Traffic survey people sitting everywhere - what's the point?
Discussion
25 older chaps in neon yellows descended upon our junctions today, working away at hand held devices with buttons on top, their faces a delight of vehicular counting concentration.
Why?
Who uses the statistics?
Do the buttons relate to vehicle types, or number of occupants, or the colour of the vehicles passing?
If they count more than, say 60 cars an hour, using a junction does it then qualify for resurfacing? If so, should I drive round in circles when I see them out and about?
Is the money decent, this looking at cars from a comfy chair business?
Why?
Who uses the statistics?
Do the buttons relate to vehicle types, or number of occupants, or the colour of the vehicles passing?
If they count more than, say 60 cars an hour, using a junction does it then qualify for resurfacing? If so, should I drive round in circles when I see them out and about?
Is the money decent, this looking at cars from a comfy chair business?
Cornwall council seem to use the collected data to assist the positioning of restrictions and traffic frustration measures to the roads that are busiest.
Also making sure that any new scheme has the greatest impact on the people who actually work and need to travel to and from that work.
A recent survey of a village was followed shortly after by the layby type bus stop being filled in and the bus stop marking being painted in the road. Now when a bus stops everyone has to wait behind thanks to the handily positioned island in the road. The queue builds very quickly indeed and soon jams up the crossroads nearby, just off which is a busy industial estate on one side and a primary school on the other. as you can imagine, mornings are super fun now.
So, if your council is a devious anti car bunch of
s then I suspect you are in for some form of treat soon.
Also making sure that any new scheme has the greatest impact on the people who actually work and need to travel to and from that work.
A recent survey of a village was followed shortly after by the layby type bus stop being filled in and the bus stop marking being painted in the road. Now when a bus stops everyone has to wait behind thanks to the handily positioned island in the road. The queue builds very quickly indeed and soon jams up the crossroads nearby, just off which is a busy industial estate on one side and a primary school on the other. as you can imagine, mornings are super fun now.
So, if your council is a devious anti car bunch of
s then I suspect you are in for some form of treat soon.Traffic counts, are usually done to determine the number of vehicles travelling in a set way. i.e. during 07:00-13:00 45 cars followed route A, 37 LGVs followed route A, 15 HGVs followed route A.
You can then figure out patterns, to determine whether improvements/adjustments to junctions are needed. Traffic lights or what have you.
You can then figure out patterns, to determine whether improvements/adjustments to junctions are needed. Traffic lights or what have you.
I used to do it as a student in London. We worked on behalf of a company called JMP in Leeds, I think. We didn't just have the clickers, we used to interview drivers, too.
We had police with us, who would divert traffic into a coned off layby, and we would ask them half a dozen questions. The coppers would take the pee, every now and then pulling a bus in, but mostly targeting minicabs or dodgy looking BMWs. You had to be pretty thick skinned. If it rained, we couldn't interview, because the rain ran off our jackets into the cars. We spent a lot of time in a mobile mess room playing cards. The money was ok.
HTH.
We had police with us, who would divert traffic into a coned off layby, and we would ask them half a dozen questions. The coppers would take the pee, every now and then pulling a bus in, but mostly targeting minicabs or dodgy looking BMWs. You had to be pretty thick skinned. If it rained, we couldn't interview, because the rain ran off our jackets into the cars. We spent a lot of time in a mobile mess room playing cards. The money was ok.
HTH.
I used to do this 20-odd years ago but I was the organiser of the surveys and site manager.
They will be counting the number of different vehicle types passing, typically in 30 minute periods.
At some point they'll also perform some surveys, stopping traffic to ask a representative sample of drivers basic details about their journey. I remember overhearing one of my interviewers asking an older gentleman in a Jag the reason for his journey to a local hotel; he took one look at the young blonde sitting next to him and replied "purely pleasure"
This information will all be collated, generally into postcodes and various statistical factors applied to the figures.
The country will be split into zones, getting progressively smaller the closer you get to the area in question. A matrix of the expected journeys between the zones, based on the postcodes, will be generated and a computer program will then be used to try to replicate the results of the surveys. This is done by altering the average speed, loading points onto roads etc.
Once the computer model reflects the reality, traffic growth figures will be applied and used to identify points of congestion. It's at this point that road improvements, new bypasses etc will be added in to determine which is the most effective; a COBA will be undertaken, taking into account the decreased number of casualties/deaths etc.
The modelling is quite interesting and the overtime on survey days always came in handy
They will be counting the number of different vehicle types passing, typically in 30 minute periods.
At some point they'll also perform some surveys, stopping traffic to ask a representative sample of drivers basic details about their journey. I remember overhearing one of my interviewers asking an older gentleman in a Jag the reason for his journey to a local hotel; he took one look at the young blonde sitting next to him and replied "purely pleasure"
This information will all be collated, generally into postcodes and various statistical factors applied to the figures.
The country will be split into zones, getting progressively smaller the closer you get to the area in question. A matrix of the expected journeys between the zones, based on the postcodes, will be generated and a computer program will then be used to try to replicate the results of the surveys. This is done by altering the average speed, loading points onto roads etc.
Once the computer model reflects the reality, traffic growth figures will be applied and used to identify points of congestion. It's at this point that road improvements, new bypasses etc will be added in to determine which is the most effective; a COBA will be undertaken, taking into account the decreased number of casualties/deaths etc.
The modelling is quite interesting and the overtime on survey days always came in handy
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff