Traffic Survey is a very small profile in the entire Infrastructure Industry but indeed plays a vital role in deciding the success of the entire project. All major Infra projects starts with planning and Traffic data is the main input for the planning process.  This shows how important the Traffic Data is and its need for accuracy.  There are different Data Collection Methods available and each has its advantages and limitations.  The Bad Traffic data can have huge impacts on the entire project.  So the Traffic consultants, Planners and Infrastructure firms should consider choosing a Traffic Survey Agency based on its experience, exposure to various methods, International experience, Quality Certifications, etc rather than the Price.

Different Methodologies

There is a wide range of data collection methods that is followed worldwide for different types of surveys. A manual survey at site is the most common and traditional survey method. Because of its cost-effectiveness and the availability of data immediately after the survey makes this favorite among many. But this has serious Quality limitations. Some of the surveys like Road Side Interviews, Market research, Parking beats cannot avoid manual involvement at site. But it is recommended to have experienced Enumerators/Interviewers on site.

In the West, most of the manual surveys are now being filmed using HD cameras and then processed using experienced enumerators in a controlled office environment. With the videos, we are able to have a better control over the data quality. The accuracy is well over 95% in such video based surveys.  But weather is an issue for videos. There are many Automatic Traffic Counters in the form of Piezo Electric, Pneumatic Tubes, Infra-Red, Radar and Bluetooth etc. These automatic counters provide reasonably high Quality data and they have their own limitations. Most of these are used for Mid-Block counts and have limitations when it comes to Intersection counts in Urban Planning. There is a recent advancement in the field of Video analytics. Even though, this is still in primitive stages, this is expected to be the future. The ANPR (Automated Number Plate Recognition) is widely used for O-D surveys but these are currently very limited in India. The key factors for choosing one among the above methodologies are its ability, Cost, Accuracy and Turn Around Times.

International Standards and Working Practices

The Traffic data collection industry in the West is governed by strict Health and Safety procedures and various Quality standards. The Agencies that have ISO certifications and that are accredited to Health and Safety assessment schemes have competitive edge. Similarly we need to appreciate Traffic survey companies that have ISO certifications to improve the overall Data standards in the country.

Impacts of Bad Data

Traffic Data is fundamental to all Transportation Infrastructure planning and improvements. Inaccurate Traffic data can affect the entire Infrastructure project very badly. Inaccurate Data can be either an undercount or an Over count. Both have terrible impacts on the entire project.  We read stories about a Toll collection firm that bid heavily based on an over count data (Bad Data) and struggling to break-even because of wrong projections 1. Similarly, an under count has resulted in huge queues at the toll plazas and they were eventually removed. 2 So, Bad data however it is can have bigger impacts. The cost to rectify the errors is many folds and is worth spending reasonable budget for Accurate Data Collection.

DataCorp Traffic

DataCorp Traffic has been working in the International Traffic survey industry for over 6.5 years now. We have gained rich International Expertise in different types of surveys. We are equipped with all the necessary Manual Expertise, Different Automatic Counters like Infra-Red, Pneumatic Tubes, Radars etc. We are also ISO 9001:2008 certified.  We are committed to bring the International experience to the Indian Traffic Survey Industry and bring out a bigger change in terms of Quality and Standards. With headquarters in Bangalore and regional offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai, we provide Nationwide Coverage.

We carry out different surveys like Mid-Block CVC, Intersection Counts, Queue Length, Pedestrian counts, Parking surveys, Cycle counts, Public Transport like Bus, Rail, Metro Surveys, Operator survey, Occupancy, Origin-Destination surveys, Toll revenue projections, Toll Audits, Toll Transaction survey, Speed Assessment, Axle Load surveys etc. We understand the survey requirements better and all surveys can be tailor-made to produce accurate Traffic Data.

To put it in a Nutshell, We are a One-Stop Solution for Accurate Traffic Survey requirements across India.

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