Statewide Traffic Volume Studies and Precision of AADT Estimates
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 122, Issue 6
Abstract
Investigated in this paper is the statistical precision of annual average daily traffic (AADT) estimates resulting from short period traffic counts (SPTC). A large number of automatic traffic recorder (ATR) sites located on Minnesota's highway system are studied. Effects of various factors on estimation errors are investigated. The appropriateness of volume adjustment factors is expressed in terms of assignment effectiveness, which reflects the degree of correctness with which a sample site is assigned to an ATR group. Among several other conclusions, it is found that AADT estimation errors are very sensitive to the assignment effectiveness. The study results suggest that highway agencies should put more emphasis on sample site assignments to correct ATR groups than on the duration of count, i.e., whether it be a 24-, 48-, or 72-hr traffic count. The main study findings are confirmed by analyzing ATR data from two Canadian provinces, namely, Alberta and Saskatchewan. It is believed that the material presented in this paper can be beneficial to highway agencies in the rationalization of their traffic volume counting programs.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Albright, D.(1991a). “An imperative for, and current progress toward national traffic monitoring standards.”ITE J., 61(6), 22–26.
2.
Albright, D.(1991b). “The development of ASTM highway traffic monitoring standards.”Standardization News, 19(2), 22–27.
3.
Albright, D. (1993). '`Standards, innovation, and the future of traffic monitoring.”ITE J., 63(1), 31–36.
4.
Erhunmwunsee, P. O.(1991). “Estimating average annual daily traffic flow from short period counts.”ITE J., 61(11), 23–30.
5.
Garber, N. J., and Hoel, L. A. (1988). Traffic and highway engineering . West Publishing Co., New York, N.Y., 97–118.
6.
McClave, J. T., and Dietrich, F. H. (1994). Statistics, 6th Ed., Macmillan College Publishing Co., New York, N.Y., 302–315.
7.
Mulinazzi, T. E., and Carter, E. C. (1977). “Study of statewide traffic volume counting systems for Maryland and West Virginia.”Rep. TSC-0100, Transp. Studies Ctr., Univ. of Maryland, College Park, Md.
8.
Phillips, G.(1980). “When to mount a traffic count.”Trafic Engrg. and Control, 21(1), 4–6.
9.
Sharma, S. C. (1983). “Minimizing cost of manual traffic counts: Canadian example.”Transp. Res. Rec. 905, Transp. Res. Board, Washington, D.C., 1–7.
10.
Sharma, S. C., and Allipuram, R. R.(1993). “Duration and frequency of seasonal traffic counts.”J. Transp. Engrg., ASCE, 119(3), 344–359.
11.
Sharma, S. C., and Leng, Y.(1994). “Seasonal traffic counts for a precise estimation of AADT.”ITE J., 64(7), 21–28.
12.
Sharma, S. C., and Werner, A. (1981). “Improved method of grouping provincewide permanent traffic counter.”Transp. Res. Rec. 815, Transp. Res. Board, Washington, D.C. 13–18.
13.
Sharma, S. C., Kilburn, P., and Wu, Y.(1996). “The precision of AADT volume estimates from seasonal traffic counts: Alberta example.”Can. J. Civ. Engrg., Ottawa, Canada, 23(1), 302–304.
14.
Traffic monitoring guide. (1985). Fed. Hwy. Admin., U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Washington, D.C.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 122 • Issue 6 • November 1996
Pages: 430 - 439
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Nov 1, 1996
Published in print: Nov 1996
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.