Traffic Volume Counts
Most traffic counts in Massachusetts are
collected in one of three ways:
- A sensor permanently embedded in the pavement detects the passage of vehicles using electrical methods. The signals are transmitted to an equipment box at the side of the road, where they are interpreted and recorded for later upload by a visiting technician. These sensors are expensive to install and are usually only found in locations where continuous, year-round monitoring is important.
- A number of pneumatic rubber hoses temporarily stretched across the roadway detect the passage of vehicles when their wheels compress the air in the hoses. The signals are transmitted to an equipment box at the side of the road, where they are interpreted and recorded for later upload by the technician who comes to remove the equipment. This type of equipment is susceptible to calibration problems and is best used in warmer weather, when there is no risk of snow removal vehicles disturbing it.
- A human operator uses a special
console to record different types of traffic for later transfer
to a computer. The console is like an expanded
version of the clickers used to count attendees at large events.
This last method is typically used for turning movement counts
(see the What section for more
explanation of turning movement counts).
These traffic count Web pages and data were
last updated in May 2006. The MPO does not warrant the accuracy of the
count data, which was collected by other agencies and is made
available on this Web site with their permission.
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