Department of Civil Engineering Spring 2009

CEE 4211/5211 Traffic Engineering Dr. Henry Liu

Homework #2: Traffic Engineering Related Statistics

Due: March 4, 2009

Problem 1. (15 Points)

Experience suggests that spot speed data at a given location is normally distributed with a mean of 57mph
and a standard deviation of 7.6mph. What’s the speed below which 85% of vehicles are traveling?

Problem 2. (15 Points)

Travel time data is collected on an arterial, and with 30 runs, an average travel time of 152 seconds is
computed over the 2.0 miles length, with a computed standard deviation of 17.3 seconds. Compute 95%
confidence bounds on your estimate of the mean.

Problem 3 (30 Points)

Based upon long-standing observation and consensus, the speeds on a curve are observed to average 57
mph with a 6 mph standard deviation. This is taken as a “given.” Some active controls are put in place
(signing, flashing lights, etc.), and the engineer is sure that the average will fall to at least 50 mph, with
the standard deviation probably about the same.

(a) Formulate a null and alternative hypothesis based on taking “after” data only, and
determine the required sample size n so that the Type I and II errors are each 0.05.
(b) Assume that data has been taken for the required N observations and that the average is
52.2 mph and the standard deviation is 6.0 mph. What is your decision? What error may
have occurred, and what is its probability.
(c) If the data in Part b had been a mean of 52.2 mph and a standard deviation of 5.4 mph
was observed, re-solve Part b.

Problem 4 (40 Points)

Consider the following spot speed data.

Speed Group(mph) Number of Vehicles

15 – 20 0
20 – 25 3
25 – 30 6
30 – 35 18
35 – 40 45
40 – 45 48
45 – 50 18
50 – 55 12
55-60 4
60-65 3
65-70 0

Answer the following questions regarding the speeds on the arterial:

a. Plot the frequency distribution curve and cumulative frequency distribution curve for these
data.
1
Department of Civil Engineering Spring 2009
CEE 4211/5211 Traffic Engineering Dr. Henry Liu
b. Find and identify on the curves: mean speed, standard deviation, modal speed, pace, and
percent vehicles in the pace. (Show both computed values and values derived from the
curves where applicable).
c. The true mean speed is between ____ mph and _____ mph with a confidence of 99.7%.
What is the interval for a confidence of 95%?.
d. Based on this study, what is the sample size necessary to yield 2.5 mph with 95%
confidence?
e. Another speed study was taken at this location after the imposition of a reduced speed limit.
The study resulted in an average speed of 40.0 mph and a standard deviation of 6.91 mph
for 100 speeds. Was the new speed limit successful in reducing speeds?
f. Conduct a 2 goodness-of-fit test to determine whether the data are normally distributed or
not.