Traffic Light Analysis

A COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF TRAFFIC AT THREE GEORGE TOWN

INTERSECTIONS CONTROLLED BY TRAFFIC LIGHTS.

A Thesis
Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelors of Business
Administrator in Accounting Concentration

of
The International College of the Cayman Islands

George Gorham
Kimberly Dawson
Annika Solomon
2016
MA- 207 Intro to Statistics
Professor Keane Campbell
ICCI
Table of Contents

Traffic Light Analysis

Abstract............................................................................................................................................3
History of Locations Selected..........................................................................................................4
Method Used & Numerical Data Representation............................................................................7
Statistical Data Analysis.................................................................................................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................13

Traffic Light Analysis

Abstract
In this projected we went out to collect data of traffic moving through intersections in George
Town that is controlled by traffic lights. This was to test the traffic flow of cars during different
times and days of the week as to how busy the intersections are on those particular days. Our
findings provide information about the history of the areas and methods used to collect the data,
numerical representation of the data, and statistical analysis of the data. For the history and
method used the group tallied cars to collect data. The numerical representation of our findings
were converted into graphs and then compared. The statistical analysis include calculation of the
mean, variance, and standard deviation to then make an inference about the data.

Traffic Light Analysis

Introduction
According to the National Roads Authority (2016), roads are one of the first indicators
of the stability and strength of any country's infrastructure. They are the avenues to social and
economic growth, providing access to health centres, financial institutions, supermarkets and
most importantly, to family and friends.
In this group project we were all assigned to go out to different intersections controlled
by traffic lights for an hour. Kim went to the compass intersection on June 6, Monday at 4:10
p.m. to 5:10 p.m. George went to the intersection by KFC and On The Run gas station on May
28, Saturday at 6:00 p.m. to 7 p.m. Annika went to the cricket field intersection on June 7,
Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Kim gathered the history of the location and method used to
collect the data. Annika did the numerical representation of the data. George did the calculation
of the data and statistical inference. As a group we discussed which graph was more useful.
History of Locations
The Intersection Annika went to collect her data for this project is referred to as the
Cricket Field Stop light. This four way intersection street names are Bobby Thompson Way,
Huldah Ave and Smith Road. Smith road was recently reconstructed to upgrade and widen the
road to three lanes inclusive of a central turning lane. It was completed Nov/Dec 2015. The
major part of the reconstruction was to construct a continuous sidewalk along the south side of
Smith Road to improve safety. There was a plaza that was just recently built on the corner of
Huldah Ave and Smith road.
The stoplight is called Cricket field Stop Light by the locals due to that fact there is a
cricket field on the corner across the plaza of Smith road and Huldah Ave. Cricket games are
usually held on the weekends. Before Grand Cayman became the financial centre that it is today,
settlers usually lived in Smith Road due to it being close to the waterfront where business took
place.

Traffic Light Analysis

Cricke
t Field

The Intersection George went to collect his data for this project is referred to as the
KFC Stop light. This three way intersection street names are North Church Street, Eastern
Avenue and West Bay Road. This spotlight is near to Dog City which is the name given by
Locals for Watlers Drive. This name was given because of the number of stray dogs roaming the
street.

The Intersection Kim went to collect her data for this project is referred to as the
Compass Stop light by locals. This four way intersection street names are Thomas Russel

Traffic Light Analysis

Avenue, North Sound Road and Shedden Road. This spotlight is near to one of local newspaper
company called Cayman Compass & Pinnacle Media Group Ltd. which was established in
1965.

Cayman Compass
Centre

Method Used
Method used to collect the data of traffic going through the intersection with traffic lights
was by Tallying. This took a lot of concentration because we had to keep track of the time via a
stop watch during the different light cycles as well as count cars at the same time.
Numerical Representation of Data
Annikas data was collected from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday June 7th. Her data
represents the amount of cars that were at the traffic light for each cycle coming from Smith
Road to Crewe Road at the Cricket Field traffic light.
As you analyze the graphs below you will notice that most cycles had about four to six
cars waiting at the traffic light. From the graphs you will see that the flow of traffic of cars
fluctuated quite a bit. The traffic of cars had no real pattern and the numbers are constantly going

Traffic Light Analysis

up and down. Below you will observe a dot plot graph and a bar graph.

