NTL Record

Title Innovative Traffic Data QA/QC Procedures and Automating AADT Estimation
Record ID 67969
Personal Name
Creator
Holik, William A.; Tsapakis, Ioannis; Vandervalk, Anita; Turner, Shawn M.; Habermann, John
Personal Name
Contributor
Thompson, Stuart
Corporate Creator United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Safety
Corporate
Contributor
Texas Transportation Institute
Publisher United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Safety
Publication Date 20170301
Language English
Abstract This case study highlights two noteworthy practices at the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) regarding short-duration traffic count validation procedures and an automated annual average daily traffic (AADT) estimation process. SEMCOG maintains a centralized traffic count database and receives traffic counts from the local agencies in southeast Michigan. SEMCOG conducts 46 validity checks on all traffic count data to identify invalid data available in the database but not adequate for analysis. After implementing the system, SEMCOG reduced labor costs associated with converting and entering data and was able to spend more time analyzing data. SEMCOG developed an algorithm that works inside its geographic information system (GIS) to improve AADT estimates by searching for uncounted segments with nearby counted segments. When a counted segment is identified, the algorithm calculates the weighted average of two nearby segments and assigns that AADT to the uncounted segment. This process was automated using Python scripts, which results in an increase in the number of AADT estimates without requiring additional field data collection.
Rosap ID dot:42856
Rosap URL https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/42856
TRT Terms Quality assurance; Quality control; Annual average daily traffic; Traffic data; Data quality
Geographical
Coverage
United States
Contract Number DTFH6116D00004
Report Number FHWA-SA-17-035
Resource type Tech Report
URL https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/67000/67900/67969/FHWA-SA-17-035.pdf
Format PDF
Database NTL Digital Repository