|
Capacity is defined as the maximum number of vehicles, passengers, or the
like, per unit time, which can be accommodated under given conditions with a
reasonable expectation of occurrence.
Some of the observations that are found from this definition can be now
discussed.
Capacity is independent of the demand.
It speaks about the physical amount of vehicles and passengers a road can
afford.
It does not depend on the total number of vehicles demanding service.
On the other hand, it depends on traffic conditions, geometric design of the
road etc.
For example, a curved road has lesser capacity compared to a straight road.
Capacity is expressed in terms of units of some specific thing (car, people,
etc.), so it also does depend on the traffic composition.
In addition, the capacity analysis depends on the environmental conditions too.
Capacity is a probabilistic measure and it varies with respect to time and position.
Hence it is not always possible to completely derive analytically the capacity.
In most cases it is obtained, through field observations.
|
|
