Analysis of spot speed data

Let v1, v2 , v3 ….vn be the spot speeds.

No.of observations =n

Tme mean speed Vt= Arithmetic mean of spot speeds = (v1+ v2 v3 +vn) / n

Space mean speed Vs= Harmonic speed of spot speed

= n /( (1/v1) + (1/v2) +(1/v3)…..+ (1/vn))

Speed limits

In mixed traffic the quality of traffic will be poor when the vehicle speeds are of widely varying
range Hence upper and lower speed limits are set to improve quality of traffic.

Lower speed limit is 15th percentile speed. It is that speed below which 15% of spot speeds lie.

Upper speed limit = 85th percentile speed which is the speed below which 85% of spot speeds
lie.

Design speed for geometric elements= 98th percentile speed, (98 % of spot speeds are below
this speed).

Procedure to find speed limis

1. Classify the spot speeds into different speed groups

2. Find the middle value of speed group.
3. Find out the number of vehicles in each speed group (frequency of speed group)
4. Determine percentage frequency of each speed.(Frequency / total number of
observations)
5. Determine cumulative percentage frequency=sum of percentage frequencies upto and
including the speed group considered.
6. Plot mid values of speed group (X axis)against) and cumulative percentage frequencies
(Y axis). We will get an S shaped curve.
7. The X- value corresponding to Y coordinate of 15% is the15th percentile speed.
The X coordinates of 85% and 98% percentages are 85th percentile and 98thpercentile
speed respectively.
To find the most preferred speed

Plot the percentage frequency (Y axis) Vs mid value of speed group. (X axis)
The X value corresponding to maximum frequency is the most preferred speed.

Problem:
Spot speed study was conducted on a stretch of road and the consolidated data is
shown in the table. Determine (a) lower and upper speed limits for regulation of mixed
traffic.
(b) Speed for design of geometric elements (c) most preferred speed.

No. of
Speed range vehicles
(kmph) (frequency)
0-10 12
10--20 18
20-30 68
30-40 89
40-50 204
50-60 255
60-70 119
70-80 43
80-90 33
90-100 9

Solution
Compute percentage frequency and cumulative percentage frequency as shown in the
table.
 Speed Mid value of No. of Cumulativ
range speed group vehicles Percentage e%
(kmph) (kmph) (frequency) frequency frequency
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
0-10 5 12 1.41 1.41
10--20 15 18 2.12 3.53
20-30 25 68 8 11.53
30-40 35 89 10.47 22
40-50 45 204 24 46
50-60 55 255 30 76
60-70 65 119 14 90
70-80 75 43 5.06 95.06
80-90 85 33 3.88 98.94
90-100 95 9 1.06 100
  Sum 850    

Plot mid value of speed group (column 2) against cumulative percentage frequency
(column 5)

(a) Upper speed limit =85th percentile speed= 60kmph

Lower speed limit=15th percentile speed=30kmph

(c)Design speed for geometric design=98th percentile speed =84kmph

Plot mid value of speed group (column 2) against percentage frequency (column 4)

Chart Title
35

30

25
Percentage frequency

20

15

10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Mid value of speed group (kmph)

Most preferred speed = 55kmph