The process of collecting turning movement counts, the basis of most if not all of our transportation studies, has certainly evolved. Originally, the process consisted of sitting at an intersection corner and essentially taking notes with paper and a clipboard. Works for sleepy intersections with little traffic, but not effective for many downtown and suburban areas.
One really exciting and enjoyable aspect of Transportation Engineering is the constant influx of new technologies. For our projects, we are continually examining how to improve our data, our analyses, and ultimately, our recommendations to make the world a safer place.
As part of our company purpose – Improve Transportation Globally – we often develop and complete research projects. We do this to help improve our work internally or help answer external questions from our clients. A recent research project completed involved Right Turn on Red at signalized intersections.
Over the last three years, Dakota County has become one of our larger clients at Traffic Data Inc. We have an annual agreement with them so they can call us up and have us video/count intersections throughout the year. They provide a list of about 60 signalized intersections they want counted for their signal timing program and then they sprinkle in intersection counts as questions/projects come...
