Motorcycle fatalities and the related fatality rates have been significantly increasing over the last 10 years based on total registrations as a proxy for volumes and usage/exposure. Motorcycle fatalities have become a serious safety issue for the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). According to FHWA data between 1996 and 2005, motorcyclist fatalities increased more than 110 percent and currently account for more than 10 percent of all motor vehicle traffic crash fatalities. The best measure of exposure risk for motor vehicle crashes is based on actual vehicle volumes and VMT. Therefore it is critical that timely, complete, and accurate volume and VMT data be collected and reported. Furthermore, beginning in 2008, the reporting of motorcycle travel to the federal Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) is now required for all states. To date, research has indicated that there are significant problems with methodologies currently used to detect motorcycles. Most current detection systems primarily focus on the collection and classification of trucks and automobiles. These systems frequently misclassify motorcycles or miss them altogether, making the data unacceptable for required reporting purposes. There is a need for improved methods that could be used by transportation agencies at all levels to assist them in determining the policies and decisions necessary to improve safety and mobility. Under NCHRP Project 08-81, a research team led by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) field tested five traffic counting technologies to determine their accuracy in motorcycle detection. Researchers conducted field tests of various traffic counting technologies on a controlled test track and at two motorcycle rallies in Texas and Florida. The report outlines the pros and cons of each technology and recommends a protocol to optimize the accuracy of the counts by selecting sites on routes most likely to be used by motorcycles. This report presents an analysis of traffic counting technologies and data collection protocols to improve the reliability of motorcycle travel data. The technologies included infrared classifiers, inductive loops/piezoelectric sensors, magnetometers, multi-sensor technologies, and tracking video. The report describes the performance of each technology in terms of accuracy, initial cost, portability, and ease of setup and operation. The report also evaluates and validates a hypothesis that motorcycle crash locations are reasonable predictors of traffic volume. A correlation between crash sites and volume enables a Department of Transportation to select traffic counting locations that will yield more accurate data on motorcycle traffic volumes. The report will provide valuable guidance to traffic engineers, transportation planners, and safety professionals who need more accurate data to determine motorcycle exposure risk based on vehicle-miles traveled (VMT). (Author/publisher)
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