Speed and delay study :Introduction

Travel time is the elapsed time it takes for a vehicle to traverse a given segment of a street.
Travel time studies provide the necessary data to determine the average travel time.
Combined with the length of the corridor under study, this data can be used to produce
average travel speed. Travel time and delay are two of the principal measures of roadway
system performance used by traffic engineers, planners and analysts. Since vehicle speed is
directly related to travel time and delay, it is also an appropriate measure-of-performance to
evaluate traffic systems. A study conducted to determine the amount of time required to
traverse a specific route or section of a street or highway. The data obtained provide travel
time and travel speed information but not necessarily delay. This term is often used to include
speed and delay study. Travel time may be defined as the total elapsed time of travel,
including stop and delay, necessary for a vehicle to travel from one point to another point
over a specified route under existing traffic condition.[ CITATION DrT \l 16393 ]

Delay studies
Delay is defined as the extra time spent by drivers against their expectation .A delay can have
different forms according to changes in different location. . A study made to provide
information concerning the amount, cause, location, duration and frequency of delay as well
as travel time and similar value. The time lost by traffic due to traffic friction and traffic
control device is called delay.

Table 1 types of delay causes taken in this study

Delay Causes
a) Traffic Signal/Police Control h) Pedestrain Interference

b) Stop Sign i) Level Crossing

c) Market Pedestrian Crossing j) Road Repair
d) Right turn/U- Turn (At Junction) k) Breakdown
e) General Congestion l) Passenger Boarding/Alighting
f) Accident m) Other Delay (Mention Below)
g) Parked Vehicle  

Purpose of the study

(1) The purpose of a Travel Time and Delay Study is to evaluate the quality of traffic
movement along a route and determine the locations, types, and extent of traffic delays by
using a moving test vehicle.

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(2) This study method can be used to compare operational conditions before and after
roadway or intersection improvements have been made. It can also be used as a tool to assist
in prioritizing projects by comparing the magnitude of the operational deficiencies (such as
delays and stops) for each project under consideration.

(3) The Travel Time and Delay Study can also be used by planners to monitor level of service
for local government comprehensive plans.

(4) provides the engineer with quantitative information with which he can develop
recommendations for improvements such as traffic signal retiming, safety improvements, turn
lane additions, and channelization enhancements

Types of methods for speed and delay studies

In floating car method, a test vehicle is driven over a given course of travel at approximately
the average speed of the stream, thus trying to float with the traffic stream. A number of test
runs are made along the study stretch and a group of observers record the various details.
Two observers are required with two stop watches. One of the stop watches is continuously
operated and is required to find out the travel time between two nodes or control points along
the stretch. These control points are fixed beforehand and include any fixed point such as
intersections, bridges etc. The other stop watch is used to find the duration of individual
delays. One of the observers, records the duration, location and cause of these delays as well
as the overall travel time between two nodes either on suitable tabular forms or by voice
recording instruments.. This method is considered in the study.[ CITATION Ash11 \l 16393 ]

Other methods are Average Speed Method:, Moving-vehicle method, Maximum-car method,
Elevated Observer method, License Plate Method, Photographic Method, Interview Method
and Highway Capacity Manual 2000 or (Cycle- based method).

Speed delay : study details

Section for the study
The section considered for study is kolar road in Bhopal.Since it is a dual carriageway, thus both the
directions of travel were considered. The total length of the test section is 9 km.

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Study details
The method adopted for the study was floating car method, because this method has a distinct
advantage over other methods is that it is suitable for long test sections and can provide details about
the individual delays occurring within the test section.

For the purpose of survey, the test section was divided into four sub-sections with their boundaries
clearly defined by five control points or nodes which are kajili kheda, D-mart square ,CI square,
bajrangi square and madakini square fixed along the route. Thereafter, the nodal distances i.e. the
lengths of the sub-sections were measured using a odometer. These nodes and the corresponding
nodal distances are listed in the table below:

Table 2

Avg Distance (in

Runs From Node To Node
km)
1 Kajili Kheda D Mart Square 6.3
2 D Mart Square CI Square 1.2
3 CI Square Banjari Square 0.6
4 Banjari Square Mandakini square 0.9
Total 9
Time of the study
The objective of this study was to have the speed and delay values on kolar Road for the peak
hour and the following off-peak hour. the complete study was conveniently divided into two
phases. In phase 1, speed and delay survey of the section was conducted from around 12pm
to 5 pm in three trips(12:00 pm, 2:58pm and 5:05 pm) where as The phase 2 included five
trips(9:05am,11:05am, 1:05 pm, 3:30 pm and 5:15 pm) survey between around 9 am to 5 pm .
The dates decided for the phases 1 and 2 of the survey were 2 February, 2020 and 3rd
February, 2020 respectively.

