Management of automatic traffic counting

The various stages in a continuous operation to collect and process traffic flow data derived from automatic counting equipment are reviewed. The 50-point traffic census operated by the TRRL is described by way of an example and the importance of good control at every stage is stressed. The lessons learnt from the management of the 50-point census are examined in the light of proposals for a new `core' census which is designed to produce and process continuous counts classified by type of vehicle. (A) This paper was presented at the OECD seminar on road traffic information held at the Transport and Road Research Laboratory, Crowthorne, 23-25 September 1980. For covering abstract of the seminar see IRRD No 267449.