Motor Vehicle Speed Detection in London Ontario Canada

by | Oct 11, 2024 | News

On October 4, 2024 four Speed Display Boards (SDBs) were mounted on various utility poles on Hale Street in East London, Ontario. Independent from the City of London’s activities, Gorski Consulting conducted multi-video camera documentations from one of these displays. The erratic functioning of the SDB was also documented.

Background

Documenting of motor vehicle speeds has become an increasing activity on roadways throughout the world. This has been possible as technology has allowed for for more sophisticated methods. As vehicles become more connected to the roadway infrastructure, and to themselves, accurate and precise speed data will become more pervasive. In the vicinity of London, Ontario, Canada those future connections are still forthcoming, however various forms of traffic surveillance exist. More permanent speed cameras have been authorized by local authorities, primarily at important intersections. However portable traffic monitoring units have also begun to be used at an increasing rate. The City of London has begun posting portable “Scout” traffic monitoring units in designated communities as shown in the example below.

Throughout the spring of 2024 a number of portable Scout traffic monitoring units were installed by the City of London in south London. These units are typically posted for one or two days to provide 24-hour counts of traffic. Such data can also be attached to artificial intelligence algorithms that can rapidly provide detailed information about traffic patterns, volumes and speeds.

As officials have concluded that typical speeding controls by the physical presence of police are expensive, a variety of infrastructure changes have been introduced. Speed bumps, or humps, are a way making it more difficult for the average driver to pass over them at higher speeds and therefore it is believed that this can be a successful method of controlling speed and increasing safety. Various methods of narrowing streets or placing obstacles within the traffic lane are also consistent with the belief that, making it more challenging to pass through them will reduce speeds and increase safety. The success of these changes has never included a detailed documentation of what damage they cause to motor vehicles that pass over or through them and to what degree single vehicle collisions are increased through contacting these structures or by drivers attempting to avoid them. As most such instances result in relatively minor damage they do not make it to official statistics.

Another option has involved the use of Speed Display Boards (SDBs) that display the speed of an approaching vehicle in the hope that this will reduce the driver’s speed. Gorski Consulting has conducted several observational documentations of SDBs in the past with mixed results. A new opportunity revealed itself when, on October 4, 2024, the City of London set up four SDBs on Hale Street in east London, Ontario. This allowed Gorski Consulting to attend at one of the SDBs to document the speeds that the SDB displayed. This also allowed for an assessment of the functioning of the SDB.

Description of the Current Speed Display Board (SDB) Study

In our recent studies on Hale Street two-hour video sessions were completed on four dates:

October 4,2024 between 2100 & 2300 hours

October 5, 2024 between 0600 & 0800 hours

October 5, 2024 between 1600 & 1800 hours

October 5, 2024 between 2050 & 2250 hours

These sessions documented northbound vehicles in the distance from the north end of the roundabout of Hale, through to the location of the SDB, just past the north end of the property at 361 Hale Street, as shown in the graphic below.

This is a Google maps view of the zone on Hale Street in London, Ontario where the Speed Display Board was able to detect northbound vehicles. First detection occurred just as vehicles were near the bottom of the slope at the roundabout. The detection ceased at the north end of the property at 361 Hale Street where the SDB was located. This detection distance was approximately 180 metres.
This is a photo of Hale Street showing a northward view of traffic during rush hour on Friday, October 4, 2024. The Speed Display Board (SDB) can be seen on the closest utility pole, above the roofs of the southbound vehicles. Another SDB also exists on the third pole in the distant background but this was not the focus of the study.
This is a view looking southbound on Hale Street on the morning of October 8, 2024. Note the vast difference in traffic volume compared to the previous photo. The SDB can be seen on the closest utility pole on the right. The up-slope in the background is where the roundabout exists at the intersection with Trafalgar Road.

For this present article only the data from the last session, October 5, 2024 between 2050 and 2250 hours, will be reviewed.

Throughout the present study the SDB was noted to function erratically. Its display would become confused when there was more than one vehicle within the 180-metre detection zone. At times the SDB would continue displaying a speed for several seconds after the last vehicle already exited the detection zone. At other times the SDB failed to detect the presence of a vehicle even when there was no interference and there was only a single vehicle approaching through the detection zone.

However It is believed, based on previous experience, that these detection failures do not carry over into providing inaccurate displays of actual approach speed of the vehicles that have been detected. On several occasions the speed displayed by a SDB has been compared to the speed calculated from our multi-vehicle camera procedures and it has been found that the two methods come to substantial agreement with respect to the actual speed of vehicles.

Results From Current Traffic Study

A review of the speed data showed that, in the two-hour session from 2050 to 2250 hours , a total of 87 observations of northbound vehicles were documented. There were actually many more northbound vehicles present however, due to the known problems that the SDB had with reliable detection, documentation was made only in those occasions where a single vehicle was present within the detection zone. This was done to be certain that the displayed speed data was not contaminated by confusion of the SDB when more than one vehicle was present in the detection zone. Thus there were a number of occasions where a line of several northbound vehicles passed through the site but they could not be documented because it was known that the SDB would not be able to distinguish between the speed of each vehicle in the detection zone.