Traffic Light Analysis

Georges Data
Georges data was collected from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Saturday May 28th. His data
represents the amount cars that were at the stoplight for each cycle at the KFC traffic light. As
you analyze the graphs, you will notice that it was less busy from cycle twenty-three to cycle
thirty-three. The graphs show that the traffic was more active during the start and end of the data
collection. We can see that the traffic flow was less active from cycle nine to cycle 31 with only a
few spikes in traffic flow. Below you will observe a dot plot graph and a bar graph.

Traffic Light Analysis

Kimberlys Data
Kimberlys data was collected from 4:10 p.m. to 5:10 p.m. on Monday June 6th. Her data
represents the amount cars that were at the stoplight for each cycle at the Compass traffic light.

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10

As you analyze the graphs you will notice that most cycles had sixteen to twenty cars
during this busy hour. A few of the traffic light cycles had eleven to fifteen cars during this time
also. Below you will observe a dot plot graph and a bar graph.

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11

After analyzing the graphs that were created from the data collected from George,
Kimberly, and Annika (we) had a discussion as to which graph type was very understandable to
us. We all agreed that the bar graph was the most useful displaying the particular data we
collected as it laid out the information nicely. We found that the bar graph was very user-friendly
so, if we had to make a presentation to different groups of people this graph would be the easiest
to understand. We found that the bar graph laid out the data so that it was straight to the point and
you dont have to put much thought into reading this type of graph.

Statistical Data Analysis

Once we (the group) finished counting the cars that arrived at three different stoplight
locations (near KCF, the cricket field, and the compass) it gave insight to numerical data that
could be used for statistical analysis. After my classmates provided me with the data they
collected, I used an excel spreadsheet to document our findings. It turns out that each of our
findings were similar and different in certain ways. For example, similarly each of us counted

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12

cars for an hour and the amount of light cycles that occurred during this time was approximately
forty, which works out to be about one minute and a half per light cycle. In contrast, the total
amount of cars that were counted between Annika, Kim, and George came to be 313, 628, and
449 respectively.
Further analysis of our groups data as a whole showed that the mean or average amount
of cars arriving per light cycle was 12 (1390 cars divided by 120 light cycles rounded to the
nearest whole number). After calculating the mean it was possible to then find the sample
variance. In reference to The University of Alabama in Huntsville (2016), the variance is the
mean square deviation and is a measure of the spread of the data set with respect to the mean.
From the groups data I found a sample variance of 41 (rounded to the nearest whole number)
and a standard deviation of 6 (rounded to the nearest whole number). With this I can infer that
the majority of cars arriving at a light cycle ranged between 6 (12 minus 6) and 18 (12 plus 6)
cars, which is just the mean minus and plus the standard deviation.
The most frequent amount of cars that arrived at any one light cycle was 7 and this had a
probability of 9.2 percentile (11 out of 120 light cycles). According to UMassAmherst (2016),
the Poisson Distribution gives the expected frequency profile for events. In comparison to the
Poisson probability distribution I found that most probabilities varied significantly and others
were almost identical to the relative frequency distribution. For instance, the relative frequency
of 7 cars arriving at a stoplight is 9.2 percent, however the likelihood (from the Poisson table) of
7 cars arriving during the period of observation was .1048 or 10.48 percent. In retrospect, the
relative frequency distribution of 2 cars arriving at a stoplight is 1.7 percent, whereas the Poisson
probability is 0.0001 or 0.01 percent. Given these calculations I can infer that the measurement

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13

of values between the Poisson distribution and relative frequency distribution differ in their own
respects.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the traffic intersection information and data collected by our group
provided an interesting insight about the history of the areas we visited, methods used to collect
our data, numerical representation of our data, and statistical analysis of our data. Ultimately,
this experiment has provided a key example of how statistics can be applied to a real life
situation and be utilized to gain knowledge about a particular event.

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14

References
Cayman Compass. (2016). Our History. Retrieved from,
http://www.compasscayman.com/caycompass/portal/Our-History/
National Roads Authority. (2016). Cayman Roads - Home. Retrieved from,
http://caymanroads.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage
The University of Alabama in Huntsville. (2016). The Sample Variance. Retrieved from,
http://www.math.uah.edu/stat/sample/Variance.html
UmassAmherst. (2016). The Poisson Distribution. Retrieved from,
https://www.umass.edu/wsp/resources/poisson/