Mike on Traffic

Spreadsheet with Parking Generation Data

In October I wrote about ITE's (Institute of Transportation Engineers) 4th Edition of the Parking Generation report here.  I promised to post later in the fall with a spreadsheet containing a summary of the data.  Winter began officially on December 21st  (although Minnesotans had snow much earlier than that), so I'm a few weeks late in delivering this file -  Download Parking Generation - 4th Edition.  (DISCLAIMER - there's no guarantee that the data in the spreadsheet 100% matches the data in the Parking Generation report.  We did our best with quality control, but mistakes happen.  Please let us know if you catch any typos.)

The spreadsheet includes average and 85th percentile rates for the peak parking period for each land use.  Please note we colored cells to highlight rates with small data sample sizes (see the key at the bottom of the spreadsheet). 

Thanks to Max Moreland (who recently joined me at Spack Consulting) for putting this together.  We hope you find this useful!

Florida DOT - Quality/Level of Service

The Florida DOT developed a series of free software programs to assist transportation planning and preliminary engineering.  Check out their Quality/Level of Service page to look through some of the great information they have available.  They have new presentations on the site that go through Quality/Level of Service details.

The most interesting software package to me is ARTPLAN 2009 - Multi-modal Arterial Level of Service Analysis.  Right now, our industry's analysis methods focus largely on the automobile.  ARTPLAN also considers transit service, bicycle facilities, and pedestrian facilities. 

The next edition of the Transportation Research Board's Highway Capacity Manual (the industry default for methodology/standards related to traffic analysis) is supposed to be released at the end of 2010 (summary presentation).  It's my understanding the next edition of the Highway Capacity Manual will incorporate much of the research and methodology already incorporated in the Quality/Level of Service system.

One - I'm glad to see our industry moving away from an auto only focus towards more of a multi-modal system.

Two - I applaud Florida DOT for putting useful tools out there and developing a coherent model/set of standards.  This provides a consistent set of rules for all transportation practitioners to work under in Florida, which I think ultimately spurs better analysis.

Traffic Studies Picking Up?

I was at a meeting yesterday with several Twin Cities based traffic engineers.  Several of us work primarily on traffic impact studies for development projects.  None of us are overwhelmed with our amount of work, but all of us have several studies going.  Definitely more projects than we had six months ago when the development industry seemed to be frozen.

This is totally unscientific, but it feels like the development world bottomed out in the Twin Cities over the last 18 months and we are starting to climb out of it.  I'm not saying we're going back to the development pace of a few years ago (from my studies of the economy, that may have been a once in a generation peak), but hopefully we are moving to a new "normal" where we can get the laid off civil engineers back in the industry.

Big Company Traffic Study Pricing

I was lucky enough to win a traffic study project last week.  Wins are always nice in this economy.  I bring this up because I think the situation is indicative of the new economy.  The study is being done for a site civil engineering firm that I've done a lot of work with over the last eight years - most of it sole source.  Their client wanted them to bid out the study to make sure they got a fair price, so they sent a thorough RFP (which I reviewed for them) to four qualified firms.  Since the bids/proposals were based on a well defined RFP, all four proposals had the same scope of work.

Three of us were within 10% of each other (I sharpened the pencil and was about 10% lower than the next two).  The three of us have a good handle on current pricing.  The weird part is that the fourth firm was 3.5 times more than my bid.  Not 35% more, 250% more.  They are not 250% better engineers than the rest of us.

Here's what I think is going on with the really expensive firm.  Most of their traffic studies are done as "independent" consultants for cities.  The city will have a developer escrow funds for the traffic study and then give the traffic study to this firm.  There's no price competition and there's no incentive to be cost conscious (the decision maker - the city engineer in this type of situation - is paying with someone else's money).

I think I just got bumped out of another traffic study because the city engineer wants to use his "independent" consultant instead of the "developer's" consultant.  I hope city engineers will start to review the estimating matrix I posted a little while ago.  It doesn't benefit anyone to gouge developers.

Agency Traffic Study Policies in Minnesota

Agencies have the authority to require a traffic study be done according to their rules if the development is proposed to have an access from a road under their jurisdiction.  A city almost allows has this authority because accesses are typically from city streets.  Sometimes, an access is proposed on a county road and rarely is an access proposed on a state road. 

Mn/DOT has a thorough policy for traffic studies that traffic engineers are supposed to follow if a development is impacting one of their roads/interchanges. Scott County also has a thorough policy, but it is hard to find on their website (here it is - Download 20051102 PDF Report from Scott County_Traffic_Impact_Analysis_Process_Report2). 

