TRAFFIC SPEED REPORT NO 91

THIS REPORT IS THE ANNUAL CONTINUING STUDY OF SPEEDS OF VEHICLES ON RURAL INDIANA HIGHWAYS. OBSERVATIONS OF SPOT SPEEDS WERE TAKEN ON INTERSTATE, FOUR-LANE, AND TWO-LANE HIGHWAYS THROUGHOUT THE STATE DURING THE MONTHS OF JUNE AND AUGUST 1973. ANALYSIS OF THE SPEEDS SHOWED THE OVERALL AVERAGE SPEED FOR PASSENGER CARS WAS 65.20 MILES PER HOUR. THE OVERALL AVERAGE SPEED FOR HEAVY TRUCKS WAS 58.8 MILES PER HOUR. THIS WAS THE SAME OVERALL AVERALL AVERAGE SPEED FOR PASSENGER CARS AND 1.2 MPH MORE FOR TRUCKS THAN SIMILAR DATA GIVEN FOR 1972 AT THE SAME LOCATIONS (EXCEPT FOR STATION 10 WHICH HAD BEEN SHIFTED TO THE ORIGINAL SITE OF THE PREVIOUS STUDIES. SIMPLE LINEAR REGRESSION ANALYSIS ON THE DATA OF THE PAST ELEVEN YEARS SHOWED AN ANNUAL INCREASE OF 0.62 MPH FOR THE OVERALL AVERAGE SPEED OF PASSENGER CARS AND 0.78 MPH FOR THE OVERALL AVERAGE SPEED OF HEAVY TRUCKS. THESE TRENDS ARE LESS THAN THAT OF A TEN YEAR PERIOD ENDING FIVE OR SIX YEARS AGO AND APPEARS TO RESULT FROM A "LEVELING-OFF" OF MAXIMUM SPEEDS IN RECENT YEARS. AN ADDENDUM IS PRESENTED AT THE END OF THE REPORT WHICH SUMMARIZES A SPEED STUDY MADE AT THREE OF THE SITES, ONE EACH ON INTERSTATE, OTHER FOUR-LANE AND TWO-LANE FACILITIES. THIS STUDY WAS MADE IN JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1974 DURING THE VOLUNTARY 55 MPH SPEED LIMIT PERIOD. THE RESULTS INDICATED THAT WHEN COMPARED WITH THE ENCLOSED 1973 SPEED STUDY OVER- ALL AVERAGE SPEED FOR PASSENGER CARS WAS 3.8 MILES LESS AND FOR HEAVY TRUCKS WAS 1.5 MPH LESS. AVERAGE SPEEDS OF PASSENGER CARS WAS 61.4 MPH LESS. AVERAGE SPEEDS OF PASSENGER CARS WAS 61.4 MPH AND FOR HEAVY TRUCKS WAS 57.3 MPH. AN ADDITIONAL STUDY WAS MADE IN APRIL OF SPEEDS AT THREE STATIONS UNDER THE PRESENT MANDATORY 55 MPH SPEED LIMIT.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Rept No JHRP-74-5 2 APP
• Corporate Authors:

  Purdue University/Indiana Department of Transportation JHRP

  Purdue University, School of Civil Engineering
  West Lafayette, IN  United States  47907-1284
• Authors:
  • Gadallah, A A
  • Stafford, G K
• Publication Date: 0

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: 31 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobiles; Energy; Measurement; Speed; Speed limits; Studies; Traffic speed; Trucks
• Old TRIS Terms: Speed studies
• Subject Areas: Energy; Highways; Motor Carriers; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00226913
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 16 1974 12:00AM