Traffic Record Optimizer and Update Tool (TROUT)
CLIENT: Maine Department of Transportation
SOFTWARE: ArcMap, ArcObjects, C++
BACKGROUND: The Maine Department of Transportation's process to manage its traffic count database was slow and inefficient. To calculate and update the Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) volume on Maine's roads, MDOT's Traffic Engineering Division relied on a combination of spreadsheets, green-bar computer printouts and hand-annotated paper maps. After computing the new traffic volumes by hand, all data were manually keyed into a legacy VSAM database. On average, the process to update AADT on arterial and major collector roads took two months per county.
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| SOLUTION: The Traffic Record Optimizer and Update Tool (TROUT) was developed using ArcObjects and Visual C++ to automate as much of this process as possible, both to save time and alleviate transcription errors during data entry. The TROUT application first imports values from a database where vehicle counts from approximately 10,000 traffic-recording stations are stored. This information is automatically joined to a road layer consisting of over 70,000 road segments. Using a set of simple tools in ArcMap, traffic analysts can automatically calculate traffic volumes between traffic recording stations using a number of different methodologies. Different traffic flow scenarios can be tested and displayed on a map with just a few mouse clicks, a process that used to take days. After viewing the results the analyst can commit the changes to MDOT's Oracle database. Using the TROUT application, an entire county can now be coded in only two weeks - a major improvement in productivity! |
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