Traffic Study Prices?

I'm fortunate enough to still be getting calls about traffic studies, although clients seem to be more price conscious than ever.  I don't blame them at all (I asked my accountant if there is any way we could save money on this year's tax prep and he's going to charge me about 25% less in exchange for filing an extension and doing my taxes this summer during their less busy time).

I've written in the past about the complicated procedure for developing the traffic study scope.  But how does a developer know if they are getting a fair price for that scope?  Based on my experience in the Midwest, I developed the matrix below so a developer can plug in the variables quoted in the traffic study proposal and see if they are getting a fair price.  There may be complicating factors that would drive up the cost of a traffic study, but I recommend getting a second proposal if the quoted price seems out of whack after you cost it out with the unit prices below.

Unit Prices for Costing a Traffic Study

Task		Unit Price
Data Collection (peak hour count are per intersection)
	AM Peak Hour Counts (w/ stop signs)	$200
	AM Peak Hour Counts (w/ signals)	$400
	PM Peak Hour Counts (w/ stop signs)	$200
	PM Peak Hour Counts (w/ signals)	$400
	Daily Traffic Counts (mechanically done)	$150
Analysis
	Study Intersections in AM Peak Hour (assumes PM Peak Hour is being done as well)	$150
	Study Intersections in PM Peak Hour	$350
	Land Uses	$300
	Forecast Years	$300
	Other (as required by reviewing agency)	?
Document Preparation (produce one or the other)
	Memorandum: Fee = 10% of data + analysis total cost
	Full Report: Fee = 30% of data + analysis total cost
Meetings
	Daytime	$300
	Nighttime	$600
TOTAL FEE = Sum of Each Line Item (Quantity x Unit Price)

Comments

[Cherian Eapen]

Is the Analysis Fee/Rates per intersection?

[Mike]

Yes - under analysis the fee for the p.m. and a.m. line items should be multiplied by the number of intersections.
Mike

[C. Baish]

What are land uses and forecasts and how are they estimated?

I am updating an existing traffic study and yours is the only site I have found that has actual cost info.

[mike]

Land uses refers to the general categories you'll be forecasting for - typically office, retail, and/or residential (i.e. it doesn't matter how many office buildings you have on the site because all of their traffic will be distributed on the roadway network with the same distribution pattern).

Forecast Years refers to the number of future year scenarios you'll need to prepare traffic forecasts for (i.e. 2012 or 2012+2032).

ITE's Transportation Impact Analyses for Site Development is a good primer on traffic studies and will help define these better for you. Although it doesn't give any information on pricing.
Mike

[C. Baish]

Mike,
What does the item "Study Intersection in AM Peak Hour" entail? Looking at the traffic study I am working with, I am assuming it is developing a Level of Service (LOS) for each intersection. Is this a good assumption?

[Andy C.]

Very useful information, thank you for posting this.