Ministry of Communication Manual Traffic Counts
Roads and Highways Department Instruction Guide
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 THIS GUIDE
This guide is designed for use by all Roads and Highways Department (RHD) staff
involved in conducting manual classified traffic counts (MCC’s) in Bangladesh. The
guide sets out the standard procedures for conducting an MCC as well as standard
forms for recording the data. These procedures have to be rigorously followed in all
counts. This guide Version 2, which was previously issued December 1997, has been
up-dated uniformly with RHD standard manuals format and incorporates some minor
editorial changes: no amendments have been made to the methodology.
This guide is accessible on the RHD Intranet:
F:\ManagementSvcs\Idc3_DFID\02rhd\09StandardDocs\TrafficCounts\Traffic
Counts [Link]
1.2 WHAT IS A MANUAL CLASSIFIED TRAFFIC COUNT?
A manual classified count (MCC) involves counting all the vehicles passing a selected
location on a road for a pre-determined period of time. The count can be for any
duration, but is usually conducted for sixteen or twenty four hours in a day, and for
three or four days consecutively.
The count is conducted by persons standing at the roadside and recording passing
vehicles on a form, hence the term “manual traffic count”. This distinguishes it from
counts by machines that can record passing vehicles automatically, which are known
as “automatic traffic counts”.
The count records individual vehicles by categories (i.e. a truck or car) and the
direction they are travelling in. This is the reason it is called a ‘classified count’.
1.3 WHY COUNT TRAFFIC?
Accurate information on the amount of traffic on the roads of Bangladesh is vital for
the planning of both road maintenance and improvement policies.
As the government has a limited amount of money to spend on the road network it is
vital that this is spent in the best possible way, i.e. in a planned way.
To do this, the Roads and Highways Department directs investment to those roads
with the worst traffic problems. They cannot do this without information on traffic
volumes, which you are required to provide.
If you get this data wrong, then the RHD will invest in the wrong roads and waste
valuable resources, which means wasting taxpayers money: your money.
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Ministry of Communication Manual Traffic Counts
Roads and Highways Department Instruction Guide
1.4 REQUIREMENTS FOR TRAFFIC COUNTS
1.4.1 The National Traffic Census
Most MCC’s will take place in November/December as part of the Roads and
Highways Department’s annual nation-wide traffic census. Instructions for this are
released from the Network Management Wing every September. All National and
Regional roads are counted every year and Feeder Roads once every three years.
The location of the counting stations (traffic census stations) is set out in the RHD
Traffic Stations Gazette. All counts on a link must be conducted at the same station.
The information collected in these surveys will be used to determine priorities for the
annual maintenance budget and it is vital that the data is accurate and collected on
time.
1.4.2 Project Traffic Counts
MCC’s will also be required on a periodic basis for proposed development projects,
such as the construction of a new road or bridge. Generally, you will be advised
where to conduct these counts. If, however, the description of where and when to
conduct the count is not clear please follow the guidelines in Section 2.
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