Do vehicles speed on North River Road?

There are two Traffic Logix SafePace digital radar speed signs on North River Road in Charlottetown, one near the corner of Waterview Heights, just south of Ellen’s Creek, and the other in the heart of Brighton near the corner of Green Street.

These signs detect and display the speed of oncoming vehicles, showing the speed in red if it’s in excess of the posted limit (50 km/h for the first, 40 km/h for the second).

These signs log their readings, and it occurred to me that having data in aggregate might be a useful tool for those interested in transportation in the city, especially walking, rolling, and cycling, where speeding vehicles are a particular safety issue. So I made an Access to Information request to the City of Charlottetown, which was fulfilled in short order.

Here’s what I received.

Waterview Heights

The display at Waterview Heights and North River Road logged 476,774 vehicles travelling south on North River Road between January 14, 2021 and May 19, 2021 (125 days); this is an average of 3,814 vehicles per day.

42% were driving at or below the posted speed limit of 50 km/h.

58% of vehicles were driving in excess of the speed limit:

• 28% were going 51 to 55 km/h
• 18% were going 56 to 60 km/h
• 8% were going 61 to 65 km/h
• 3% were going 66 to 70 km/h
• 1% were going 71 to 75 km/h
• 0.2% were going more than 75 km/h

Here’s the CSV file for this display.

Green Street

The display at Green Street and North River Road logged 270,903 vehicles travelling south on North River Road between January 14, 2021 and May 19, 2021 (125 days); this is an average of 2,167 vehicles per day.

47% were driving at or below the posted speed limit of 40 km/h.

53% of vehicles were driving in excess of the speed limit:

• 32% were going 41 to 45 km/h
• 16% were going 46 to 50 km/h
• 4% were going 51 to 55 km/h
• 1% were going 56 to 60 km/h
• 0.13% were going more than 60 km/h

Here’s the CSV file for this display.

Your neighbourhood?

There are other digital radar speed signs in Charlottetown for which similar data is available; to request this data, submit an Access Request to Charlottetown Police requesting the data in CSV form (mine was provided to me on a CD-ROM). There is a $5 fee per request.