Most cities in Minnesota don't have policies regarding traffic studies, but we've done some digging (and we know of a lot of them based on past experience).  Here's a spreadsheet that lays out some of the local policies - Download Traffic Study Policies for MN Cities & Counties.  Let me know if we missed any and I'll update the matrix.

Traffic Study Checklist for Reviewers

I'm occasionally hired to review traffic studies other consultants have prepared and I was also responsible for reviewing traffic studies when I was the staff traffic engineer for the City of Maple Grove.  Here's a list of questions I use when I have to go through a traffic study:

• Complete project description?

• Type of proposed uses
• Size - building square footages, units, etc.
• Build in phases?  When is full occupancy expected?
• Proposed site plan

• Study horizon years make sense?
• Study hours reasonable?
• All possibly impacted intersections are studied?
• Trip generation reasonable?
• Trip distribution pattern reasonable (this is the most subjective part of any traffic study - pay special attention)?
• Analysis methods reasonable (micro-simulation if closely spaced intersections or queuing issues)?
• Method for forecasting future years reasonable (typically based on a growth rate assumption)?
• Other nearby developments that should be accounted for in traffic forecasts?
• Do forecasts make sense (peak hour volumes going between intersections balance, are the trips from the site actually distributed per distribution pattern, daily forecasts are +/- 10 times peak hour volumes, etc.)?
• Technical data in appendices accurate?  Make sure the peak hour factor used in Level of Service analysis is reasonable.  Spot check to make sure the turning movement volumes are correct and signal timing plans are reasonable in Level of Service analysis.
• If an upgrade in traffic control is recommended, is a warrant analysis included per MUTCD?
• Do proposed access points meet agency access spacing guidelines?  If not, full justification is needed for variance.
• Is sufficient right-of-way being dedicated to provide for long term traffic control and roadway geometry that may be needed?
• If improvements are needed, who's paying?
• Do the recommendations make sense (is there a better solution or are superficial improvements being recommended)?
• Lastly - I go to the site to make sure I didn't miss anything.

Traffic Study Approvals - Costco Style

I had the privilege of preparing a traffic study for a proposed Costco in Burnsville, MN.  The project received unanimous approval from the City Council last night and the Planning Commission last week.  The Planning Commission ran a thorough public hearing that lasted about two hours.  I was able to show a traffic simulation prepared in Trafficware's 3-D Viewer, which helped the commissioners visualize some of the improvements we were discussing.  There was a good discussion about tweaks that could be made to the plan to alleviate some of the neighbors and commissioner's concerns.

What impressed me most about the Costco team was their collaborative attitude.  From the beginning they stated they expect to provide safe and efficient access for their members at any proposed Costco.  They emphasized their willingness to pay their fair share of any off-site mitigation measures, whether it be needed turn lanes or traffic signals.

The city proposed somewhat inconsistent conditions related to the needed traffic improvements.  Costco's team sat down with city staff between the planning commission meeting and the city council meeting to negotiate a compromise that treated all of the improvements in a consistent manner.  The punchline is that four conditions of approval coming out of the Planning Commission were reduced to two and the unanimous approval from the City Council took about fifteen minutes. 

The whole development process has been a great example of collaborative, long term vision.  I appreciate working with clients who understand safe/efficient access is good for their business. 

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)

DIY Analysis - Turn Lane Needed?

      David emailed a few questions regarding the trip generation spreadsheet I posted.  He's a real estate broker trying to understand when his deals would trigger the need for a turn lane (footing the bill for a turn lane kills his development/lease deals because they aren't big enough to absorb the cost).  Here's our conversation (his questions followed by my answers in bold):

• Based on the excel file (8^th Generation ITE Trip Generation), proposed use is a free standing dollar store (Dollar General, Family Dollar), what is the recommended ITE Code?  814 – Specialty Retail
• Does the ITE Trip Generation book help calculate left turn/right turn volumes?  No.  You need to estimate a distribution pattern for the expected patrons.  This is what I get paid to do in my studies.  Developers/brokers are actually in a good position to do this for retail developments (assuming they have a market study).  Traffic engineers would typically charge $500 to $1,000 to prepare a small scale traffic study that would cover the driveway intersections.
• Also, does the ITE trip calculation take into account size of retail trade area and traffic counts?  No, it's just an aggregate of data collected around the country.  The spreadsheet provides average rates.

Trip Generation, 8th Edition UPDATED Spreadsheet

I have a previous post on our spreadsheet, which has been very popular.  Here's an update of the spreadsheet Download TripGeneration8thEdition(there was a typo for land use 820 - Shopping Center, which has been corrected - thanks Bill for the email).  Please use the new spreadsheet!