Highway Traffic Trends in the Delaware Valley Region 1960 - 1990 - 1995
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HIGHWAY TRAFFIC TRENDS IN THE DELAWARE VALLEY REGION 1960 - 1990 - 1995 February 1997 ~ Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission HIGHWAY TRAFFIC TRENDS IN THE DELAWARE VALLEY REGION 1960 - 1990 - 1995 February 1997 RWMI ?~Il Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission The Bourse Building 111 S. Independence Mall East Philadelphia, PA 19106-2515 - This report is printed on recycled paper - The preparation of this report was funded through federal grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Departments of Transportation, and DVRPC's member governments. The authors, however, are solely responsible for its finding and conclusions, which may not represent the official views or policies of the funding agencies. Created in 1965, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (D VRPC) is an interstate, intercounty, and intercity agency which provides continuing, comprehensive, and coordinated planning for the orderly growth and development of the Delaware Valley region. The region includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties, as well as the City of Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania; and Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Mercer counties in New Jersey. The Commission is an advisory agency which divides its planning and service functions between the Office of the Executive Director, the Office of Public Affairs, and three line Divisions: Transportation Planning, Regional Planning, and Administration. DVRPC's mission for the 1990s is to emphasize technical assistance and services, and to conduct high priority studies for member state and local governments, while determining and meeting the needs of the private sector. The DVRPC logo is adapted from the official seal of the Commission and is designed as a stylized image of the Delaware Valley. The outer ring symbolizes the region as a whole while the diagonal bar signifies the Delaware River flowing through it. The two adjoining crescents represent the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey. The logo combines these elements to depict the areas served by DVRPC. DELAWARE VALLEY REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION Publication Abstract TITLE I Date Published: February 1997 Highway Traffic Trends in the Delaware Valley Region 1960 - 1990 - 1995 Publication No. 96023 Geographic Area Covered: Delaware Valley Region comprised of five counties in Pennsylvania (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia); and four in New Jersey (Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Mercer) Key Words: Traffic counts, cordon, screenline, traffic trends, vehicle trips, annual average daily traffic (AADT), traffic growth, peak-hour volume, hourly traffic distribution ABSTRACT This report assesses trends in highway traffic crossing selected screen lines, cordons, and using major bridges and turnpikes in the region. Average weekday traffic counts collected in 1995 are compared with similar data collected in 1960 and 1990. For More Information Contact: o Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission Regional Planning Division The Bourse Building 111 South Independence Mall East Philadelphia, PA 19106-2515 Telephone: (215) 592-1800 FAX: (215) 592-9125 e-mail: [email protected] website: http://www .libertynet.org/ - dvrpc/ TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. 1 I. INTRODUCTION ................................ 3 II. DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE AND METHODOLOGY .... 7 III. HIGHWAY TRAFFIC VOLUME ...................... 9 IV. HOURLY VARIATION ............................ 25 THE DELAWARE VALLEY REGION ................... 5 Appendix I. TABLES II. FIGURES III. SCREENLINE & CORDON COUNTS APPENDIX I - TABLES 1960~ 1990-1995 Screenline Comparison, Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) ................................. 1-1 1-2. 1960-1990-1995 Comparison of Delaware River Crossings, An- nual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) ................... 1-2 1-3. 1960-1990-1995 Comparison of Traffic Crossing the DVPRC Inner Cordon, Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) ....... 1-3 1-4. 1975-1990-1995 Comparison of, Traffic Crossing the DVRPC Outer Cordon, Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) ....... 1-4 /-5. 1960-1990-1995 Traffic Trends, Pennsylvania Turnpike, Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) ....................... 1-5 1-6. 1960-1990-1995 Traffic Trends, New Jersey Turnpike, Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) ....................... 1-6 1-7. 1985-1990-1995 Cordon and Screenline Summary, Annual Aver- age Daily Traffic (AADT) .......................... 1-7 ii APPENDIX II - FIGURES Figure //-1 . Screenline Traffic Trends, 1960-1990-1995 /1-1 11-2. Pennsylvania Inner Cordon Traffic Trends, 1960-1990-1995 .. 