Results and analysis

The tables include sum and average values of time and speed for the 4 sections listed in Table
2.
Phase 1 the day of Sunday or weekday:
Kajili kheda to Mandakini square :
Table 3

running
total travel travel avg. running
Time of the day time(sec) time(sec) Speed(km/hr) speed(km/hr)
12:00 PM 829 805 34.5 36.7

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 2:58 PM 854 792 34.7 36.9
5:05 PM 909 909 29.25 29.25

kajili kheda to mandakani square

40
35
30
speedkm/hr

25
20
15
10
5
0
12:00 PM 2:58 PM 5:05 PM
Time of the day

avg. Speed(km/hr) running speed(km/hr)

Figure 1

In Figure 1 the time period of the day between(12:00 pm and 2:58 pm) is moderately having
same speed but a sharp decline in speed is seen in 5:05 pm which is the evening time. This
route character is observed for the direction from kajili kheda to mandakini square.

Madakini square to kajili kheda:

Table 4

Time of the total travel running travel time(sec) avg. running

day time(sec) Speed(km/hr) speed(km/hr)
12:00 PM 886 861 29.92 32.42
2:58 PM 827 800 36.25 39.03
5:05 PM 888 888 30.5 31.1

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 Madikini square to Kajili kheda
45
40
35
30
speed km/hr

25
20
15
10
5
0
12:00 PM 2:58 PM 5:05 PM
time of the day

avg. Speed(km/hr) running speed(km/hr)

Figure 2

In case of Figure 2 the time period (12:00 pm to 2:58pm) do not show same speed values
observed in the direction of kajili kheda to mandakini square , there is increase in speed for
2:58 pm the mid day time period showing off peak hour and decline of speed in evening time
5:05 pm showing traces of increased traffic.

Phase 2 or Monday:-

For the direction of kajili kheda to mandakini square :-

Table 5

Time of the day total travel running avg. running speed(km/hr)

time(sec) travel Speed(km/hr)
time(sec)
9:05 AM 901 855 34.25 41.75
11:05 AM 836 822 34.35 35.47
1:05 PM 838 823 35.25 36
3:30 PM 852 705 35.25 43.25
5:15 PM 858 796 33 38.1

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 kajili kheda to mandakini square
50
45
40
35
speed km/hr

30
25
20
15
10
5
0
9:05 AM 11:05 AM 1:05 PM 3:30 PM 5:15 PM
time of the day

avg. Speed(km/hr) running speed(km/hr)

For the second phase and day of Monday the speed is seen to drop down at 11:05 PM and
increase in the mid day time period of the day at 3:30 PM again drops down during the
evening time i.e. 5:15 PM .

For the direction of mandakini square to kajili kheda:

Table 6
Time of the total travel running travel time(sec) avg. running
day time(sec) Speed(km/hr) speed(km/hr)
9:05 AM 868 846 31.25 34.46
11:05 AM 833 802 33.75 37.73
1:05 PM 844 815 32.5 36
3:30 PM 907 743 29 41.85
5:15 PM 850 793 31.75 37.83

Mandakini square to kajili kheda

45
40
35
30
speedkm/h

25
20
15
10
5
0
9:05 AM 11:05 AM 1:05 PM 3:30 PM 5:15 PM
time of the day

avg. Speed(km/hr) running speed(km/hr)

Figure 3

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In figure 3 the running speed in the route increases at 11:05 AM and 3:30 PM but deviation in
latter time is more as compared to the former.
Delay studies for phase 2 or Monday

From kajili kheda to mandakini square

1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
9:05 AM 11:05 AM 1:05 PM 3:30 PM 5:15 PM

total travel time(sec) Delay (sec)

Figure 4

From mandakini square to kajili kheda

1000
900
800
700
600
time(sec)

500
400
300
200
100
0
9:05 AM 11:05 AM 1:05 PM 3:30 PM 5:15 PM
time of the day

total travel time(sec) Delay(sec)

Figure 5
In both Figure 4 and Figure 5 the changes in delays are restricted to the time period between
(1:05 to 5:15 PM). Lowest delays are observed in early hours of the day Between (9:05 AM
to 1:05 PM), and the travel time describes constant pattern throughout the journey.

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limitations
 Difficult for the single observer to denote the cause of delay sometimes there is clubbing of
reasons for delay which leads to confusions.
 No relationship drawn between other set of surveys like TVC, for validifying the ingferences
drawn.