heterogeneous traffic initial PCU
values are assigned and dynamic PCU value is calculated. Unsaturated intervals of 5second flow were neglected from the database based on flow of previous saturated 5second interval. The systematic flow chart of methodology of this research work is
depicted in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Flow Chart of Study Methodology.

Sehgal, J. Gupta, Chand and Velumurugan

3rd Conference of Transportation Research Group of India (3rd CTRG)

PCUi = Passenger Car Unit of vehicle type i

Ai = Area of ith vehicle
Ac = Area of passenger car
Vi = Average clearing speed of vehicle type i in m/s
Vc = Average clearing speed of car in m/s
tc = Average clearing time of car in sec
ti = Average clearing time of vehicle type i in sec.
Xn = Nth 5-second interval
First step in this direction is the collection of data by Videography method. Following
guidelines were followed while selecting the candidate intersections for data collection.

No bus stop in the approach length up to 100 m.

No parking in the approach, upstream or downstream up to 100 m.

No separate phase for the pedestrians.

Should be well-channelized intersection preferably with exclusive / free left

turning provision.

Roads should cross at 90 degree.

Flat Gradient

Care to be exercised to record the traffic data for a minimum of 2 to 4 hours

during peak period from a suitable height with an aim to cover the entire
intersection. More than one camera may be used if suitable vantage point is not
available.
Traffic data collected at the candidate intersection would encompass the various
parameters like field traffic flow patterns (i.e. traffic volume) of different turning
movements, traffic composition, and speed / clearance time of different vehicles at each
phase of the signal at different approaches of the signalized intersections. In this regard,
enumeration of the turning movement data was accomplished by deploying a portable
digital video camera mounted at a height of 6 m at the opposite island or median or at a
vantage point at the corner of the intersection so as to cover the designated approach.
The camera was so positioned so as capture view of the approach road from its
corresponding exit line i.e. line joining ends of channelizing islands of both the Straight
Traffic (SH) and Right Turning (RT) movements up to about 10 m inside the Stop Line
on the subject approach as shown in Figure 2. Traffic flow were recorded using the
above video camera setup on a typical working day covering the morning and evening
period from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon and from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm respectively. The
recorded traffic data was retrieved in the laboratory for each turning movement during
each green phase of approach categorized into six vehicle types namely, Small car (up
to 1400), Big Car (beyond 1400 cc), motorized Two-Wheeler, Three-Wheeler, Light
Commercial Vehicle (LCV) and Heavy Commercial Vehicle (HCVs included Buses
and all normal Goods Vehicles).
In addition, the signal timing for each phase of each approach was noted manually for
all the intersections. Roadway condition and operational data for different approaches of
all the selected intersections are given in Table 1.

Sehgal, J. Gupta, Chand and Velumurugan

3rd Conference of Transportation Research Group of India (3rd CTRG)

Table 1: Roadway condition and operational data.

Intersection

Stadium
Chowk
( Noida )
NTPC Chowk
( Noida )
DTC Depot
Chowk,
Dwarka
( New Delhi )

Spice mall ( NB )
Noida Mor (SB )
DND ( EB )

9.0
6.4
10.3

Cycl
e
time
(s)
127
127
127

Chora Mor ( WB )
GIP ( EB )
Ghaziabad ( WB )

9.8
11.0
11.0

Dabri Ext. (WB)

Dwarka sec 10 (EB)
Madhu Vihar (SB)
Palam Vihar (NB)

Traffic Approach
From

Width
(m)

Green Ambe
time r Time

Red
Time

30
25
30

3
3
3

94
99
94

127
187
187

30
60
60

3
3
3

94
124
124

11.5

140

30

106

10.5
10.7
10.0

140
140
140

30
45
30

4
4
4

106
91
106

Data Analysis
Data analysis of various traffic characteristics such as traffic volume, traffic
composition, peak hour traffic volume, peak hour factor and traffic composition etc.
was done for each turning movement, each approach and intersection as a whole for the
candidate intersection. There were no specific lanes marked for Right Turning (RT) or
Straight Through (ST) vehicles. The recorded films were replayed in the laboratory on a
large screen in order to retrieve the required data information for the study.
Vehicle count was made at every five second interval during each green time in each
signal cycle for each individual approaches of the intersection. Also clearance time was
recorded at every five second interval in each green time on sample basis during each
signal cycle at all the approaches covering different vehicle types. The clearance time
was recorded as the time difference when the front bumper of the vehicle entered the
intersection and the rear bumper of the vehicle left the intersection. Based on the sample
data, the average clearance time for each vehicle types in each cycle was determined.
Passenger Car Unit (PCUs) recommended by IRC:SP-41 as shown in Table 2 were used
to convert the traffic flow into PCUs.
Table 2: PCU as per IRC: SP-41.
Vehicle Type
PCU

Small Car
1.0

Big Car
1.0

2W
0.5

3W
1.0

LCV
1.5

HCV
4.5

The areas of different vehicle types were considered on an average scale by accounting
for the range of vehicle brands cutting across varying vehicle sizes under each vehicle
type. Table 3 presents a summary of the areas of different vehicle types deduced
deploying the above analogy.

