WORK ORDER NUMBER BAT-02-006

TRAFFIC DATA QUALITY WORKSHOP

PROCEEDINGS AND ACTION PLAN

Final Report

to

Office of Policy

Federal Highway Administration

Washington, D.C.

505 King Avenue

Columbus, Ohio 43201

In Association with

Cambridge Systematics, Inc.

Texas Transportation Institute

September 25, 2003

.

WORK ORDER NUMBER BAT-02-006

TRAFFIC DATA QUALITY WORKSHOP
PROCEEDINGS AND ACTION PLAN

Final Report

Prepared for

Office of Highway Policy Information

Federal Highway Administration

Washington, D.C.

Principal Authors

Dr. Edward Fekpe, PEng.

Mr. Deepak Gopalakrishna

September 25, 2003

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support and guidance of Mr. Ralph Gillmann of the Federal Highway Administration Office of Policy and Mr. James Pol of the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office throughout this project.

The authors also acknowledge the support of the Department of Transportation of the states of Ohio and Utah for hosting the regional workshops. Mr. David Gardner of Ohio DOT and
Ms. Dian Williams of Utah DOT deserve recognition for their roles in organizing these regional workshops. Ms. Tami Hannahs and Ms. Lynn Price of Battelle also provided valuable logistic assistance in organizing the workshop in Columbus, Ohio. The authors acknowledge the valuable inputs provided by state and local agency officials during the interview process and all the workshop participants.

The authors also acknowledge the valuable inputs provided by the project team, particularly in developing the white papers and conducting the regional workshops. The project team members are:

Dr. Edward Fekpe, Principal Investigator, (Battelle)

Mr. Deepak Gopalakrishna (Battelle)

Ms. Mala Raman (Battelle)

Dr. Rich Margiotta (Cambridge Systematics Inc.)

Dr. Dan Middleton (Texas Transportation Institute)

Mr. Shawn Turner (Texas Transportation Institute).

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. i

List of Acronyms. v

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.. vi

Introduction. vi

Research Approach. vi

Action Plan. vii

Action Plan Implementation and Work Items. viii

Research Studies. viii

Workshops. viii

Case Studies and Clearinghouse. viii

1.0 INTRODUCTION.. 1

1.1 Background. 1

1.2 Project Objectives and Scope. 1

1.3 Organization of Report 2

2.0 RESEARCH APPROACH.. 3

2.1 Traffic Data Quality Issues. 4

2.2 Data Collection – Interviews. 5

2.3 Development of White Papers. 5

2.4 Regional Workshops. 6

2.5 Action Plan Development 7

2.6 Additional Traffic Data Quality Literature. 7

3.0 WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS. 7

3.1 Introduction. 7

3.2 Session 1 – Defining and Measuring Traffic Data Quality. 8

3.2.1 Defining Data Quality. 8

3.2.2 Measuring Data Quality. 9

3.2.3 Discussion Points. 9

3.2.3.1... Discussions – Ohio Workshop. 10

3.2.3.2... Discussions – Utah Workshop. 12

3.3 Session 2 – State of the Practice in Traffic Data Quality. 13

3.3.1 Types and Applications for Traffic Data. 14

3.3.2 Traffic Data Quality: Characteristics. 14

3.3.3 Quality Issues for Using ITS-Generated Data for Traditional Uses. 14

3.3.4 Recommendations: Possible Solutions. 14

3.3.5 Discussion Points. 15

3.3.5.1... Discussions – Ohio Workshop. 15

3.3.5.2... Discussions – Utah Workshop. 16

Table of Contents (Continued)

3.4 Session 3 – Advances in Traffic Data Collection and Management 16

3.4.1 Introduction. 16

3.4.2 Innovative Contracting Methods. 18

3.4.3 Standards. 18

3.4.4 Training for Data Collection. 18

3.4.5 Data Sharing Between Agencies and States. 18