Section 6

Spot Speed Surveys

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CONTENTS
6 SPOT SPEED SURVEYS ...................................................................................................................... 6-1
6.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 6-1
6.2 OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................................................ 6-1
6.2.1 Uses of Spot Speed Data ....................................................................................................... 6-1
6.3 METHODS OF SPEED DATA COLLECTION ............................................................................................ 6-2
6.3.1 Manual Short-Base Method.................................................................................................... 6-2
6.3.2 Electronic Timing Method ....................................................................................................... 6-3
6.3.3 Video-Recording Method........................................................................................................ 6-4
6.3.4 Direct Speed Measurements by Radar .................................................................................. 6-4
6.4 SURVEY TARGET POPULATION........................................................................................................... 6-4
6.5 DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF RESULTS .............................................................................. 6-4
6.6 REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................... 6-6

LIST OF TABLES
TABLE 6-1 SHORT-BASE LENGTHS ..................................................................................................................... 6-2

TABLE OF FIGURES
FIGURE 6-1 SPEED SURVEY USING SHORT-BASE METHOD ................................................................................... 6-3
FIGURE 6-2 AN EXAMPLE OF A COMPLETED SPEED SURVEY USING THE SHORT-BASE METHOD ............................. 6-3
FIGURE 6-3 TYPICAL HISTOGRAM AND CUMULATIVE SPEED DISTRIBUTION FROM A SPOT SPEED SURVEY ................ 6-5

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6 SPOT SPEED SURVEYS

6.1 Introduction
The collection of vehicle speeds is important for traffic engineers as it provides information about travel
conditions, levels of service, and quality of traffic flow. Speed is a very important road design parameter , in
an overall sense for setting design standards, and in an elemental sense as a measure of the effects of
minor changes to a traffic system (such as installing a traffic control device or widening a curve).

6.2 Overview
There are four principal classifications of speed in traffic engineering (Austroads, 1988):
Spot speed (or time speed)
Spot speed is the instantaneous speed of a vehicle at a specified point on a road. The spot
speed of a vehicle varies continuously, as the vehicle accelerates or brakes. Spot speed
surveys are usually concerned with the non-peak periods of traffic flow, when speeds are
higher. For example, where free flow speeds are needed for setting speed limits, periods of
low volume and good weather are specifically chosen.
Journey speed
Journey speed is the effective speed of the vehicle on a trip between two points.
Space speed
Space speed is the same as journey speed, when it is taken to be the speed of vehicles on a
road at a given instant of time.
Running speed
Running speed is the average speed over a trip, while the vehicle is moving. It is determined
by the distance travelled divided by the time the vehicle is in motion.
A comparison of journey speed and running speed for a road provides a measure of the congestion on that
road. The relationship between spot speed and space speed is that the mean spot speed (ie. the mean
speed of all the vehicles passing an observer by the road) will be slightly greater than the mean space speed
(ie. the mean speed of all the vehicles on a road section at an instant of time). This is due to spot speeds
being biased in favour of the faster vehicles on the road.
6.2.1 Uses of Spot Speed Data
Spot speed data is useful for traffic engineers in the study of driver behaviour as it provides estimates of the
prevailing distribution of speeds at a site under different environmental conditions, and of the range of likely
vehicle speeds. Speed distributions provide indications of traffic conditions at the observation site and are
important in assessing the need for appropriate traffic control devices, speed limits or advisory speed
signing. They are also useful aids in studies concerning overtaking manoeuvres and the effects of lane
widths and lateral clearances. Before and after speed studies help in assessing drivers responses to
changes in the road environment such as new warning signs, road markings, street lighting and pavement
surfaces.
The more important applications of spot speed survey data are (Austroads, 1988):
determining the need for traffic control devices, including speed zoning.
evaluating the effectiveness of traffic improvements, by conducting before and after studies.
finding a correlation between speeds and accidents or between speeds and geometric
features.
undertaking an economic analysis, and
determining the range and magnitude of speeds as a basis for formulating design standards.

