You cannot understand transportationtrendswithout understanding trafficmovements.The accurate measurementoftrafficincluding timely traffic counts is paramountto effective decision making. Unfortunately, traffic counttechnology islagging behind.
WhyDo GovernmentsCountTraffic?
Counting traffic is vital forlocal and national governments to make informed decisions about mobility, infrastructureandtaxation.This information is usedto better understand thepresent and prepare for the future.Thereare alsoseveralmundanereasons why getting an accurate traffic count is important.
In the USfor example,local governmentsneeddata on trafficin order to report to theHighway Performance Monitoring System(HPMS)–a national report that each statemustsubmit to the Federal Highway Administration.Traffic countdatais used bystakeholders to make smartdecisionsfocusingon roadmaintenance,for example resurfacing or improving highways.Amazingly,there areonly about 500 counting stations across the entire US.These decisions form the basis according to which the federal governmentallocatesbudgetsto local governments to support infrastructure work.Accuratedatahas thepotential totranslateintobudgets.
Similar reportingmay berequiredby different levels of governmentandtask forces.Governmentandmunicipalitiesmay be best servedwith theuse ofanaccurate and easy method of traffic counting.COVID-19,for example, is noted as thecauseofa30% drop in fuel tax receiptsas a result offewervehicles on the roadadditional reductions in collected taxes may be due toEV adoption. Governmentsneed to understand where was dropsin trafficvolume occur to better plan forflucuationsin tax payments and shifts ininfrastructure, and maintenance needs.
What Information is Gathered Using Traffic Counts?
When you hear about traffic counting, there are a few commontermsthat come up time and time again.
Let’s look at some of the most commontermsand what they mean.
- Vehicle Miles Travelled / VehicleKilometresTravelled:Shortened to VMT or VKT. At its simplest,this is a measure ofwhat distance wastravelledusing vehiclesoverall andis calculatedby multiplying the amount of daily traffic on a roadway segment by the length of the segment, then summing all the segments’ VMTor VKTfor a givenperiod of time.Total VMT or VKT gives a measure of the demand for vehicular transportation and can be used to estimate its environmental impact. In order toget a better understanding of this impact, some modern VMTstake into accountthe vehicle type (expressed as a multiplier).
- Average Annual Daily Traffic:AADTis usually where government compliance is focused, and thismeasuresaload of traffic on a specific road segment. Howmany vehiclesdrive onthis part of the road, on average, over agivenperiod of time.This metricprovides information onhow busy a specific roadis,andis a good indicatorfor wear-and-tearandfor problematic roadswhether changes like an additional lane orsmart signage can be implemented.
- The K Factor:Averages can be misleading,andit is often more important to know what happens duringthepeak hour of traffic on any given road.Thisiscalculatedas aproportion of the AADT that’s happening in a single hour, and usually usesthe 30th highest hour of trafficin a year. This is used to understand what the impact ofachange will be, such as closing a lane,adding traffic lights,or other signals, as well as to estimate congestion.
Traffic CountinginAction – How is itPractically Done?
There areseveralwaysin whichstakeholderscancount traffic. Some provideacontinuous countthat offers24/7 monitoring,and othersareshort-termmeasurement projectstaking a snapshot for a settime frame(for example48 hours)andtheextrapolateit.
Traditionally, sensor technology has been used to gathertrafficinformation–inductive loops and magnetometers, or induction coils in the road. These are limited in the data that they gather, focusing on speed and location. Of course, they can only gather information abouta sample that is at theirlocation.
Off-road technologies have alsobeen usedwithradar or infraredcamerasto gather information about cars as they pass. There are also digital camera solutions, although these can be costly to implement. These solutions are less disruptive to implement, but they still have the issue of gaps in coverage and insight.
A more holistic approach is to utilize the vehicles themselves, which are increasingly connected. A recent survey shows that already62% ofsmart citydecision makers already use vehicle data, and that number is set to grow.Vehiclestoday transmit a growing amount of data,andit makes sense to utilize this to provideanaccurate, timely,andcontinuouscount of traffic. One that covers every and any road, and at a fraction of current costs.
Connected vehicles are abetter source of data for VMTproviding real rather thanextrapolateddata andallowing data to be enriched withmulti-layereddata.Instead of assuming a K factor based on a year’s worth of historical data – connected vehicles can share information in real-time that provides an accurate picture of current events, and the impact of any change.Vehicles can share information on congestion, location, end-to-end journey time, braking, weather, and more – and all without any infrastructure costs whatsoever, ensuring zero gaps in visibility.
Looking to learn more abouthowconnected vehicle datacan be used to measure traffic?talk to one of our data experts.
