Traffic Engineering

Dr. Aso Faiz Talabany

Lecture No. 2

Traffic Engineering
SPEED STUDIES

Speed is an important transportation consideration because it relates to safety, time, comfort, convenience, and economics. Definitions: Speed: is a rate of motion (movement of vehicle) expressed as distance per unit time, generally as (kph) or (mph). Spot speed: is the instantaneous speed of a vehicle at a specified location of road. Average spot speed: The arithmetic mean of the speeds of all traffic at a specified point. Overall travel time: The time of travel including stops and delays (except those off the traveled way). Running time: The time the vehicle is in motion. Overall travel (journey) speed: The distance divided by the overall travel time. Running speed: The distance divided by the running time. Design speed: Is the maximum safe speed that can be maintained over a specified section of highway (a speed determined for design). Operating speed: The highest overall speed, exclusive of stops, at which a driver can travel on a given highway under prevailing conditions,

Traffic Engineering

Dr. Aso Faiz Talabany

without at any time exceeding the design speed. Space mean speed (SMS or Vs): The speed corresponding to the average travel time over a given distance (it is the harmonic mean). Time mean speed (TMS or Vt): The speed corresponds to the average of overall travel speeds and it is higher than the SMS for the same sample (it is the arithmetic mean). Use of Speed Studies Speed measurements are needed for a number of purposes given below: Spot speeds are used for: 1Geometric design of roads 2Regulation and control of traffic operations 3Analyzing the causes of accidents 4Before and after studies of road improvements 5Determining the problems of congestion on roads 6Trends in operating speeds of different vehicles 7Speeds at problem locations 8Research studies Spot speed have a number of safety applications, including the following (Robertson 1994):

Traffic Engineering

Dr. Aso Faiz Talabany

Travel (journey) speeds: 1The cost of the journey 2To evaluate congestion, capacity, LOS, and the need for improvements 3Trip assignment in transportation planning studies

Spot Speed Studies

Purpose: The vehicle spot speed study is designed to measure the speed characteristics at a specified location under the traffic and environmental conditions prevailing at the time of the study. Factors 12345which affect the spot speed The driver The vehicle The roadway The traffic The environment

Traffic Engineering

Dr. Aso Faiz Talabany

Where to make spot speed studies? 1-Trend locations - Straight, level, open sections of rural highways - Mid-block locations on urban streets 2- Problem locations 3- Representative locations 4- Locations where before and after studies are being conducted 5- To reduce as much as possible the influence of the observer and of the measuring equipment Methods for conducting spot speed studies Spot speed data are gathered using one of the following methods: 1Methods for measuring time over a measured distance i- Stop watch ii- Pneumatic tubes iii- Photographic techniques - Time lapse photography - Continuous - strip photography 2Methods based on the Doppler principle i- Radar meter ii- Ultrasonic meter iii- Remote sensing techniques 1- Trap length Speed (kph) < 40 40 70 > 70 Trap length (m) 27 57 81

Stop watch method The stop watch method can be used to successfully complete a spot speed study using a small sample size taken over a relatively short period of time. The stop

Traffic Engineering

Dr. Aso Faiz Talabany

watch method is a quick and inexpensive method for collecting speed data.

Pneumatic road tube method The pneumatic road tube method is normally used for longer data collection time periods than those of either the stopwatch or radar meter method. Using this method, pneumatic tubes are placed in the travel lanes and are connected to recorders located at the side of the road.

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Traffic Engineering

Dr. Aso Faiz Talabany

Photographic techniques

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Traffic Engineering

Dr. Aso Faiz Talabany

2Radar meter method A radar meter is commonly used device for directly measuring speed studies. This device may be hand held, mounted on a tripod. The effective measuring distance for radar meters ranges from 200 feet up to 2 miles. A radar meter requires line of sight to accurately measure speed and is easily operated by one person. If traffic is heavy or the sampling strategy is complex, two radar units may be needed.

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Traffic Engineering

Dr. Aso Faiz Talabany

Field Sheet

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