Faculty:

Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Department :
Department of Geotechnical and Transportation Engineering
Title:
SPOT SPEED STUDY

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Speed is the rate of movement of a vehicle, generally expressed in kilometers per hour.

A spot speed study is a study of traffic speed at one point or spot on a traffic way. It consists of a
series or a sample of observations of the individual speeds at which vehicles are approaching an
intersection or passing a point at a non-intersection location. These observations are used to
estimate the speed distribution of the entire traffic stream at that location, under the conditions
prevailing at the time of the study.

Spot speed studies can be used to study speeds at problem locations in order to determine
whether speeds are too high and if complaints received are justified, for accident analysis in
order to determine the relationship of speed to accidents which may help in developing
corrective measures, and for before-and-after studies in order to evaluate the effect of some
change in controls or conditions,

In relation with this study, there has been several complaints of vehicles speeding along the
UTHM-Fujitsu section of road. This poses a danger to motorists, pedestrians and cyclists as
there is a lot of activity in the area. Furthermore, there is plenty of right-turning movements along
this stretch of road, with no storage lanes provided for right-turners. This is dangerous because
the right-turners stop on the fast lane and have no protection.

2.0 OBJECTIVE

The objectives of this study are:

(a) To determine the speed characteristics of traffic at the location.

(b) To justify the problem of speeding at the location.
 Faculty:
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Department :
Department of Geotechnical and Transportation
Title:
SPOT SPEED STUDY

3.0 APPARATUS

1. Radar Gun
2. Forms SS1 and SS2
3. Graph Paper (3 nos)
4. Safety Vest

4.0 PROCEDURE

1. Identify the spot at which the speed data will be collected.

2. Use the radar gun to measure the speed of vehicles according to their respective
vehicle class – Class 1 (Motorcycles), Class 2 (Cars), Class 3 (Vans & Medium Trucks),
and Class 4 (Large Trucks & Buses).
[Make sure that the operator of the radar gun is not seen by the motorists]

3. Record all speed measurements in Form SS1.

4. Based on Form SS1, determine the mean, maximum and minimum speed of vehicles
according to their class. Comment on your findings.

5. Transfer the data in Form SS1 to Form SS2.

6. Plot the following:

(a) Frequency Histogram (Percentage of vehicles vs. Speed)
(b) Frequency Distribution Curve (Percentage of vehicles vs. Speed)
(c) Cumulative Frequency Distribution Curve (Cumulative percentage vs. Speed)

7. Determine the following speed characteristics:

(a) Mean speed
(b) Median speed
(c) Mode speed
(d) 85-th Percentile speed
(e) Standard deviation
(f) Pace

8. Comment on your findings.

9. Does your findings justify the problem of speeding at the location? If it does,
what are your recommendations?

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 Faculty:
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Department :
Department of Geotechnical and Transportation
Title:
SPOT SPEED STUDY

5.0 DATA ANALYSIS & RESULTS

Form SS1
Location: _____________________________________________________________
Date: __________________ Time: _____________ Weather: _______________

Time Spot Speed (km/h)

Vehicle Class
1 2 3 4

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 Faculty:
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Department :
Department of Geotechnical and Transportation
Title:
SPOT SPEED STUDY

Form SS2

Speed Class Class fx Percentage Cumulative

Class Midvalue, Frequency, in Class Percentage
(km/h) x f
(km/h)

Formulae

Mean speed = Σfx

n
f = frequency of observations in the particular class
x = mid-point of each class
n = total number of observations = Σf

⎡⎛ n ⎞ ⎤
⎢⎜ 2 ⎟ − fL ⎥
Median speed = L + ⎢ ⎝ ⎠ ⎥ ×C
⎢ fm ⎥
⎢⎣ ⎥⎦
L = lower limit of the class in which the median lies
n = total number of observations
f L = cumulative number of observation upto the lower limit of the class in
which the median lies
f m = number of observations in the class in which the median lies
C = speed interval of the group

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 Faculty:
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Department :
Department of Geotechnical and Transportation
Title:
SPOT SPEED STUDY

Σfx 2 (Σfx )2
Standard Deviation = −
n − 1 n( n − 1)
f = frequency of observations in the particular class
x = mid-point of each class
n = total number of observations = Σf

Terminology

Pace = the 10 km/h range in speed in which the highest number of observation was
recorded

85th Percentile speed = the speed at or below which 85 percent of the motorists drive
on a given road unaffected by slower traffic or poor weather

Calculations & Results:

1. Class 1 (Motorcycles)

Mean speed: __________ km/h

Maximum speed: __________ km/h
Minimum speed: __________ km/h

Class 2 (Cars)

Mean speed: __________ km/h

Maximum speed: __________ km/h
Minimum speed: __________ km/h

Class 3 (Vans & Medium Trucks)

Mean speed: __________ km/h

Maximum speed: __________ km/h
Minimum speed: __________ km/h

Class 4 (Heavy Trucks & Buses)

Mean speed: __________ km/h

Maximum speed: __________ km/h
Minimum speed: __________ km/h

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 Faculty:
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Department :
Department of Geotechnical and Transportation
Title :
SPOT SPEED STUDY

Comment:

2.

(a) Median speed =

(b) Mean speed =

(c) Mode speed =

(d) Standard deviation =

(e) 85th Percentile Speed =

(f) Pace =

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 Faculty:
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Department :
Department of Geotechnical and Transportation
Title :
SPOT SPEED STUDY

Comment:

6.0 DISCUSSION

7.0 CONCLUSION