assignment 11 – trip generation study

Purpose

The purpose of this assignment is to give you experience in determining the trip generation rate for a specific traffic generator.

Tasks

• Read background material included in class handouts
• Conduct a field study to measure trip generation rate for assigned traffic generator
• Compare the results of your field study with published trip generation rates
• Prepare report (no more than five pages) summarizing the results of your field and data analysis

Due Date

• Moscow students: report is due at the beginning of class on Wednesday, October 17^th.
• Video students: report is due by Wednesday, October 24^th.

Field site assignment

• Moscow students: you have been assigned a site in Moscow; you may have also been assigned a team member with which to work. Consult the table below for your assignment.

Site	Student team	Data
Tidyman’s	Basavaraju, Purushotham Murali Lu, Chunyu Ream, Chhang Sabbisetti, Ravi Krishna Sarepalli, Satya Sai Kumar	43,000 ft^2 gross floor area 30,500 ft^2 sales area 65 employees
Wendy’s	Vilhelmsson, Jens Gunnar Keecheril, Sajeev Kumar Omer, Marhaba Porandla, Raju	108 seats 15 employees
Applebee’s	Rust, Philip Samuel Bandugula, Sharat Chandra Sisodia, Ajay Kumar Singh Seelam, Vijaysimha Narsing Rao	154 seats 60 employees

• Video students: you need to identify and select a site in your hometown. The site should have the following characteristics:
• Access to the site should be limited to one or two driveways. If the site has two driveways, they should be close enough so that you are able to observe vehicles entering and exiting both driveways conveniently.
• The site should include only one defined business, such as an office supply store, a supermarket, or a fast food restaurant.
• You should be able to obtain permission from the owner of the business to conduct a traffic count for a two hour period one afternoon.
• You should be able to gather the following statistics from the owner of the business: number of employees, gross floor area, and the number of seats (if a restaurant).

Field site inspection

You should inspect the site before you begin data collection. Prepare a sketch of the site that includes the location of the business in relation to the adjacent street system, the location of all driveway entrances and exits to the business, and other relevant information.

Traffic counts

Conduct a two hour traffic count at your site.

• Moscow students should conduct this count on Friday, October 12^th, from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm and from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm.
• Video students should conduct the count on a suitable day and time (allowing for work schedules); if possible the count should be conducted for a two hour period corresponding to the midday and afternoon peak periods for your area.

The form on the following page should be used for this purpose. You should enter the following data on this form:

• The time beginning each of your eight 15-minute periods
• The number of occupants in each vehicle that enters or exits the site during each 15-minute period

A sample completed data collection sheet is shown on the page following two blank forms. Use the blank forms as needed for your field work.

Field Data Collection Form

Time period

Vehicles entering

Vehicles exiting

Notes:

· Enter the time at the beginning of each 15 minute period.

· Enter the number of occupants in each vehicle entering and exiting the site.

Field Data Collection Form

Time period

Vehicles entering

Vehicles exiting

Notes:

· Enter the time at the beginning of each 15 minute period.

• Enter the number of occupants in each vehicle entering and exiting the site.

Data summary and analysis

The following steps should be completed as you summarize and analyze your data:

• Prepare a table summarizing the number of vehicles entering and exiting the site for each 15-minute period.
• Compute the mean vehicle occupancy; also compute the standard deviation of the vehicle occupancy.
• Compute the mean trip rates using your mean flow rate and the various independent variables available for your site; compute the standard deviation for each rate.

Comparison with published values

Study the results published in the ITE Trip Generation Handbook. How do your results compare with the values published in the Handbook for the type of generator that you are analyzing? Can you explain any major differences between your results and the published values?

Report

Prepare a report (five page maximum, including any tables and sketches) that summarizes your work. Include the statement of your problem, description of your site, the method that you used to collect data, your analysis, and your conclusions. The report should be written so that the owner of the business that you studied can follow your work and understand your conclusions. You should also prepare a brief cover letter to the owner of the business summarizing your work and thanking him or her for allowing you to conduct the study.