Analysis of 24-Hour versus 48-Hour Traffic Counts for HPMS Sampling

Hall, James P.; Sung, Chung-Hsien; Morgan, William

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/48937 Copy

Description

Title

Analysis of 24-Hour versus 48-Hour Traffic Counts for HPMS Sampling

Author(s)

• Hall, James P.
• Sung, Chung-Hsien
• Morgan, William

Issue Date

2014-04

Keyword(s)

• traffic-count program
• traffic data analysis
• Highway Performance Monitoring System
• annual average daily traffic

Abstract

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) has requested a waiver from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to allow IDOT to implement a 24-hour traffic-count program on the non-state HPMS routes, as opposed to the current Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) count cycle and duration requirement for a 48-hour minimum counting cycle. IDOT proposes to count these routes twice in a 5-year cycle. IDOT’s concern is that the collection of 24-hour counts, as opposed to 48-hour counts, would enable more efficient use of agency resources, yet still maintain the statistical integrity of the annual average daily traffic (AADT) estimation process for HPMS reporting. IDOT had conducted research in the 1980s comparing the two count durations and has been following the conclusions from that study in conducting 24-hour counts. IDOT had been granted an FHWA waiver for the 24-hour counts on state routes since 1992. Because traffic patterns have changed over the years, IDOT wanted to review the relative differences between the two count durations. The objective of this study was to perform a statistical analysis on IDOT’s automated traffic recorder (ATR) continuous-count traffic data, collected from 103 statewide ATR locations, to compare the relative differences between 24-hour count periods and 48-hour count periods that are factored to compute AADT. Statistical analyses were performed for statewide ATR data across various roadway functional classification categories and also split by District 1 and downstate (Districts 2–9). In general, the analyses found that, with the application of appropriate daily traffic-count adjustment factors, the 24-hour counts were statistically comparable to 48-hour traffic counts.

Publisher

Illinois Center for Transportation/Illinois Department of Transportation

Series/Report Name or Number

Illinois Center for Transportation Series No. 14-007

ISSN

0197-9191

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/48937

Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)

R27-SP22

Copyright and License Information

No restrictions. This document is available to the public through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia 22161

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