A self-calibrating model to estimate average speed from AADT

Abstract

Transport practitioners need a universally applicable speed prediction model to estimate average speeds on any road. Average annual speed is a key input to the economic assessment of transport infrastructure where reliable estimates of future average speeds are necessary to calculate economic costs and benefits. The relationship between Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) and average annual speed was investigated on higher-order roads across South Africa, revealing a high level of variability in this correlation at different locations. This variation is influenced by road characteristics, such as alignment and cross-section, complicating the formulation of a universal speed prediction model. Two novel speed prediction models are proposed in this article that use AADT to forecast future average annual speed. The speeds of heavy vehicles and light vehicles can be estimated separately, as well as the average speed of all vehicles simultaneously. Both models are self-calibrating, accounting for the variation in the AADT-speed relationship. This calibration step is unique to speed prediction models and increases the reliability of these models to estimate future average speeds considerably. Furthermore, self-calibrating average annual speed prediction models are universally applicable and will simplify economic assessment of transport infrastructure.