Traffic Monitoring: British Columbia Practice

摘要

Highway agencies have gathered traffic data for a wide range of engineering and management purposes since the early days. Traffic data is the foundation of decision-making related to the planning, design, operation and management of highway transportation system. The British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (BCMOTI) in Canada has collected traffic information for various engineering and management purposes since the earliest days of the province. This article describes the BCMOTI traffic data collection practice, which includes a review of traffic data needs, traffic monitoring procedures and methodologies, and a corresponding economic analysis. Transportation agencies have developed their programs independently and BCMOTI's experience indicates that more economic alternatives with equivalent or better accuracy are available. BCMOTI has strived for excellence in its traffic monitoring practice, and those activities are also highlighted and reported.