Mike on Traffic

PicoCount 2500 Issues Resolved

A few weeks ago I posted a review of the PicoCount 2500 pneumatic traffic counter.  The folks at Vehicle Counts have figured out the issue and sent out the following recall notice.  I've been impressed with their customer service and am glad that they've tracked down the problems I wrote about.

We have been getting reports of our PicoCount 2500 counters failing in the field.  Upon receipt of these units we found that the battery had been drained.  It has taken awhile, but we have finally traced the problem to improper cleaning of the boards in assembly.  Trapped impurities were causing a short inside the units which eventually drains the battery.  Since our units are potted for life, the only solution is to replace the units affected by this assembly mistake.  

This condition applies to any units built prior to serial number 10051063.

Your units have been identified as the units from the bad run of assemblies.  Even though the counters may be operating okay now, they could fail without warning at any time.  We have built into the latest release of TrafficViewer Pro a test of the counters that might give you a warning of an impending failure, so at least you can catch it before putting it out for a study and having it fail.

We are in the process of replacing all units that are suspect of containing the production flaw.  Simply send them to us and we will immediately replace them.  Your units are covered by a 10 year warranty, this is a warranty replacement, and the new units will continue your warranty.

We apologize for any inconvenience this unfortunate problem may have caused.

Bill Rochat & Ian Rochat
VehicleCounters.com

Why I took the Professional Traffic Operations Engineer (PTOE) Exam by Mike Spack, PTOE

A couple of years ago I explained here what the PTOE certification is.  I have been resisting taking the certification exam because I don't think the certification means a great deal.  It means you could pass a 150 question exam where you had to memorize a fair amount of details (when in reality, most of us engineers grab our reference books to look up those details).  I don't think it makes a seasoned traffic engineer more qualified to do their work.

This year I heard about one consultant trying to discredit another traffic engineer because they didn't have the PTOE certification.  That was the tipping point for me.  I make my living preparing traffic studies and representing my clients in front of city council's.  It's easier to say I'm a PTOE too instead of trying to explain why the certification doesn't really prove that much.

I signed up for the exam in May.  Looked through the refresher course manual.  Wrote up about 50 flash cards with equations and standard values to memorize.  Showed up in June for the exam and went through the 150 questions in about two and a half hours.  Out of the 46 traffic engineers who took the exam in June, I was one of the 33 who passed.

So, in addition to being a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) I am now a PTOE.  I guess I'll put that on my business cards when I'm due for a new batch.  I don't think I'll raise my billing rate though.

Last Chance - Free Webinar about 2009 Federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices

The Federal Highway Administration updated the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices at the end of 2009.  The American Traffic Safety Services Association has been hosting free webinars about the update.  The last webinar is being held next week on August 24th (click here to register).

Traffic control devices in Minnesota are governed by the Minnesota Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.  MnDOT is working on the update to the Minnesota version, which is located here.  Stay tuned.

MikeOnTraffic.com named to Top 50 Blogs for Transportation Management Professionals

MastersInPublicAdministration.com put together a listing of the Top 50 Blogs for Transportation Management Professionals.  There are some interesting blogs on the list for those interested in transportation issues.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation LaHood grabbed the top spot.  MikeOnTraffic.com comes in at number 36, right after Tom Vanderbilt (bestselling author of Traffic).  Not bad.  That and a couple of bucks will get me a cup of coffee at Starbucks tomorrow morning.

I'll get back on topic tomorrow.

Top Ten Ways to Manage Roadway Access in Your Community

Reducing the number of driveways and street intersections along arterial and collector roadways is proven to increase the capacity of the corridor and make it safer.  I ran across a nice document from the Center of Urban Transportation Research at the University of Florida that discusses ten ways for cities to improve their access management. 

Here's a summary of the Top Ten Ways to Manage Roadway Access in Your Community:

1. Incorporate access management into the city's comprehensive plan.
2. Restrict the number of driveways each lot can have.
3. Locate driveways away from intersections (at least 100 feet on local streets and 300 feet on collector streets - more on arterials).
4. Connect parking lots and consolidate driveways.
5. Provide residential access through local, neighborhood streets and alleys.
6. Increase the minimum lot frontage required along collectors and arterials so you develop larger lots.
7. Promote a connected street system.
8. Encourage internal access to outlots on commercial developments, instead of each outlot getting its own driveway.
9. Regulate the location, spacing, and design of driveways in your ordinances.
10. Coordinate early with county and state highway departments whenever a development is proposing access on one of their roadways.

Plus one of mine -

11. Require a traffic study if the development will generate more than 100 trips (entering + exiting cars) in the busiest hour to ensure the above principles are being applied and that safe ingress/egress will be provided.

Pico Count 2500 - Traffic Counter Review

Update:  Pico Count 2500 for $399 at www.CountingCars.com

We've landed quite a few projects this year doing daily traffic counts for MnDOT's state aid program.  All we need to provide are 48 hour volumes at a single point - the most basic of all traffic counts.  Up until now, we've bought Jamar counters that can collect volumes, speeds, classifications, and gaps.  Based on our workload, I went searching for a cheap alternative (most brands charge $1,000+ per counter and also charge for their downloading software).

I came across Vehicle Counts as a possible low cost solution.  Their counters are quite different from Diamond, MetroCount, Jamar, etc.  The Vehicle Counts products are always on and aren't programmable.  You just plug in a tube or two tubes and it records axle hits.  Then you download the axle hits into the free software and it translates the axle hits for you into any of the data you'd want. 

The $420 (cheaper if you buy in bulk) PicoCount 2500 counters have two ports (so you can collect directional data) and they collect volume, speed, classification, and gap data.  We bought five of them.  We also bought the count buddy stick, which you use in the field to verify the counter is recording axle hits (it lights up to show you the counter is working and then it has an LED for each port that lights up when it has an axle hit).  You buy one $99 count buddy to use with all of your counters, where other brands of counters build that functionality into each counter (which costs more).

As you can see in the pictures, they're radically smaller than the Jamar counters.  My field guys love that about the counters.

Product Review

We bought five counters and tested them with our jamar count tester.  They all worked according to our tests.  Then we put them out in the field.  One died in week one and a second died in week two.  We sent them back to Vehicle Counts (at their cost) and they over-nighted us replacement counters each time.  Their not sure why these two died, which makes me a little nervous.  I get the impression we're their second or third client and are guinea pigs.  Also, one end of the count buddy pulled out.  We super glued it back together and it keeps working.

For the last two months, everything's worked perfectly.  The data looks very accurate in our comparisons and the counters are easy to use.  All of this at less than half the price of most other counters and they're easier to deploy in the field.  I almost gave up on them (and that's why I didn't write about them immediately), but their customer service has been amazing and they seem to have their bugs worked out.  If you're in the market for some new road tube counters and you only need two ports for tubes, I recommend them.