That was the whole point of this thread wasn't it, to ask what the effect is of stops on the average speed? Not everyone is lucky enough to live in absolutely pancake-flat terrain with no traffic lights or stop signs anywhere. For people in the real world, like me, being able to somehow compensate for stops and know the effect on average speed would be handy. Further, as explained several times already, average speed in less than ideal circumstances can be useful as indicators of improvement when used with the exact same course in similar conditions.