11-2 11-3. New Jersey Inner Cordon Traffic Trends, 1960-1990-1995 ... 11-2 11-4. Pennsylvania Outer Cordon Traffic Trends, 1975-1990-1995 . 11-3 11-5. New Jersey Outer Cordon Traffic Trends, 1975-1990-1995 . 11-3 11-6. Pennsylvania Turnpike, 1960-1990-1995 Traffic Trend . 11-4 11-7. New Jersey Turnpike, 1960-1990-1995 Traffic Trend . 11-5 11-8. Hourly Traffic Variation, Screeniine 0-1 (Upper Schuylkill) .... 11-6 11-9. Hourly Traffic Variation, Screenline 0-2 (North Philadelphia) . .. 11-6 11-10. Hourly Traffic Variation, Screenline 0-3 (Lower Schuylkill) 11-7 11-11 . Hourly Traffic Variation, Screenline E (Pennsauken Creek) 11-8 11-1 2. Hourly Traffic Variation, Screenline F (Crosswicks Creek) . 11-8 11-13. Hourly Traffic Variation, Outer Cordon Line (Delaware County). 11-9 11-14. Hourly Traffic Variation, Outer Cordon Line (Chester County) .. 11-10 11-1 5. Hourly Traffic Variation, Outer Cordon Line (Berks/Montgomery Counties . .. /1-11 11-16. Hourly Traffic Variation, Outer Cordon Line (Bucks County). 11-12 11-1 7. Hourly Traffic Variation, Outer Cordon Line (Mercer County) 11-13 /1-18. Hourly Traffic Variation, Outer Cordon Line (Burlington County) /1-14 11-1 9. Hourly Traffic Variation, Outer Cordon Line (Camden County) .. 11-15 11-20. Hourly Traffic Variation, Outer Cordon Line (Gloucester County) 11-16 iii APPENDIX III - SCREENLINE & CORDON LINE COUNTS Table 111-1 . DVRPC Screenline, 1990-1995 Traffic Data Upper Schuylkill River 0-1 111-1 Upper Schuylkill River 0-1 (Extension) . 111-1 North Philadelphia 0-2 . .. 111-2 Lower Schuylkill River 0-3 . .. 111-4 Pennsauken Creek E . .. 111-5 Pennsauken Creek E (Extension) . .. 111-7 Crosswicks Creek F .............................. 111-7 Crosswicks Creek F (Extension) ...................... 111-8 111-2. DVRPC Inner Cordon - Pennsylvania, 1990-1995 Traffic Data Bucks County .................................. 111-9 Montgomery County ............................ " 111-10 Chester County ................................. 111-12 Delaware County . .. 111-13 111-3. DVRPC Inner Cordon - New Jersey, 1990-1995 Traffic Data Mercer County . .. 111-15 Burlington County. .. 111-16 Camden County . .. 111-19 Gloucester County ............................... 111-19 IV Table 111-4. DVRPC Outer Cordon - Pennsylvania, 1990-1995 Traffic Data Delaware County ................................ 111-22 Chester County ................................. 111-22 Montgomery County . .. 111-24 Bucks County .................................. 111-25 111-5. DVRPC Outer Cordon - New Jersey, 1990-1995 Traffic Data Mercer County. .. 111-27 Burlington County. .. 111-28 Camden County . .. 111-29 Gloucester County ............................... 111-30 v Traffic Trends in the Delaware Valley Region 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The former Penn Jersey Transportation Study (pJTS) conducted the first large scale travel data collection in the Delaware Valley in 1960, and since that first study the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission has continued the job of monitoring highway traffic and identifying regional trends. This report presents the results of the latest traffic counting survey, conducted in 1995, and assesses highway travel trends by comparing the 1995 traffic volumes with that collected in 1960 and 1990. Traffic counts were gathered by DVRPC along six screenlines and two (inner and outer) cordons, as well as counts from the two turnpikes in the region. The major findings are: • Screenlines - Collectively, the six screenlines recorded a traffic level of 3.1 million vehicles per day, a 7 percent increase over that recorded in 1990. The screenline represented by the Upper Schuylkill River, including its 1980 extension, recorded the heaviest daily volume, 687,100 vehicles per day, representing an increase of 10 percent over that counted five years earlier. The smallest volume, 223,000 vehicles per day was recorded by that demarcated by Crosswicks Creek, but it reflected the largest five-year increase, almost 25 percent, largely due to the completion of 1-295 north to US 1. Traffic crossing the Delaware River increased by about 4 percent, with the Walt Whitman Bridge (1-76) carrying the highest volume, 97,100 vehicles per day, followed closely by the Benjamin Franklin Bridge (1-676/US 30) with 96,200 vehicles. • Inner Cordon - Total traffic crossing the inner cordon in 1995 was 2.3 million vehicles per day, about 9 percent higher than that recorded in 1990, after adjusting for stations not counted during the earlier survey. Traffic volumes are almost evenly split between the Pennsylvania and New Jersey portions, 1.2 vs. 1.1 million, respectively, although growth rates were slightly higher on the New Jersey side. • Outer Cordon - The outer cordon, defined by the perimeter of the nine county region, recorded 1.2 million vehicles per day in 1995, 6 percent above that recorded in 1990 after accounting for the