Sehgal, J. Gupta, Chand and Velumurugan

3rd Conference of Transportation Research Group of India (3rd CTRG)

Table 3 Vehicle Dimensions of Different Vehicle Types.

S. No.
Y

Vehicle Category

1.

Average Dimension (m)

Projected Rectangular
Area (m)

Physical
Rectangular Area
Ratio, Ai/Ac

Length (m)

Width (m)

Small Car

3.72

1.44

5.36

1.00

2.

Big Car

4.58

1.77

8.11

1.33

3.

Two Wheeler
Two Axle / Multi
Axle Truck

1.87

0.64

1.20

0.21

7.5

2.35

17.63

5.

Bus

10.1

2.43

24.54

3.06

6.

Three Wheeler

3.2

1.4

4.48

0.78

7.

LCV

6.1

2.1

12.81

1.39

4.

3.06

An important part of the study is to calculate dynamic PCU for each signal cycle. It is
calculated by taking time occupancy of Car to Vehicle to Space ratio of Car to Vehicle
at the intersection shown in following formula [20]. Here standard car is taken as
reference vehicle.
.Equation.1
These dynamic PCU values are used to get the total flow rate of vehicles as follows:
Xn = PCUi * Zi

.Equation.2

Where, Zi is vehicle count

The saturation period has been evaluated by minimizing the following absolute standard
error:
-2=<Xn-X2<=2
Here Xn represents the nth 5-second interval and X2 represents the second interval i.e. the
interval between 5 seconds to 10 seconds and on till the end of the phase time. The
above interval class and error minimization technique was selected to minimize the
error, which is likely to accrue due to the following scenarios commonly noted on the
Indian roads:

Non - adherence to the lane based movement on the Indian roads.

The lead vehicles in the queue seldom follow the practice of stopping behind the
zebra crossing.

Due to the tendency exhibited by the two wheeler riders to squeeze through the
available space by driving their vehicles in between the lanes of the queue and
thereby become the leaders of the pack in the queue.

Vehicles invariably tend to start the crossing maneuver at the intersection when
there are still some seconds left at the red interval.

By considering the successive 5-second interval of the green time, the intervals
wherein the saturation had occurred would be duly accounted for. For those 5second time intervals for which the saturation flow had actually taken place, the
maximum flow limit, which is equal to the flow as per dynamic PCU, can be
deduced. Thus the Saturation flow for this saturation period was thus calculated.

Sehgal, J. Gupta, Chand and Velumurugan

3rd Conference of Transportation Research Group of India (3rd CTRG)

During this analysis, it is assumed that the clearance time as the average clearance time
for all vehicle types in that cycle. Later, this assumption was validated and it was found
this holds fairly true when the clearance time for each 5 second interval was determined.
This was validated by considering another candidate intersection namely the Choda Mor
approach of the Stadium Chowk, Noida and the results were deduced by deploying both
methods i.e. one average value for whole cycle and the second being average value for
each 5 second interval (Table 4). It can be noted from Table 4 that there is negligible
difference between the saturation flow values determined using both the methods.
Therefore, the hypothesis of assuming a single average value of the clearance time for a
cycle holds true.
Table 4: Comparison of Clearance Time for 5 second interval and
Average of Whole Cycle.
Method

Saturation Flow per hour (as per Dynamic PCU)

