الجـامعــــــــــت اﻹســـــﻻميــت – غــزة The Islamic University–Gaza عمادة البحث العلمي والذراساث العليا Research and Postgraduate Deanship كـليــــــــــــــــــــت الهىذســــــــــــــــــت Faculty of Engineering ماجستيــــر هىذســـــــــــت مذويــــــــت -Master of Civil Engineering بىيـــــــــــــت تحتيـــــــــــــــت Infrastructure A Study to Establish Traffic Statistical Records in Gaza City, Palestine دراست ﻹوشاء سجل إحصائي لحركت المرور في مذيىت غزة، فلسطيه Basma Fouad Bashbash Supervised by Dr. Yahya Rushdi Sarraj Associate Professor of Transportation A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Civil Engineering, Infrastructure October 2017 إقــــــــــــــرار .1 أوا المىقع أدواي مقذم الرسالت التي تحمل العىىان: A Study to Establish Traffic Statistical Records in Gaza City, Palestine دراست ﻹوشاء سجل إحصائي لحركت المرور في مذيىت غزة، فلسطيه ألش بأٌ يا اشخًهج ػهّٛ ْزِ انشسانت إًَا ْٕ َخاج خٓذ٘ انخاص، باسخثُاء يا حًج اﻹشاسة إنّٛ حٛثًا ٔسد، ٔأٌ ْزِ انشسانت ككم أٔ أ٘ خزء يُٓا نى ٚمذو يٍ لبم اٜخشٍٚ نُٛم دسخت أٔ نمب ػهًٙ أٔ بحثٙ نذٖ أ٘ يؤسست حؼهًٛٛت أٔ بحثٛت أخشٖ. ٔأٌ حمٕق انُشش يحفٕظت نهدايؼت اﻹسﻻيٛت – غزة. Declaration I hereby certify that this submission is the result of my own work, except where otherwise acknowledged, and that this thesis (or any part of it) has not been submitted for a higher degree or quantification to any other university or institution. All copyrights are reserves to IUG. اسى انطانب: بسًت فؤاد حسٍٛ بشبش :Student's name انخٕلٛغ: :Signature انخاسٚخ: :Date I Abstract Most countries of the world are largely concerned in producing and publishing statistics in almost all aspects of life. There is a particular attention to conduct traffic statistics because of its great importance in the planning and design of various facilities of transport and communication services. In Gaza city, traffic statistics are currently limited and are only performed at locations where a problem exists and funding is available to solve this problem. The current methods used to collect traffic data in Gaza do not provide a good and valuable coverage of the required traffic information for decision making and planning. It is crucial to produce a plan for the development of traffic statistics. The study includes a guide for the location of counting stations on the roads and intersections of Gaza city. Also it suggests the best periods for traffic counts and data collection. Finally, it discusses the methods of publication, such as traffic reports, which present results in the simplest way through tables, figures and infographic (pie charts, line charts and maps). In order to provide a working example of how to use the suggested plan, it was applied on two case studies; analysis of traffic data of Al-Jala'a Street and Al-Saraya Road Intersection. Two traffic statistics reports were prepared. Both reports include an introduction, summary description, summary traffic statistics, analysis, conclusions, and recommendations. Keywords: Transportation statistics, traffic counts, traffic flow, count stations, traffic report, Gaza, Palestine. II الملخص يؼظى دٔل انؼانى حٓخى بُشش اﻹحظاءاث فٙ خًٛغ خٕاَب انحٛاة، ٔنكٍ ُْان اْخًاو خاص فٙ يدال اﻹحظاءاث انًشٔسٚت نًا نٓا يٍ أًْٛت كبٛشة فٙ انخخطٛظ ٔانخظًٛى نهطشق. إٌ إحظاءاث حشكت انًشٔس فٙ يذُٚت غزة يحذٔدة حانٛاً. حخى فمظ فٙ حال حٕفش حًٕٚم نحم يشكهت يشٔسٚت ػهٗ احذٖ انطشق أٔ انخماطؼاث. إٌ اﻷسانٛب انحانٛت انًسخخذيت ندًغ انبٛاَاث انًشٔسٚت فٙ يذُٚت غزة ﻻ حٕفش حغطٛت خٛذة ٔراث لًٛت نهؼًهٕياث انًطهٕبت ػٍ حشكت انًشٔس. ٔنكٙ َخًكٍ يٍ اسخخذاو إحظاءاث انًشٔس فٙ انخخطٛظ نخطٕٚش ٔطٛاَت شبكت انطشق ٔانخماطؼاث فٙ يذُٚت غزة، يٍ انضشٔس٘ ٔضغ خطت نخطٕٚش إحظاءاث حشكت انًشٔس. حخضًٍ انذساست دنٛﻻ نًٕالغ يحطاث انؼذ ػهٗ انطشق ٔانخماطؼاث فٙ يذُٚت غزة، ٔحمخشذ أٚضا أفضم انفخشاث انزيُٛت نهؼذ انًشٔس٘. ٔحُالش أسانٛب يخخهفت نُشش انبٛاَاث انًشٔسٚت، يثﻻً انُشش يٍ خﻻل انخماسٚش انًشٔسٚت، ٔانخٙ حمذو انُخائح فٙ أبسظ طٕسة يٍ خﻻل انشسٕو انبٛاَٛت ٔانظٕس. ٔبشكم ػًهٙ ﻻسخخذاو انخطت انًمخشحت، حى حطبٛمٓا ػهٗ حانخٍٛ دساسٛخٍٛ؛ ححهٛم بٛاَاث حشكت انًشٔس فٙ شاسع اندﻻء ٔحماطغ انسشاٚا. ٔحى إػذاد حمشٚشػ ٍٍٚ اﻻحظاءاث يشٔسٚت. ٚخضًٍ انخمشٚش يمذيت ػٍ انطشٚك أٔ انخماطغ، يمطغ ػشضٙ ٔٔطف نًٕلغ ٔٔظٛفت انطشٚك أٔ انخماطغ، يهخض إحظاءاث حشكت انًشٔس، ححهٛم انبٛاَاث انًشٔسٚت انًخٕفشة، َخائح ححهٛم انبُٛاث يغ ػًم يماسَاث بٍٛ انمٛى انًسخُخدت، ٔأخٛشا انخٕطٛاث. كلماث مفتاحيت: اﻻحظاء انًشٔس٘، انؼذ انًشٔس٘، انخذفك انًشٔس٘، يحطاث انؼذ، انخمشٚش انًشٔس٘، غزة، فهسطٍٛ III Dedication To my parents "Fouad and Linda", who gave me life twice, once when I was born, and again when they supported me on my scientific trip … To my brothers, Hussein, Mahmoud, Ibrahim and Ahmed, and my sisters, Munira and Yasmine … To my aunt … Doria, Gamalat and Munira To my teachers, along my academic trip … To my country, Palestine, united Palestine … I dedicate this work. IV Acknowledgment First of all, all thanks and appreciations go to Allah for His unlimited blessings and for giving me the strength to complete this study. I would like to express my deep acknowledgement to everyone who helped me finish this work, especially Dr Yahya R. Sarraj, my thesis supervisor, who always gave me spiritual support and technical guidance during the research work. I would thank Gaza Municipality and the Ministry of Transport in Gaza for providing data related to research, My thanks to the discussion committee instructors Dr Alaeddinne D. EL Jamassi and Dr Tamer A. Eshtawi who honored me with their valuable discussion. My appreciation is also extended to the IUG for giving me the opportunity to carry out this study. Furthermore, great thanks are also to my colleagues and lecturers in the Engineering Faculty and the Civil Engineering Department in particular for their continual encouragement and support. Finally, thanks to all Governmental and non-governmental institutions which provided me with valuable information and figures. Also Students who helped in the traffic count. V Table of Contents Declaration………….…………………………………..……………… I Abstract…………………………………………………….………… II Abstract in Arabic……………………………………………..…….. III Dedication…………………………………………………………….. IV Acknowledgment…………………………………………………….... V Table of Contents…………………………………………..………… VI List of Tables……………………………………..…………………… X List of Figures……………………………………………..……….… XI List of Abbreviations………………………………………………. XIV Chapter 1 ……………………………………………………..…….. 1 1.1 Background and Context ...................................................................... 1 1.2 Study Area ............................................................................................. 2 1.3 Scope and Objectives ............................................................................ 4 1.4 Signification ........................................................................................... 5 1.5 Limitations ............................................................................................. 5 1.6 Methodology .......................................................................................... 6 1.7 Overview of Thesis ................................................................................ 7 Chapter 2 ……………………………………………………………… 9 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................... 9 2.2 Transportation Statistics Studies ......................................................... 9 2.2.1 In Developed Countries ………………………………………… 9 2.2.2 In Developing Countries ……………………………………… 14 VI 2.3 General Specifications for Traffic Counts ………………………...18 2.4 Counting Characteristics .................................................................... 19 2.4.1 Hourly Patterns ………………………………………………… 20 2.4.2 Daily Patterns ………………………………………………….. 21 2.4.3 Monthly and Yearly Patterns ………………………………….. 21 2.5 Automatic Counts Method ................................................................. 22 2.5.1 Specialized Cameras for Traffic Counting ……………………. 23 2.5.2 Transportation Monitoring and Management Software ………. 24 2.5.2.1 Smart Traffic Analyzer (STA) software ………………………. 24 2.6 Summary …………………………………………………..………..26 Chapter 3 ……………………………………………………………... 28 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 28 3.2 Background of Gaza City ................................................................... 28 3.2.1 History ………………………………………………………… 28 3.2.2 Geography …………………………………………………… 29 3.2.3 Population …………………………………………………….. 29 3.3 Road Hierarchy System ...................................................................... 29 3.4 Modes of Transportation .................................................................... 29 3.5 Road Network Pattern in Gaza City ................................................. 30 3.5.1 Arterial Roads in Gaza City ……………………………….….. 31 3.5.2 Main Streets in Gaza City …………………………………….. 32 3.5.3 Local Streets in Gaza City……………………………………... 34 3.6 Road Intersections ............................................................................... 35 3.6.1 Types of Intersection Based on Movement Priorities …………. 36 3.7 Description of Selected Elements of Transportation in Gaza ......... 40 3.7.1 Salah Al-Deen Road ………………………………………….. 40 3.7.2 Omar El Mukhtar Street ………………………………………. 42 3.7.3 Ansar Intersection…………………………………………….. 43 VII 3.8 Summary ……………………………..……………………………..44 Chapter 4 ……………………………………………………………... 45 4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 45 4.2 Current Situation of Traffic Statistics in Gaza City ...................... 45 4.3 Sources