Extracting Representative Peak Hour Travel Speeds Using Vehicle Trajectories

The performance analysis of urban roadway elements relies on accurate input values, balancing optimal traffic flow and economic efficiency. Traditionally, guidelines use peak hour traffic volumes for performance evaluations, but Floating Car Data (FCD) offers a novel approach that utilises travel speed. This paper explores a method to derive a representative travel speed value from FCD, aligning it with current guidelines. Initial considerations reveal limitations in the traditional Design Hourly Volume (DHV) approach, which tends to misrepresent congested states. Instead, the proposed methodology uses long-term FCD to determine an average peak hour and calculate a representative travel speed. Case studies in three German cities demonstrate the methodology. Comparative analysis shows FCD-based travel speeds typically indicate slower speeds at the segment level due to signalling effects but higher facility-wide travel speeds where coordinated signal systems are present. The results suggest FCD can enhance performance evaluation methods, though discrepancies between FCD-derived and traditional metrics must be managed. The study underscores FCD’s potential to provide realistic performance assessments of urban roadways while highlighting the need for further research to harmonise FCD-based methods with existing regulatory frameworks.