A PROPOSED STATISTICAL TRAFFIC COUNTING PROGRAM FOR SECONDARY ROADS IN IOWA. FINAL REPORT

A statistical sampling technique was developed to determine traffic count stations for collecting traffic data on secondary roads in Iowa. The proposed technique was applied to Audubon, Calhoun, and Decatur counties to estimate average daily traffic (ADT) and vehicle miles of travel (VMT). A 3% relative error for trunk roads and 5% relative error for other secondary roads were chosen. The sampling technique reduced the number of traffic count stations (as compared to traffic count locations obtained by the existing procedure) by 56% for Calhoun County, 34% for Audubon County, and 24% for Decatur County. This reduction in the number of traffic count stations resulted in savings of approximately $4,236 for the three counties combined. Savings could be increased (at the expense of accuracy) by increasing the relative errors used. An additional benefit of the proposed sampling technique would be the elimination of possible personal biases in selecting the traffic count stations as they are determined randomly under this procedure.

• Corporate Authors:

  Iowa Department of Transportation

  Planning and Research Division, 800 Lincoln Way
  Ames, IA  United States  50010
• Authors:
  • Baig, S
  • Nkansah, P T
• Publication Date: 1981-3

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 74 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accuracy; Average daily traffic; Cost effectiveness; Estimates; Manual traffic counts; Secondary roads; Statistical sampling; Vehicle miles of travel
• Geographic Terms: Iowa
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; I71: Traffic Theory;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00611044
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jul 31 1991 12:00AM