Clearing time of every 5

second interval
Average clearing time for
whole cycle

5499
5571

Thus, it can be stated one can solve all the calculations by using the average clearance
time for a particular class of vehicle for the whole cycle length.
Classified average saturation flow for combined through (TH) and Right Turning (RT)
movements of different approaches of the selected intersections were converted into
Passenger car unit (PCU) by multiplying the respective PCU factors estimated in this
study with the number of vehicles of the category in order to derive average saturation
flow in PCU per hour green. Same procedure was used to calculate saturation flow in
PCU per hour green by using PCU values from IRC SP-41 also for comparison purpose.
The data size consists of 20 cycles for any arm of the intersection during the peak hour
duration. Saturation intervals and the saturation flows for those time interval were the
average of all the saturation flow for a particular arm to get the average saturation flow
for that arm. The data was analyzed by applying dynamic PCU values based on average
clearance time of the cycle then minimizing the error and calculate saturation flow
period and saturation flow in those for each approach of each intersection.
In order to optimize the long range of saturation flow values for its average, the values
of Saturation flow observed in each 5 sec time period which lie within the range of,
[0.9*(SIRC)] <= SCAL <= [1.25(SIRC)]
That is from 90% to 125% values of SIRC are considered and their average is considered
as the saturation flow for that approach.
The data for all the three intersection has been compiled and presented in Table 5, 6 and
7 for different approaches.

Sehgal, J. Gupta, Chand and Velumurugan

3rd Conference of Transportation Research Group of India (3rd CTRG)

Table 5: Saturation Flow at different approaches of Stadium Chowk,

Noida.
Approach
Name

Approach
Width

Choda
Mor

9.8

DND

10.3

Noida Mor

Gree
n
Time
(In
secon
d)

Degre
e
of
Satura
tion(in
%)

Small
Car %

Big
Car %

Two
Whee
ler %

Three
Wheele
r%

LCV
%

HCV
%

Saturati
on
Flow/Hr
(as per
IRC)

4840

Saturat
ion
Flow/H
r (as
per
Dynami
c PCU)
5571

Saturatio
n
Flow/Hr/
lane(as
per
Dynamic
PCU)*
2046

30

76.31

50.24

7.11

24.17

5.21

13.27

30

70.2

43.84

4.45

35.27

4.45

0.68

11.3

4986

5928

2072

25

75

25.58

22.09

36.05

4.65

11.63

3156

3509

1974

30

55.55

26.67

21.11

44.44

6.67

1.11

4293

4987

1995

6.4
Spice Mall
9.0

*We have considered lane width equal to 3.6 m for the calculation of Saturation flow/Hr/Lane
It is observed that at the Choda Mor approach of the Stadium Chowk intersection there
is high percentage of heavy vehicle i.e. nearly 13.27%, thus saturation flow per dynamic
PCU/Hr is higher than flow as per IRC guidelines. Similarly at DND approach of the
intersection saturation flow in dynamic PCU/Hr is higher than that as per IRC due to
presence of heavy vehicles. At the Noida Mor leg of the intersection there is
considerable amount of heavy traffic leading to higher saturation flow in dynamic PCU
than that as per IRC guidelines by considerable amount. In the Spice Mall leg of the
intersection nearly 21% of the traffic is due to big car. Though a higher percentage of
two wheelers is present but big car play a dominating role in saturation flow calculation.
It is found that the PCU value of two wheelers from Dynamic method is far less than its
corresponding IRC PCU value and also for big car Dynamic PCU has value higher than
IRC guidelines.
It is found that higher percentage of two wheeler reduce the per lane saturation flow in
Dynamic PCU for an approach while higher percentage of heavy vehicle increase the
saturation flow per lane. In fact Dynamic PCU flow rate is directly related to the
composition of the traffic at the approach during a green signal phase.
Table 6: Saturation Flow at different approaches of NTPC Chowk, Noida.
Approach
Name

Approach
Width

Green
Time
(In
second
)

Degree
of
Saturat
ion (in
%)

Small
Car
%

Big
Car
%

Two
Whee
ler %

Three
Wheeler
%

LCV
%

HCV
%

Saturat
ion
Flow/H
r (as
per
IRC)

Ghaziabad

11.0

60

63.2

55.28

13.25

20.70

9.32

0.83

0.62

GIP

11.0

60

65.41

59.58

9.84

20.52

7.23

1.26

1.47

*we have considered lane width equal to 3.6 m for the calculation of Saturation flow/Hr/Lane

Sehgal, J. Gupta, Chand and Velumurugan

Saturation
Flow/Hr/
lane*

6190

Saturat
ion
Flow/H
r (as
per
Dynami
c PCU)
5970

6235

6271

2052

1954

3rd Conference of Transportation Research Group of India (3rd CTRG)

At NTPC intersection it is observed that there is no major difference in the saturation

flow rates by both the methods for the Ghaziabad approach. The major composition of
the traffic is due to small car (More than 50%) whose PCU value have been assumed to
be one in Dynamic PCU method and by the IRC guidelines. Also small percentage of
heavy vehicles is observed at this approach. In the GIP approach of the intersection
there is not much of difference due to dynamic and IRC PCU. It may be due to presence
of high percentage of small cars whose PCU value is one in both the cases. Also two
wheelers and HCV are present in noticeable amount.
Table 7: Saturation Flow at different approaches of DTC Depot Chowk, Dwarka,
New Delhi.
Approach
Name

Palam Vihar
Madhu Vihar
Dwarka
Sector-10
Dabri Ext.

