A study of truck traffic estimation from short-period vehicle classification counts

Several studies in the past have attempted to rationalize duration and schedules of sample traffic counts that are shorter than 24 hours in length. These studies used data from automatic traffic recorders and evaluated the sample counts from the perspective of the total traffic or the AADT (annual average daily traffic) estimation. The present study employs data from permanently installed automatic vehicle classifiers (PAVC) and focuses on estimation of truck component of total traffic and truck type distribution. Some of the important conclusions of the research analysis presented in the thesis are: (1) The reliability of truck volume estimates is highly sensitive to the length of counts. (2) In general, counts with a duration of less than 12 hours yield minimum COV values when their mid-points are centered at a time between noon and mid afternoon. (3) Six-hour or longer counts may produce truck type distribution that is statistically quite similar to the results from 12-hour counts. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...