1. Traffic Monitoring at NCDOT
NCARPO Business Meeting
July 26th, 2019
Traffic Monitoring at NCDOT
Jamie Viera & Kerry Morrow
Transportation Planning Division - Traffic Survey Group

2. Agenda Classification Count Scheduling Where We Collect
Types of Class Counts and Class Schemes
Segmentation
Statistics and Publications
Our New System
FAQs
Questions

3. Field Teams - Western, Central, and Eastern groups
Traffic Survey Group
Group Organizational Chart January 2019
Traffic Survey Eng.
Engineering Supervisor III
GN19
( )
Kerry Morrow
Data
Systems
Field Teams - Western, Central, and Eastern groups
Data Systems Supervisor
Program Manager I
GN15
( )
Steve Piotrowski
Field Operations
Electronic Systems
Traffic Analysis
Field Operations Supervisor
Engineer II
GN14
( )
Vacant
Analysis Supervisor
Engineer II
GN14
( )
Jamie Viera
6 Class Count Technicians Collect 1,000 stations per year
Field Supervisor
Engineering Technician II
GN09
( )
Louis Alley
Field Supervisor
Engineering Technician II
GN09
( )
Graham Lee
Field Supervisor
Engineering Technician II
GN09
( )
Felix Nobles
Electronic Supervisor
Electronics Technician
GN11
( )
Mike Cook
Class Count Technician
Engineering Technician I
GN08
( )
Michael Blackham
Class Count Technician
Engineering Technician I
GN08
( )
Tim Pleasant
Class Count Technician
Engineering Technician I
GN08
( )
Stephen Morris
Electronic Systems Tech
Electronic Technician II
GN09
( )
Kevin Sullivan
Electronic Systems Tech
Electronic Technician II
GN09
( )
James Brock
Traffic Analyst
Engineering Technician III
GN10
( )
Randy Perry
Traffic Analyst
Engineering Technician II
GN09
( )
Jimmie Brunson
Class Count Technician
Engineering Technician I
GN08
( )
Seth Hyde
Class Count Technician
Engineering Technician I
GN08
( )
Damion Butler
Class Count Technician
Engineering Technician I
GN08
( )
Vacant
Electronic Maintenance Tech
Electronic Technician I
GN07
( )
Daniel Traub
Electronic Systems Tech
Electronic Technician II
GN09
( )
Thomas White
Traffic Analyst
Engineering Technician II
GN09
( )
Jerome Johnson
Traffic Analyst
Engineering Technician II
GN09
( )
Ted Baker
Volume Count Technician
Engineering Assistant
GN05
( )
John Pardo
Volume Count Technician
Engineering Assistant
GN05
( )
Richard Wagner
Volume Count Technician
Engineering Assistant
GN05
( )
Billy Cox
Electronic Maintenance Tech
Electronic Technician I
GN07
( )
Jerry Lewis
Traffic Analyst
Engineering Technician I
GN08
( )
Vacant
Traffic Analyst
Engineering Technician I
GN08
( )
Sandy Prince
Volume Count Technician
Engineering Assistant
GN05
( )
Justin Willis
Volume Count Technician
Engineering Assistant
GN05
( )
Carlos Velez
Volume Count Technician
Engineering Assistant
GN05
( )
Ryan Neal
Traffic Analyst
Engineering Technician I
GN08
( )
Wendy Epps
Traffic Analyst
Engineering Technician I
GN08
( )
Marek Wiktor
Volume Count Technician
Engineering Assistant
GN05
( )
Tim Anderson
Volume Count Technician
Engineering Assistant
GN05
( )
Vacant
Volume Count Technician
Engineering Assistant
GN05
( )
Jeremy Rieger
Volume Count Technician
Engineering Assistant
GN05
( )
Randall Moxley
Volume Count Technician
Engineering Assistant
GN05
( )
Larry Kimrey
Volume Count Technician
Engineering Assistant
GN05
( )
David Price

4. Coverage Count Program
Smaller amounts of data are collected at many locations
Two types of data are collected for this program:
Volume – AADT is an estimate of the average daily volume for all days of the year for all lanes of travel at a location
Class – Truck AADT is an estimate of Single and Multi Unit trucks that is generated from classification count data and applied to the AADT volume data on a segment
AADT = Annual Average Daily Traffic

5. Scheduling Collection
Approximately 1,100 Class Stations collected each year.

6. 2019 Short-Term Class Stations to be Collected

7. 2020 Short-Term Class Stations to be Collected

8. 2021 Short-Term Class Stations to be Collected

9. All Short-Term Class Stations

10. Where do we collect Class Counts?
All National Highway System (NHS) Truck Routes
NC Truck Routes
**Please keep in mind that not all Local Truck Routes fall into these categories
Where can I see the NCDOT truck network?

