Traffic Monitoring Guide

The Traffic Monitoring Guide (TMG) provides a method for the development of a statistically based procedure to monitor traffic characteristics such as traffic loadings. Truck weight data in particular are a major element of the pavement management process because there is a strong relationship between pavement deterioration and truck weights. Because truck weight data collected by weigh-in-motion (WIM) systems are more representative of actual traffic loadings and are more efficient than enforcement and static weight data, the use of the TMG and WIM systems together provide improved monitoring of truck weights. The objective of this research was to develop a plan for VDOT to implement a truck weight sampling procedure using the TMG and WIM systems. Four alternatives from the TMG that were based on different schemes for multiple measurements at permanent WIM sites were evaluated. A truck weight sampling plan was developed for the preferred alternative. Truck weight sample sites, data collection procedures, cost and resources estimates, data from permanent WIM sites, and data management information are included in the plan.

The major problems that attracted the researchers during the past years are increasing traffic in urban and sub-urban areas. Traffic varies over time and place. It is necessary to understand and be able to monitor all of these activities and changes in travel to make correct decisions about the design, operation, and maintenance of roadways. Traffic congestion can be detected in sequences of optical images in different ways. Trying to detect each individual vehicle and then to estimate its velocity does not sound a good approach. This theoretical vehicle density is directly related to the average vehicle velocity on the road segment and thus the information about the traffic situation, e.g. the existence of congestion, the beginning and end of congestion, the length of the jam, actual travel time, and so on can be derived. Since the construction of paved roads, we have struggled with ways to record vehicular movement. Not only is this information required for proper design of roadways, but also new intelligent transportation systems (ITS) require real-time knowledge of traffic movement to be effective. Highway Traffic Monitoring presents the state of the art and the practice and a look to the future trends in highway traffic monitoring. It describes methods of assessing the performance and reliability of traffic-counting equipment, including the evaluation of any bias within the results. It also covers the related issues such as commissioning, validation, verification, reliability, technology and test procedures. Traffic control and monitoring using video sensors has drawn increasing attention recently due to the significant advances in the field of computer vision. Many commercial and research systems use video processing, aiming to solve specific problems in road traffic monitoring. The focus of this guide is on the collection of traffic statistics, such as speed and traffic loads; identify dangerous situations, such as objects falling, animals or traffic jams.