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Free PTOE Practice Questions

10 free, exam-style Professional Traffic Operations Engineer (PTOE) (PTOE) practice questions with answers and explanations. No signup required. Work through them below, then take the full free PTOE practice test to study every exam domain.

The PTOE exam has 150 questions and runs 6 hours.

These 10 free PTOE questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Professional Traffic Operations Engineer (PTOE) blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.

Domain 1: Traffic Operations Analysis 18% of exam

Question 1

A signalized intersection approach has an average control delay of 62 seconds per vehicle, and every lane group is operating below capacity (v/c < 1.0). Using the Highway Capacity Manual, what is the level of service of this approach?

  1. LOS D
  2. LOS F
  3. LOS C
  4. LOS E
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: D - LOS E

Question 2

A basic freeway segment carries a flow rate of 1,500 pc/h/ln at an average speed of 50 mi/h. A colleague reports the segment as LOS C. What is the actual level of service?

  1. LOS C, because flow is well below capacity
  2. LOS B, because speed is near free-flow
  3. LOS E, because flow exceeds 1,400 pc/h/ln
  4. LOS D, because density is 30 pc/mi/ln
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: D - LOS D, because density is 30 pc/mi/ln

Question 3

Using Greenshields' linear speed-density model, a highway segment has a free-flow speed of 60 mi/h and a jam density of 200 veh/mi. What is the maximum flow (capacity) the model predicts?

  1. 6,000 veh/h
  2. 3,000 veh/h
  3. 12,000 veh/h
  4. 1,500 veh/h
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B - 3,000 veh/h

Question 4

A two-lane rural highway is being evaluated for level of service. An analyst applies the freeway density thresholds and reports a density of 22 pc/mi/ln as LOS C. What is the primary error in this analysis?

  1. Two-lane highway LOS is based on percent time-spent-following and average travel speed, not density
  2. LOS C corresponds to a density above 26 pc/mi/ln, so 22 pc/mi/ln should have been reported as LOS B
  3. The density value should have been rounded up to the next whole number before the LOS was assigned
  4. The free-flow speed must be added to the density value before the level of service can be assigned
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: A - Two-lane highway LOS is based on percent time-spent-following and average travel speed, not density

Domain 2: Operational Effects of Geometric Designs 21% of exam

Question 5

A minor road intersects a two-lane major road (design speed 45 mi/h, level grade). For a passenger car turning left from a stop, AASHTO uses a base time gap of 7.5 seconds. What intersection sight distance is required along the major road?

  1. About 330 ft
  2. About 496 ft
  3. About 675 ft
  4. About 248 ft
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B - About 496 ft

Question 6

An engineer must select a sight-distance criterion for a location where drivers approaching a complex freeway interchange must detect an unexpected exit, process conflicting information, and complete a lane-change maneuver. Which criterion is appropriate?

  1. Passing sight distance
  2. Stopping sight distance
  3. Decision sight distance
  4. Intersection sight distance
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: C - Decision sight distance

Question 7

Compared with a conventional four-leg intersection, which has 32 vehicle conflict points, how many vehicle conflict points does a single-lane roundabout have?

  1. 16
  2. 24
  3. 8
  4. 4
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: C - 8

Question 8

A horizontal curve on a rural highway has a design speed of 60 mi/h, a superelevation rate of 6%, and a side-friction factor of 0.12. Using the point-mass equation, what is the minimum radius (English units)?

  1. About 1,333 ft
  2. About 1,091 ft
  3. About 833 ft
  4. About 1,600 ft
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: A - About 1,333 ft

Domain 3: Traffic Safety 21% of exam

Question 9

A proposed intersection countermeasure has a crash modification factor (CMF) of 0.75. What does this value indicate?

  1. Crashes are expected to increase by 75%
  2. Crashes are expected to decrease by about 25%
  3. The countermeasure has no measurable effect on crashes
  4. Crashes are expected to decrease by 75%
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B - Crashes are expected to decrease by about 25%

Question 10

An intersection experienced 18 crashes over a 3-year study period, with a total entering volume of 25,000 vehicles per day. What is the crash rate expressed per million entering vehicles (MEV)?

  1. 0.44
  2. 0.66
  3. 1.97
  4. 0.24
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B - 0.66

The rest of the PTOE blueprint

The PTOE exam also covers these domains. Drill them in the full free practice test:

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