Appr
oach
Widt
h

10.0
10.7

Green
Time
(In
second
s)

Degree
of
Satura
tion (in
%)

Small
Car %

Big
Car
%

Two
Wheele
r%

Three
Wheele
r%

LCV
%

HCV
%

Saturation
Flow/Hr
(as per
IRC)

Saturatio
n
Flow/Hr/
lane*

6503

Saturatio
n
Flow/Hr
(as per
Dynamic
PCU)
5723

30

62.7

34.35

8.7

42.17

7.83

3.04

3.91

45

74

20.21

3.28

54.75

7.25

1.90

5.01

7206

6194

2083

30

64.4

68.03

8.84

10.88

10.20

0.68

1.36

5410

5450

1869

30

75

55.045
3.03

18.94

18.18

4.55

03.03

2.27

5820

6374

1995

2060

10.7

11.5

*we have considered lane width equal to 3.6 m for the calculation of Saturation flow/Hr/Lane
From the above table we may conclude that at the Palam Vihar approach, the observed
saturation flow by dynamic PCU is less than that by IRC guidelines. This is due to
presence of nearly 42% of two wheelers in the traffic. Similarly in the Madhu Vihar leg
of the intersection, the observed saturation flow in dynamic PCU is less than the one
calculated by IRC guidelines even though there is presence of heavy traffic, because
nearly 54%of the traffic is composed of two wheelers. Due to this large percentage of
two wheelers, it plays a dominating role in changing the saturation flow. At Dwarka
Sector-10 approach the calculated value for saturation flow is slightly higher due to
presence of 64,4% small car in the traffic volume. We get almost comparable saturation
flow values from both the methods. For Dabri Extension we observe higher saturation
flow than that by IRC due to presence of nearly 19% of big car in the traffic
composition. Having a higher value than small car this brings bout change in the
saturation flow.
Table 8: Dynamic PCU values.
Class of
Vehicle
Dynamic
PCU range

Small
Car
1

Big Car
1.10 -1.60

Two
Wheeler
0.13 0.26

Three
Wheeler
0.62 0.95

Sehgal, J. Gupta, Chand and Velumurugan

LCV

HCV

1.5 2.20

3 4.9

3rd Conference of Transportation Research Group of India (3rd CTRG)

Conclusion and Recommendations

The study clearly emphasize the need for the estimation of PCU values based on actual
field studies at the signalised intersections as it is found to vary considerably as
compared to PCU values provided in IRC:SP-41in most of the cases. The estimated
PCU values provided both higher and lower values of saturation flow from the ones we
have from IRC-PCU values. In most of the cases the variation in saturation flow can be
explained by estimating PCU by clearance time, but in some cases it is not able to
justify the variation of saturation flow during different saturated green phases of the
same approach which may attribute due to its sensitivity of varying composition of
traffic during the different green phases of signal. It is found that higher percentage of
two wheeler reduce the per lane saturation flow in Dynamic PCU for an approach while
higher percentage of heavy vehicle increase the saturation flow per lane. In fact
Dynamic PCU flow rate is directly related to the composition of the traffic at the
approach during a green signal phase. Also presence of big car also influences the
saturation flow. Refer to table 8 for dynamic PCU values.
It affirms that PCU values at signalised intersections are highly dynamic and further
emphasises the need for the estimation of PCU values based on different comprehensive
approach. Further studies based on comprehensive data is needed to establish reliable
model
for general application, especially for varying geometric, traffic and
environmental conditions. This study can be used as a baseline for further research work
on analysis of traffic flow at signalized intersection in Delhi as well as in other cities of
India to further develop and update the derived relationship between saturation flow
and approach width, percentage of different classes of vehicles etc. Studying the affect
of approach width on the saturation flow is beyond the scope of this paper. Saturation
flow based on entire width is expected to provide better understanding of relationship,
particularly in India where traffic highely hetrogeneous and there is no lane discipline.
More intersections located in different parts of the city with different approach widths
and varying traffic characteristics, be studied for further refinement and updation of
present models.

Acknowledgement
The authors are grateful to Director CSIR CRRI to accord his permission to publish this
paper. The authors are grateful to CSIR for sponsoring the main study titled,
Development of Indian Highway Capacity Manual (Indo-HCM) as the outputs of this
research would be directly applicable for the main study.

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