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6.3 Methods of Speed Data Collection

Measurements of spot speeds are generally made from a set location on the road. Three approaches can be
used to collect speed data (Austroads, 1988):
Measuring the travel time of a vehicle between two detectors separated by a known, fixed
distance eg. by timing over a measured distance using a stop watch.
Electronically measuring the time taken by a vehicle to cross an induction loop, or two closely
spaced axle detectors.
Measuring speed directly on the basis of the Doppler principle eg. using a radar speed meter.
The first two methods are known as indirect methods as they involve estimation of speed from a travel time
observation.The presence of surveyors, equipment, or unusual markings on the road surface can effect
driver behaviour. The need to make the surveyors inconspicuous can affect the choice of survey method and
location.
6.3.1 Manual Short-Base Method
The survey location should be at the middle of a road link and should also be located appropriately so as to
meet the study objectives (eg. at a pedestrian crossing, to investigate an accident problem). A short-base
length should be chosen based on the speeds on the road, with longer bases needed for higher speeds.
Table 6-1 relates approximate lengths to average speeds (TRL, 1993) Another approximate guide to short-
base lengths is that no vehicle in the traffic stream should take less than two seconds to pass through the
short-base, in the prevailing traffic conditions during the survey.

Average Speed of Traffic (km/h) Short-Base Length (m)

Below 40 25
40 65 50
Above 65 75
Table 6-1 Short-base lengths
The ends of the short-base length should be marked on the road surface with paint, chalk, or tape lines.
These lines should be as inconspicuous as possible to drivers. Alternatively, the downstream line can be
defined by the surveyor standing directly opposite a roadside object such as a power pole or tree. The
surveyor must always be at the downstream end. Figure 6-1 shows a general layout for a speed survey
using the short-base method.
The short-base length must be measured accurately, preferably with a metal tape measure rather than a
measuring wheel. In addition, a sampling line is marked upstream of the start line and should be used by
the surveyor to select the sample vehicle before starting to record the travel time. The surveyor should be
able to see the sampling line and both timing lines, for all lanes of traffic. A high vantage point may be
required to achieve this requirement (TRL, 1993).
The survey supervisor should define which vehicles are to be surveyed. This can be every n th vehicle or
some other method to ensure an unbiased sample. For example, as the surveyor looks up, they ignore the
first vehicle to cross the sampling line and selects the next vehicle to cross the sampling line. Once the
sample vehicle has been identified, the surveyor starts the stopwatch as the sample vehicle crosses the
upstream start line, and stops it as the same vehicle crosses the downstream line.
The time is recorded on the survey form, together with vehicle type and whether or not it was a following
vehicle in a line up of vehicles. The procedure is repeated for the next selected sample vehicle, and so on
through the survey period (TRL, 1993).
Appendix A shows the standard form that should be used to undertake a speed survey using the short-base
method. An example of a completed survey sheet is shown in Figure 6-2.

