ASTM E2667 Creates Practice for Traffic Intersection Movement Data
June 10, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS
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ASTM International Committee E17 on Vehicle-Pavement Systems approved ASTM E2667 - Practice for Acquiring Intersection Turning Movement Traffic Data.
Being able to compile and interpret data on how traffic turns through an intersection could have an affect on future environmental and safety decisions regarding intersection geometry and traffic control. However, no standard existed before to obtain and use this data, according to ASTM.
"Intersections that do not work well constrain the flow of vehicles and induce higher risk taking because of increased delay," said Ralph Gillmann, chair of Subcommittee E17.52.
"Within an urban area, intersections commonly have the highest incidence of accidents," Gillmann said. "Vehicle idling increases emissions and reduces air quality. Improvements to traffic operations, safety and air quality are directly related to understanding and improving vehicle movement at intersections."
Making improvements to intersections requires the consistent and repeatable monitoring of vehicles at intersections, experts said.
"While there are standards for monitoring vehicles passing road segments, there was no standard for monitoring vehicle movements at intersections," said Gillmann. "Through ASTM, this first standard practice for intersection turning movements has been adopted."
The benefits of understanding vehicle turning movement data are widespread.
"If we are concerned about reducing air pollution, improvements to how an intersection accommodates traffic is important because vehicle delays impact pollution," said David Albright, transportation surety program manager, Bernalillo County Public Works Division and an E17 member.
"If we are concerned about safety, accidents are compared with exposure rates and exposure rates are based on traffic data," Albright said. "Something that appears to be as simple as counting cars, trucks, pedestrians and bicycles at intersections turns out to be critical to our health and well-being."
According to Albright, the importance of the data and the constraints imposed by the current practice led to the development of the standard.
Albright said there are two ways in which the absence of a standard practice negatively impact intersection operations and safety. "One way is in the limitation of comparing data within an organization over time. The second way is the limitation of comparing data at the same point in time among different organizations."
Data managers who supervise intersection turning movement data collection and the people who collect this data will be the primary users of ASTM E2667, while the beneficiaries of it will be decision-makers who use the data to make intersection improvements, according to ASTM.
The standard was developed by Subcommittee E17.52 on Traffic Monitoring.
Source: ASTM International.