Speed and Delay Studies

UNIT III
Reashma P S
RITM
Syllabus
• Traffic Engineering Studies
• Objectives
• Methods of study
• Equipment
• Data collection
• Analysis & interpretation
• Speed Studies
• Speed and Delay Studies
• Volume Studies
• Origin and Destination Studies
• Parking Studies
• Analysis of Data
• Application of probability & statistics
• Traffic Manoeuvers & application in intersection design
RITM 2
Speed and Delay Studies
• It gives the running speed, journey speed,
fluctuations in speeds and delay between two
stations on a road.
RITM 3
Various Speed
Spot Speed ●
Instantaneous speed of a vehicle
Running Speed
Journey Speed
RITM 4
Time Mean Speed (TMS) Space Mean Speed (SMS)
• avg of speed measurements • avg of the speed

at one point in space over a measurements over a space
period of time. distance at an instant of the
time.
• vi- initial speed, n - total no.

of observations
RITM 5
TMS & SMS Relation
• time mean speed is SMS + standard deviation of the
spot speed divided by SMS.
• TMS >>> SMS (standard deviation can’t be

negative).
• If all the speed of the vehicles are same, TMS =SMS
RITM 6
Delay
• Delay
• Time lost by a vehicle due to causes beyond the control of the driver
• Operational delay
• That part of the delay caused by the impedance of other traffic
(Parking)
• Stopped-time delay
• That part of the delay during which the vehicle is at rest
• Fixed delay
• That part of the delay caused by control devices such as traffic
signals
• Travel-time delay
• The difference between the actual travel time and the travel time
traversed at an avg speed equal
RITM to that for an un-congested traffic 7
Application of Speed- Delay
Studies
– Journey-time studies: evaluate congestion,
capacity, level of services and need for the
improvements.
– efficiency of a route
– locations with relatively high delays
– causes for delays
– before-and-after studies
– relative efficiency of a route
– travel times on specific links
– economic studies
RITM 8
Methods for Conducting Speed & Delay
Studies
• Methods requiring a test vehicle
 Floating-car technique
 Average-speed technique
 Moving-observer technique
• Methods not requiring a test vehicle
 Elevated Observer Method
 License-plate observations
 Interviews
RITM 9
Elevated Observer Method
• In this method, the observer stationed on top of an elevated
building select vehicles at random and
• follow their course along the road, noting
• the time of entering the test section,
• duration and nature of delays suffered and
• the time of leaving.
• For doing this method, the test section should be short so that
the observer can record it efficiently.
• duration of time should not be more than 2 hours to avoid
observers strain.
• This method cannot be used in a section where heavy traffic.
RITM 10
Interview Method
• The interviewing method is carried out by obtaining

information from people who drive on study site
regarding their travel times, their experience of
delays, and so forth.
• This method facilitates the collection of a large
amount of data in a relatively short time.
• However it requires cooperation of the people
contacted, since the result depends entirely on the
information given by them
RITM 11
License Plate Matching Method
• synchronized stop watches are used.
• Observers -stationed at the entrance & exit of the test
section.
• Each observer records the last three or four digits of the
license plate of each car that passes, together with the time
at which the car passes.
• Usually two observers are employed for each direction of
travel, one for noting the registration number and calling it
and the other for recording it along with the time.
• By matching the registration numbers later, travel time of
each vehicle can be found.
RITM 12
…continued
• Advantage: no need of sophisticated & costly equipments for
this method.
• The method is simple and cheap.
• Drawbacks: cannot be used in highway section having
intersection areas. In intersection areas of the section, the
vehicle may enter, leave or stop.
• method fails to yield important details such as data on delay,
causes of delays and the duration and frequency of individual
delays within the test section.
• Hence it is not possible to record running speed using this
method.
RITM 13
ITS Technology
• Advanced Technology
• Cell Phone
• GPS
• The GPS device is installed at each testing vehicle and

movement information of each vehicle on the roadways
will be received by the control center.
• The travel time will be then calculated based on
predetermined algorithm
RITM 14
Floating-car technique
• In this method, the test car is driven by an observer

along the test section so that the test car “floats” with
the traffic.
• The driver of the test vehicle attempts to pass as
many vehicles as those that pass his test vehicle
• The time taken to traverse the study section is
recorded.
• This is repeated, and the average time is recorded as
the travel time.
RITM 15
Avg Speed Technique
• This technique involves driving the test car along
the
• length of the test section at a speed that, in the
opinion of the driver, is the average speed of the
traffic stream.
• The time required to traverse the test section is
noted.
RITM 16
Moving Car/ Moving Observer Method
• Refer Lecture Note
RITM 17

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UNIT III

• avg of speed measurements • avg of the speed

• vi- initial speed, n - total no.

• TMS >>> SMS (standard deviation can’t be

• The interviewing method is carried out by obtaining

• The GPS device is installed at each testing vehicle and

• In this method, the test car is driven by an observer

• Refer Lecture Note

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