Travel Demand Modeling for Traffic Estimation on Low-Class Local Roads

Traffic volume data is one of most important information for decision-makings related to planning, design, management, operation, and control of transportation system. Often, traffic count data are not available for a significant portion of highway network because it would be prohibitive to cover all roads with traditional traffic-counter based monitoring system, particularly for low-class roads in rural areas. In cases where traffic volumes are needed but unavailable, travel demand models (TDMs) can be used to estimate such information. This study implements TDMs for two regions in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Study results show that TDMs can generate reasonable traffic estimates for low-class roads. The methodology proposed in this study features with relatively low implementation cost and resulting traffic estimates can general meet data needs of low-class roads.