TRAVEL On Saskatchewan Highways 2016 1855 Victoria Ave. Regina Canada S4P 3T2 TRAVEL On Saskatchewan Highways 2016 Prepared by Information Management Branch Traffic Services Unit Cover The cover features clippings of maps displaying traffic count locations from five of fifteen areas where specialized traffic studies were conducted in 2015 and 2016. From clockwise top left, the featured areas are: Northwest part of the Estevan Bypass Highways 4 and 16 interchange in the Battlefords Set of passing lanes on Highway 10 northeast of Balgonie Highway 7 and the Cory potash mine access Highways 1 and 37, and truck route near Gull Lake The maps are used internally by Traffic Services staff to plan, execute, and determine results from the traffic studies. Notice Additional information is available for most highway sections by contacting: Derek Jaworski, Manager of Traffic Services Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure 1100 - 1855 Victoria Avenue Regina SK Canada S4P 3T2 306-787-8334 Bus. 306-787-8700 Fax [email protected] ii Table of Contents Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. iii Quick Facts 2016 .............................................................................................................. iv Introduction .......................................................................................................... Section 1 Data Collection, Processing and Use of Report ................................................... Section 2 Significant Facts ................................................................................................... Section 3 Average Annual Daily Traffic, Annual Travel, Truck Average Annual Daily Traffic and Annual Truck Travel by Control Section ..................................................... Section 4 Distribution of Monthly, Daily and Hourly Traffic .................................................. Section 5 2016 Continuous Monitoring Stations .................................................................. Section 6 Average Daily Traffic Volume Reports ................................................................. Section 7 Truck Traffic Reports ............................................................................................ Section 8 Appendices Control Section Maps ........................................................................................ Appendix A US FHWA Vehicle Classification Scheme ........................................................ Appendix B Definition of Terms ............................................................................................ Appendix C Traffic Volume Maps ......................................................................................... Appendix D iii Quick Facts 2016 2015 2016 Percent Change (2015-16) Provincial Highway Travel (MVkm) 9 829.20 9 773.30 [1] -0.57 Municipal Road Travel (MVkm) 2 305.55 2 291.42 [2] -0.62 Total Travel (MVkm) 12 134.74 12 064.72 -0.58 Provincial Highway Truck Travel (MTkm) 1 867.22 1 859.63 [1] -0.41 Municipal Road Truck Travel (MTkm) 502.07 494.30 [2] -1.57 Total Truck Travel (MTkm) 2 369.30 2 353.92 -0.65 Motor Vehicle Gasoline Sales (1 000 L) 2 776 592 2 856 977 [3] 2.81 Motor Vehicle Registration 924 435 929 001 [4] 0.49 Licensed Drivers 797 608 806 726 [5] 1.13 Population 1 132 263 1 150 632 [6] 1.60 MVkm = (Million Vehicle kilometres). MTkm = (Million Truck kilometres). [1] Provincial travel/truck travel includes all maintained highways where traffic has been monitored. This includes some airport, service, industrial access, timber access, community access, resource access and recreational access roads. [2] Includes grids, regional park, resort, industrial access, local farm access and land access roads. [3] Statistics Canada, CANSIM, Table 134-0004. [4] SGI Saskatchewan Vehicle Experience Summary spreadsheet. [5] SGI Licensed Drivers spreadsheet. [6] Statistics Canada, CANSIM, Table 051-0001. iv Section 1 INTRODUCTION Section 1 Introduction Travel on Saskatchewan Highways (“Travel”) is published biennially by the Information Management Branch of Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure to make highway traffic information widely available in an easily understood format. Traffic data is used extensively within the Ministry. Accurate and reliable traffic information is a critical input to providing facilities for the safe and efficient movement of goods and people in Saskatchewan. The information found in this document also serves the ever-increasing demand for traffic information from researchers, economists, business and other government agencies. Traffic information is used by the business sector for appraising roadside business property and assessing the viability of roadside commercial development. Traffic information is of increasing interest to researchers and considerable work is undertaken in universities and other agencies to develop advanced analysis methods that would provide a better understanding of traffic data. The information in “Travel” is divided into seven sections as described below: 2. A description of traffic counting and data processing procedures. 3. Provincial significant facts including: population, vehicles registered, gasoline sales, and vehicle travel/truck travel by road classification and surface type. 4. 2016 traffic volume, travel, truck volume and truck travel by highway control section. 5. Temporal distribution of traffic volumes by hour of day, day of week and month of year in tabular and graphical form derived from the continuous counting system. 6. Location of continuous traffic monitoring stations. 7. Average daily traffic volume reports. 8. Truck traffic volume reports. 1-i Section 2 DATA COLLECTION, PROCESSING AND USE OF REPORT Section 2 Data Collection, Processing and Use of the Report a) Traffic Volumes Like virtually all jurisdictions in North America, Saskatchewan uses a statistically based sampling technique to estimate highway traffic volumes. The most accurate way to measure traffic volumes would be to count every link on the highway system with a continuous vehicle count station. Since the Ministry counts approximately 3 500 links on a regular basis, counting every link on a continuous basis is not practical or cost effective. Instead, statistical sampling techniques are used to derive traffic volumes that are of sufficient accuracy for most technical and management uses. Traffic volumes are monitored on a continuous basis, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, at strategically located stations around the province. These stations were selected to capture representative samples of the traffic patterns that have been identified in Saskatchewan. A detailed description of each traffic pattern group can be found in Section 5. The traffic counting system includes 69 continuous count stations. A listing and map of continuous count stations can be found in Section 6. The remainder of the highway system is monitored using 48-hour coverage counts to “sample” the whole system. Saskatchewan currently collects between 1 100 and 1 200 coverage counts each year from a total system of 3 500 count stations. Count stations are counted in a rotation that varies from annually to approximately once every five years. Coverage counts are only collected during the four most stable months of the year. Those months are May and June in the spring and September and October in fall. The continuous counts are used to track traffic changes on a system basis and to generate correction factors that “adjust” coverage counts to an estimate of the average annual daily traffic (AADT). Correction factors are generated for each traffic pattern group for periods of the year such as a week or two consecutive days. Coverage counts produce a two-day average daily traffic (ADT) volume that applies only to the time period of the count. To arrive at a measurement of traffic volume that is not specific to the count period, ADTs are corrected to AADT. Conversion of an ADT to an estimate of the AADT is done by multiplying the ADT by the appropriate correction factor. The calculation method follows: AADT (veh/day) = (Vehicles Counted in 48 Hours) ÷ 2 × Correction Factor The standard unit for annual travel is million vehicle kilometres/year (MVkm/yr). The calculation method follows: Travel (MVkm/yr) = AADT (veh/day) × Highway Length (km) × 365 (days/year) ÷ 1 000 000 Vehicle travel is calculated for the maintained length of each control section where traffic information has been collected and then summed to provide total provincial highway travel. 2-i b) Vehicle Classifications Vehicle classifications are measured using both continuous and 48-hour coverage classifiers. Continuous classification is collected 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at all 69 stations throughout the province. A listing and map of continuous count stations can be found in Section 6. The Ministry currently operates three distinct types of continuous classifiers. Length vehicle classifiers (LVCs) use the overall length of a vehicle while automatic vehicle classifiers (AVCs) and weigh-in-motion (WIM) devices use the number and spacing of axles to classify each vehicle. The current traffic counting program includes 5 AVCs, 49 LVCs and 15 WIMs. All coverage data on the highway system is collected as coverage classifications. Coverage classifications provide valuable information about the mix of vehicle types using the highway system, as well as traffic volumes. The Ministry has