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Spot Speed Studies

Spot speed studies are conducted to estimate the distribution of vehicle speeds at specific highway locations. The studies involve recording speeds of sample vehicles and analyzing the data to determine values like average, median, modal and 85th percentile speeds. These speed studies are used to establish speed limits and zones, evaluate highway designs, and analyze the impacts of traffic improvements and enforcement programs.

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Arvin Jay Alvinda
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175 views10 pages

Spot Speed Studies

Spot speed studies are conducted to estimate the distribution of vehicle speeds at specific highway locations. The studies involve recording speeds of sample vehicles and analyzing the data to determine values like average, median, modal and 85th percentile speeds. These speed studies are used to establish speed limits and zones, evaluate highway designs, and analyze the impacts of traffic improvements and enforcement programs.

Uploaded by

Arvin Jay Alvinda
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Spot Speed Studies

➢ Conducted to estimate the distribution of speeds of vehicles in a


stream of traffic at a particular location on a highway.
➢ Uses to establish parameters for traffic operation and control:
✓Establish speed zones
✓Determine whether complaints about speeding are valid
✓Establish passing and no-passing zones
✓Design geometric alignment
✓Analyze accident data
✓Evaluate the effects of physical improvements
✓Determine the effects of speed enforcement programs and speed
control measures
✓Determine speed trends
Locations for Spot Speed Studies
Depend on the anticipated use of the
results
1) Locations that represent different traffic
conditions on a highway or highways are used
for basic data collection.
2) Mid-blocks of urban highways and straight, level
sections of rural highways are sites for speed
trend analysis.
3) Any location may be used for the solution of a
specific traffic engineering problem.
Methods for Conducting Spot Speed Studies:
ROAD DETECTORS
➢ Classified into two general categories: pneumatic road tubes (air
pneumatic road tubes impulse) and induction loops (electric resonance circuit).
➢ Devices can be used to collect data on speeds at the same time as
volume data are being collected.
➢ The advantage of the detector meters is that human errors are
considerably reduced.
➢ The disadvantages are :
inductive loop
o these devices tend to be rather expensive, and
o when pneumatic tubes are used, they are rather conspicuous
and may, therefore, affect driver behavior, resulting in a
distortion of the speed distribution.
Methods for Conducting Spot Speed Studies:
Doppler-Principle Meters
➢ Work on the principle that when a signal is transmitted onto a
moving vehicle, the change in frequency between the transmitted
signal and the reflected signal is proportional to the speed of
the moving vehicle.
➢ The difference between the frequency of the transmitted signal
and that of the reflected signal is measured by the equipment,
and then converted to speed in mph or kph.

RADAR/LIDAR
Technology
Methods for Conducting Spot Speed Studies:
Electronic-Principle Meters
➢ The presence of vehicles is detected through electronic means,
and information on these vehicles is obtained, from which traffic
characteristics such as speed, volume, queues, and headways are
computed.
➢ Not necessary to physically install loops or any other type of
detector on the road.
➢ Electronics is video image processing, sometimes referred to as a
machine-vision system.
Autoscope
Systems
SPOT SPEED
• Spot Speed studies are conducted to estimate
the distribution of speeds of vehicles in a stream
of traffic at a particular location on a highway.
• A spot speed study is carried out by recording
the speeds of a sample of vehicles at specified
location.
Note: It will be valid only for the traffic and
environmental conditions that exist at the time of
study.
• Establish parameters for traffic operation and control, such as
speed zones, speed limits(85th-percentile speed is commonly used
as the speed limit on a road) and passing restrictions
• Evaluate the adequacy of highway geometric characteristics, such
as radii of horizontal curves and lengths of vertical curves
Sample Size for Spot Speed Studies
Data to be determine:
➢Average Speed which is the arithmetic mean of all observed vehicle
speeds.
➢Median Speed which is the speed at the middle value in a series of spot
speeds that are arranged in ascending order.
➢Modal Speed which is the speed value that occurs most frequently in a
sample of spot speeds.
➢The ith-percentile Spot Speed which is the spot speed value below
which i percent of the vehicles travel; for example, 85th-percentile spot
speed is the speed below which 85 percent of the vehicles travel and above
which 15 percent of the vehicles travel.
➢Pace which is the range of speed—usually taken at 10-mi/h intervals—
that has the greatest number of observations (applicable for large size).
➢Standard Deviation of Speeds which is a measure of the spread of the
individual speeds.
Data for Spot Speed Studies
• Definitions of values that are used to describe speed characteristics:
✓ Average speed

✓ Median speed
✓ Modal speed
✓ The ith-percentile spot speed
✓ Pace
✓ Standard deviation of speeds
Determine the following:
Vehicle Speed (Kph) Vehicle Speed (Kph) ➢Arithmetic mean
1 44.4 9 46.3
➢Median speed
2 42.5 10 50.4
3 41.4 11 38.4 ➢Modal speed
4 45.6 12 40.5 ➢Pace
5 39.8 13 40.5 ➢The 85th-percentile speed
6 37.4 14 39.5
➢Standard deviation
7 35.3 15 38
8 41.3

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