Recommended specifications for procuring temporary active transport counts

Use this specification if you are procuring temporary active transport (bicycle and pedestrian) counts.

Methodology: The survey requires collecting cyclist and pedestrian traffic counts summarised by 15-minute, 1 hour and daily intervals and involves both bi-directional and turning movement counts (intersection counts). For cyclists, counts should indicate if the movement occurred on or off-road (footpath, shared path, cycle path, cycle track).

Survey dates and timing: All sites are to be surveyed over a 14-hour period from 5am to 7pm on two weekdays and one weekend day (at a minimum) during the survey period.

Fee proposals: All-inclusive fixed fee proposals are to be sought for each individual site. The principal reserves the right to select any combination of sites deemed appropriate to achieving the desired outcomes for the survey.

Traffic survey specification: The conditions in which the survey is to be conducted should represent ‘normal’ traffic behaviour that is devoid of inclement weather, significant traffic disruption incidents, and school or public holiday periods.

• Must take place during ‘fine’ weather conditions.
• Must take place outside of school and university holidays.
• Must not take place on either a Monday or a Friday.
• Must include at least two weekday and one weekend day at each location.
• Data recorded in 15 minute total, hourly total and daily total intervals for all locations.
• Counts are to be classified:
  • As either ‘pedestrian’, ‘cyclist’ or ‘scooter’
  • As either ‘adult’ or ‘school-age’
  • By gender.
• Surveys are to count movements across the entire width of the transit corridor (including on-road counts and counts on the roadside/footpath, if present).
• Counts for cyclists should indicate if the movement occurred on or off-road (on-road counts to include cycle lanes, if present).

Traffic surveys: The contractor is responsible for making all the arrangements for undertaking the traffic observations, including (but not limited to):

• Site risk assessments
• Equipment hire (if required)
• Equipment installation (if required)
• Equipment removal (if required)
• Personnel recruitment and training (if required)
• Personnel workplace health and safety
• Informing local and state authorities.

Key deliverables:

• All raw count data is to be provided to the Principal, including but not limited to:
  • intersection diagrams (indicating the area in which counts were undertaken and the movements (if classified)) and recording sheets
  • movie or video files if cameras are used.
• Collated data into a spreadsheet to be provided to the Principal in a Microsoft Excel compatible format.
• A short description of each survey location (including the weather on each day of the survey and a photo of the survey location).
• Counts should also be provided in a tidy structure where each variable forms a column and every row represents an observation. An example of this structure is provided below. Non-proprietary machine-readable formats such as comma separated values (csv) are preferred to proprietary binary formats (e.g. Microsoft Excel).

Equipment failure/loss of data: In the event of data loss or corruption through equipment failure, or any other means the contractor must repeat the entire observation process at the contractor's expense. Data corruption is defined as count data (quantification of observations) that has been incorrectly recorded or classified. Data loss is defined as observation data that has not been recorded for the allocated time period.

A-typical conditions: In the event of major incidents/traffic accidents, heavy rain or pending extreme conditions, the observations are to be abandoned and reconvened in normal traffic flows and weather conditions, subject to Contract Manager’s approval. It is intended that information is collected for typical traffic conditions with normal traffic operation in 'fine' weather conditions.

Regular traffic flows: The traffic survey must be carried out in a manner such that motorists are not distracted, and cyclists and pedestrian passage is not impeded. The successful Offeror will need to ensure that after the counters have been set up, that their equipment and actions at the site do not affect regular traffic flows, which in turn affect the quality of the data collected. The traffic counter installations will be located to be clear from traffic signals and or queues and will also be located away from residential frontages. The locations will be selected to minimise the impact of parking facilities, driveways and excessive lane changing to avoid data collection disruption.

Alternative survey sites: If it is impractical to conduct surveys at any of the suggested sites then offerors may suggest alternative sites. Offerors may propose modifications or alternative methodologies to achieve the stated project objectives within the project scope.