The speed data that was collected included the speed indicated by the SDB when the vehicle first became detected. At night-time it was observed that the SDB could first detect vehicles at a distance of about 180 metres. In daytime hours this distance was much shorter. While it cannot be known for certain it is believed that during nighttime the contrast between the headlights of approaching vehicles and the dark surroundings made it easier for the SDB to detect a vehicle.

A second speed was documented which was the highest speed detected during the time that the SDB was displaying the approaching vehicle’s speed. In a very large percentage of times the speed at first detection was also the highest speed that as detected.

A third speed was documented which was the final speed displayed on the SDB as the approaching vehicle exited the detection zone.

The posted maximum speed in this zone of detection was 40 km/h. It was found that the average speed of northbound vehicles at initial detection was 52.72 km/h. The average maximum speed detected during the full travel distance was 54.02 km/h. And the average speed when the vehicles exited the detection zone was 43.21 km/h.

The conclusion drawn from this study is that drivers were travelling substantially faster than the posted maximum speed when they entered the detection zone. Some of those drivers travelled even faster as they passed through the detection zone. However the data shows that the average driver responded well to observing the speed shown on the SDB and average speeds were reduced to just above the posted maximum speed by the time that vehicle exited the detection zone. However not all the news was good.

Thirteen of the 87 northbound vehicles were observed to be travelling above 60 km/h or over 20 km/h above the posted speed limit. Thus about 15 per cent of drivers were driving at 20 km/h or faster than the posted speed limit. This is fairly consistent with results obtained by Gorski Consulting from other sites in past studies. However, of the 87 documented vehicles, not a single vehicle was ever observed to pass through the detection zone at a maximum speed of 40 km/h or lower. Thus it could be argued that 100 per cent of the documented vehicles were “speeding”.

However, at the end of the detection zone 23 of the 87, or 26 per cent, vehicles were observed to be travelling at 40 km/h or less. This may indicate a temporary success or it may also have some longer lasting effects that would need further study.

Other Speed Studies At Site

Previously Gorski Consulting had conducted several, multi-video camera studies on Hale Street. Several sessions were conducted in June, 2021 when Hale Street was still signed with a 50 km/h maximum speed. In these sessions the purpose was to document traffic (motor vehicle and cyclist) and pedestrian volume. Thus speeds were not calculated.

The Maximum Posted Speed on Hale Street was reduced to 40 km/h on approximately September 1, 2022. Before this change took place two speed studies were conducted by Gorski Consulting in May of 2022 at the same site of Hale Street where the current SDB analysis was conducted. On Wednesday, May 11, 2022 synchronized, multiple video cameras were set up and speeds were documented over a one-hour period. In that study only non-interfered vehicles were documented. Both northbound and southbound vehicles were documented, commencing at 1335 hours. The results showed that, over the one-hour period, 226 southbound vehicles were documented and their average speed was 57.67 km/h. Ninety-one of these 226 vehicles were observed to be travelling at 60 km/h or more. This percentage is just over 40 per cent. In contrast 245 northbound vehicles were documented and their average speed was 51.56 km/h. Only 17 of those 245 vehicles were observed to be travelling at 60 km/h or higher, or about 6.9 per cent. Thus on this afternoon the average speed of southbound vehicles was much higher than northbound vehicles.

In the second study, on May 21, 2022, vehicle speed documentation was commenced at 1825 hours for one hour. Of the 199 southbound vehicles their average speed was 54.69 km/h. Forty-two of those southbound vehicles were observed to be travelling at or above 60 km/h, or 21.1 per cent. For northbound vehicles 205 were documented with an average speed of 53.51 km/h and 38 of those vehicles travelled at or above 60 km/h, or 18.5 per cent. Thus during these session conducted during the evening the average speeds of northbound and southbound vehicles was similar.

Additional data was also obtained on two other dates but this data has not be analysed up to this time. Thus a speed study was conducted on May 12, 2022 when the posted speed limit was 50 km/h, and another was performed on May 26, 2023 after the posted speed limit was reduced to 40 km/h. Because speed analysis is so time consuming we have not found time to review this data, although this may be done sometime in the future.

Summary

It has been suggested by many that road safety can be improved by posting a reduced maximum speed. Studies by Gorski Consulting suggest this belief is not supported by our traffic data. On Hale Street vehicles were observed to travel substantially above the speed limit of 50 km/h however the speeds varied in terms of time of day and direction of travel. Once the speed limit was reduced to 40 km/h the SDB data showed that, when first detected, motor vehicles continued travel at about the same speed in the new 40 km/h zone as they did when the area was a 50 km/h zone. As the SDB data showed that not a single documented vehicle travelled at or below the 40 km/h speed limit one could argue that 100 per cent of drivers were “speeding” when they were first detected. Yet the SDB data also showed that the vast majority of drivers reduced their speed as they passed through the detection zone. This success may be temporary, or it may have longer lasting benefits. Conclusions can be made if further traffic studies are performed.