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Traffic direction

Sampling line

Start of short-base

Observer for
speed measurement

End of short-base

Figure 6-1 Speed survey using short-base method

Figure 6-2 An example of a completed Speed Survey using the Short-Base method

6.3.2 Electronic Timing Method

Specialised vehicle detection data acquisition systems are available. These systems record the passage
time of a vehicle between two axle detectors which are located at a fixed distance apart. The electronic data
recording capability means that this method provides higher levels of accuracy as compared to manually
using a stop watch. Other commercially manufactured automatic recording equipment is also available for
speed, volume and vehicle classification data collection. These units are pneumatic tube and/or inductive
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loop detectors and may be operated for extended periods without the need for continuous supervision
(Austroads, 1988). Methods where vehicles are timed over a short base line are suitable for almost all traffic
conditions and types of roads (TRL, 1993).
6.3.3 Video-Recording Method
Time-lapse photography using video-cassette recording systems is another method for spot speed data
collection. Specialised systems are available which record the distance moved by a vehicle in a selected,
short period (perhaps a couple of frames). The vehicle speed can then be computed. The advantages of this
method include (Austroads, 1988):
it provides a complete, permanent record of the traffic flow, which can always be re-analysed
and re-examined at a later stage and,
additional information eg. Vehicle classification, flows, headways, special phenomena,
overtaking etc.
A disadvantage of this method is that a considerable period of time is needed after the survey to extract the
data from the video record. Computer based automatic data extraction programs (usually included in the
commercially available specialised video-cassette recording systems) help to overcome this disadvantage.
6.3.4 Direct Speed Measurements by Radar
Radar speed meters operate by transmitting a continuous beam of high frequency microwaves towards a
vehicle, and measuring the change in frequency between the reflected waves and the transmitted waves.
The change in frequency, known as the Doppler effect, is directly proportional to the speed of the target
vehicle relative to the speed of the radar meter, thus a direct measure of speed is obtained. The observed
speed is independent of the direction of motion of the target vehicle ie. it doesnt matter whether the vehicle
is travelling towards or away from the radar unit (Austroads, 1988).
Radar speed meters are suited to relatively narrow roads at low or medium flows, when vehicles travel past
the observer individually. They are not suited to heavy traffic volumes, congestion or multi-lane roads (TRL,
1993).
The location of the survey, sampling of vehicles and recording of results are the same as for the manual
short-base method described above in Section 6.3.1.

6.4 Survey Target Population

Defining the target population is particularly important for spot speed surveys. This can be:
all traffic in the traffic stream.
all vehicles with some choice of speed eg. the vehicle at the head of a line of vehicles, or
single vehicles on a fairly busy road.
all vehicles with a free choice of speed eg. this would be at low flows, when a complete choice
is available (TRL, 1993).
Survey forms should allow a space for a description of the chosen sampling method. It is not always
necessary to include all vehicle classes, for example, cars are often the only target population. If more than
one class of vehicle is included, the class of each vehicle should be marked on the survey form.

6.5 Data Analysis and Presentation of Results

Speed data typically needs analysis of their distributions. Measures only of their central tendencies (eg. the
mean speed) are seldom sufficient indicators of the overall speed situation. The extremes of observed
speeds set a range of conditions which is useful in traffic design. For this reason, the results of a speed
distribution are usually presented either numerically or in graphical terms (histogram or more commonly as a
cumulative distribution). Measures such as the mean, median and 85th percentile speeds, and the standard
deviations are then extracted from the distribution. Figure 6-3 (Austroads, 1988) shows a typical speed
distribution curve produced from example spot speed data.

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Class Boundary (km/h) Frequency Cumulative Frequency

Lower Middle Upper Number Relative Number Relative
47.5 50 52.5 0 0.000 0 0
52.5 55 57.5 5 0.019 5 0.019
57.5 60 62.5 8 0.030 13 0.048
62.5 65 67.5 25 0.093 38 0.141
67.5 70 72.5 38 0.141 76 0.283
72.5 75 77.5 39 0.145 115 0.428
77.5 80 82.5 53 0.197 168 0.625
82.5 85 87.5 40 0.149 208 0.773
87.5 90 92.5 37 0.138 245 0.911
92.5 95 97.5 10 0.037 255 0.948
97.5 100 102.5 5 0.019 260 0.967
102.5 105 107.5 4 0.015 264 0.981
107.5 110 112.5 3 0.011 267 0.993
112.5 115 117.5 0 0.000 267 0.993
117.5 120 122.5 2 0.007 269 1.000
122.5 125 127.5 0 0.000 269 1.000
127.5 130 132.5 0 0.000 269 1.000
132.5 135 137.5 0 0.000 269 1.000
137.5 140 142.5 0 0.000 269 1.000

Total 269 1.000

60 1

0.9
50
0.8

0.7
Cumulative Proportion

40
0.6
Frequency

30 0.5

0.4
20
0.3

0.2
10
0.1

0 0
50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140
Speed (km/h) Speed (km/h)

Figure 6-3 Typical histogram and cumulative speed distribution from a spot speed survey

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6.6 References
Austroads, 1988, Guide to Traffic Engineering Practice, Part 3 Traffic Studies, Austroads, Sydney.
Transport Research Laboratory, 1993, Overseas Road Note 11 Urban Road Traffic Surveys, Overseas
Centre, Transport Research Laboratory, Crowthorne, Berkshire, United Kingdom.

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