Traffic Monitoring Practices Guide for Canadian Provinces and Municipalities

Friday, January 6, 2017

The Transportation Association of Canada’s (TAC) Chief Engineers’ Council has approved a national-level traffic monitoring practices guide for Canadian provinces and municipalities.

Recommended by the Asset Management Task Force, the Guide will promote uniformity in the approach and techniques used to deliver effective traffic monitoring programs in Canada and improve the quality of the traffic data provided by these programs.

Traffic Monitoring Practices Guide for Canadian Provinces and Municipalities will be made available for sale in TAC’s Bookstore in the coming months. A webinar on this topic is also being planned.

Background

Provincial and municipal transportation agencies implement traffic monitoring programs to provide information to support transportation planning, engineering, and management. In addition, they serve the traffic information needs of engineering consultants, private enterprises, the police, and members of the general public.

Data-driven decisions and performance measurement are critical for helping transportation agencies efficiently allocate resources, effectively operate the transportation system, and strategically plan for the future. Traffic monitoring programs are fundamental for supporting decisions and measuring performance. Traffic data helps agencies understand vehicular movements by mode and serve as the input for executing essential tasks and responsibilities of government agencies.

The Guide will highlight all related functions comprised in a traffic monitoring program.  

  • Program design - data collection, analysis, and dissemination activities rely on careful program planning and design.
  • Data collection - integrated system of technologies, processing algorithms, communication connections, and software.
  • Data analysis - data validation controls data quality and summarization of data into traffic statistics to meet the needs of data customers.
  • Data dissemination - reporting and dissemination of quality data products to customers.
  • Program evaluation - comprehensive evaluation of the traffic monitoring program, at least every five years, ensures that it continues to meet its goals with available resources.

The Guide will also address unique issues and challenges associated with monitoring interrupted traffic flow conditions, which are common in urban environments.

MORR Transportation Consulting conducted the research work for this project.

Funding partners include Alberta Transportation; British Columbia Transportation and Infrastructure; Manitoba Infrastructure; Nova Scotia Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal; the Ministry of Transportation, Ontario; le Ministère des Transports, de la Mobilité durable et de l’Électrification des transports du Québec; Saskatchewan Highways and Infrastructure; Transport Canada; TransLink; Halifax Regional Municipality and the cities of Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver.

 

 


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