Evaluating the effects of road hump design on vehicle speed at a higher learning institution : a case study from IIUM

Abstract

Road safety is crucial for the road users on campus as most students and staffs would move about and around in the campus on foot, walking to class or to the office. As such, traffic speed has been observed to be one of the main transports determinants that could harm the safety of the population within the university area. Accordingly, road humps are introduced primarily on the main road in the campus area, as it is effective as a traffic calming measure in reducing speed. Nevertheless, the reduction in traffic speed depends on the design of the road humps. For that, this study investigates the effects of a road hump on the speed of vehicles at the main road of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). 18 road humps along the main road were selected, and the two types of vehicles that has been selected were the car and the motorcycle. The design profiles and spot speed of the vehicles at all road humps were respectively measured using measuring tape and radar guns. It was observed that only 5 out of the 18 road humps fell within the Minister of Works specification category. The speed of cars and motorcycles before, at, and after the road humps were analysed using descriptive analysis and t-test. The analysis included the evaluation of speed pattern, speed reduction, speed characteristics, and speed changes in relation with the different heights of road humps. The outcomes from the study yielded 5km/h to 16km/h reductions of mean speed. The reductions are being observed at Before-At road humps for both the car and motorcycle. Additionally, the t-test analysis had also shown that there was a significant effect of a road hump on the speed of vehicles that passed through the selected road humps. By that, the research hypothesis is accepted where there are differences in mean speed of vehicle at and before the road hump. Lastly, the findings are used to formulate the recommendations in improving the implementations of the road hump in a university setting.