11. NCDOT Truck Network

12. Types of Class Counts Tube-Based Class Count MC – Manual Class Count
Collected by our field team
Tube-based count
48-hour count
Collects FHWA’s 13-class scheme
MC – Manual Class Count
Collected through our Mobility & Safety contract
Video and/or manual count board
14-hour count
Collects NCDOT 4-Class scheme

14. MU – Multi Unit Trucks
TTST + Twins

15. What information do we get from a Class Count?
Class Percentages broken down for 13 classes
If total volume = 7,000 and Class 5 = 1200, then Class 5 = 1200/7,000 = 17.1%
If total volume = 11,000 and Class 9 = 250, then Class 9 = 250/11,000 = 2.3%
Axle Factors
These are used to adjust the axle-based volume counts along the class segment to generate AADT

16. Why collect Manual Class?
Manual Class Counts are requested in areas where normal tube collection is dangerous or not feasible.
Safety is our #1 priority
Speed limit above 55mph
Too many lanes of traffic to securely place tubing
Areas of congestion – cars sitting on tubing
Manual Class counts are taken on Interstates and Freeways due to speed and safety.

17. A Manual Class Count is only 14 hours…
Counts collected from 6:00am to 8:00pm
Expansion factors adjust count to 24-hour estimate
Expansion factors differ for each uncollected hour of the day
Seasonal factors are applied to vehicle total, SU, and MU separately to generate annualized traffic statistics
Different factors for trucks

18. A Note on Traffic Segments
Highway system is segmented to identify where traffic is monitored
A route is segmented when it crosses other monitored routes
Truck segmentation is defined by National Highway System (NHS) routes and NC truck routes

19. Segmentation

20. Class Segment

21. More on Traffic Segments
Approximately 29,000 volume segments used for HPMS
Class segments cover multiple volume segments
Approximately 3,200 class segments (1 for each station)

22. When are statistics updated?
AADT estimates are generated for all monitoring stations every year
Truck Percentages are updated on a 3-year cycle
Truck AADT updated on an annual basis

23. How are Truck AADTs updated annually?
Class data is seasonally factored to generate annualized class distributions
Truck percentages are assigned to volume segments
Truck AADTs are generated by applying the percentages to the AADT estimates
In off-cycle years, the percentages from the previous year are carried forward and applied to the current year AADT estimates

24. Where to find data publications
Traffic Volume Maps and GIS data can be found at our website:
The Interactive Traffic Volume Map allows you to input an address to search the area for count stations.

25. What’s New? New data being provided: Class Stations
Coming in the Fall:
TCDS – Traffic Count Database System
More information will be provided before “go-live”

26. FAQs
What information will be available on the new Traffic Data Website?
1 Stop Shop for Volume, Classification, and Continuous Data
Data will be available at your convenience
Various reports (in progress) will be available to meet your needs

27. Traffic Data Website

28. What is Viewable? View data in 15-minute intervals and hourly totals
View AM/PM Peak
View the date of collection
Data shown for 1 day only

29. Dates of Data Collection
Axle Factor and Seasonal Factor Group
Dates of Data Collection
Raw Count Data
AADT

30. Shows each direction and 2-way total for Day 1
DRAFT
Shows each direction and 2-way total for Day 1

31. FAQs
When will this new Traffic Data Website be available for the public to use?
We are currently finishing up with Phase 1, which includes the collection and analysis workflows. Phase 2 begins soon and will include the creation of customer reports and publications.
We are working to create a list of different customer reports that we would like to provide.
We invite your input in sharing with us what types of data you would like to get from our reports.

32. FAQs What if I think a class station should be added to a facility?
If you feel that a classification station needs to be added to a facility, please reach out to the Traffic Survey Group. You’ll need to provide the location in question and your reasoning for needing classification data collected.
Due to the amount of time needed for class data collection, we may not agree to add a new station. You can speak with your TPD Planner to see about having special one-time project counts taken.

33. FAQs
There is a truck route in my area, but class data isn’t collected. Why?
This may be because the truck route in your area is designated as a Local Truck Route but is not designated as an NC Truck Routes or NHS Truck Routes.
If the route is designated as an NC or NHS Truck Route, please contact us to discuss.

34. Questions? Kerry Morrow kmorrow@ncdot.gov
Jamie Viera