Reliable traffic data helps transportation agencies understand how vehicles move through intersections, identify operational needs, assess potential mobile source emissions impacts and make informed decisions about future improvements. Collecting that information, however, can require equipment that is costly, difficult to maintain or limited in how long it can remain in the field.

Through a project sponsored by the El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) using funds from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, researchers at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) developed and tested a portable, cost-effective approach for collecting turning-movement counts at 150 intersections in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. The project supports regional air quality planning by improving the MPO’s ability to understand how traffic patterns in Ciudad Juárez affect congestion and vehicle emissions at the international border crossings.

The project brought together TTI, the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and the Instituto Municipal de Investigación y Planeación (IMIP) in Ciudad Juárez. Each organization played an important role in carrying out the cross-border effort and evaluating how the approach could support future transportation planning.

Addressing a recurring data need

Turning-movement counts track the number of vehicles traveling straight, turning left or turning right at an intersection. Transportation planners use these counts to evaluate traffic conditions, study intersection operations and support decisions related to signal timing, roadway improvements and long-range planning.

Temporary traffic-counting systems are commonly used to gather this information, but the expense of purchasing or deploying the equipment can limit how frequently agencies collect data or how many locations they can study.

The El Paso MPO-sponsored project explored whether a more affordable and portable system could provide reliable turning-movement data while remaining in operation for extended periods. The data collected help improve estimates of cross-border travel demand, allowing the MPO to better evaluate congestion and associated vehicle emissions at ports of entry — information that supports regional transportation and air quality planning.

The portable system can operate continuously for up to 13 days and costs approximately one-quarter as much as comparable traffic data collection efforts. Its compact design also allows the equipment to be installed, removed and relocated without requiring permanent roadside infrastructure.

These capabilities allowed the team to collect data at multiple locations while reducing the equipment and maintenance demands associated with traditional temporary counting systems.

Collaboration across the border

The project depended on coordination among organizations in El Paso and Ciudad Juárez. TTI researchers developed the data-collection approach and provided the technical expertise needed to deploy and evaluate the equipment. UTEP helped coordinate with IMIP regarding the placement, installation and relocation of the devices.

IMIP personnel provided essential local support by assisting with device installation and helping relocate the equipment to different intersections each week. That field coordination allowed the research team to gather information from multiple locations and adapt the deployment schedule as the project progressed.

The collaboration demonstrated the value of working directly with local partners when conducting transportation research in a cross-border region. IMIP’s knowledge of the local transportation network and UTEP’s coordination support helped ensure the equipment could be deployed effectively and that the project remained responsive to local conditions.

Expanding access to reliable traffic data

In addition to supporting transportation planning in the El Paso–Ciudad Juárez region, the project offers a potential model for other metropolitan planning organizations and transportation agencies.

MPOs regularly need current traffic data to evaluate intersections, prepare planning studies and respond to changing transportation conditions. A portable system that can remain in the field for several days and be moved efficiently between locations could allow agencies to collect data more frequently without investing in permanent monitoring infrastructure at every intersection.

The approach may be particularly useful for agencies that need to study multiple locations, conduct temporary traffic analyses or gather information for projects with limited budgets.

Because the equipment is portable and the deployment process can be repeated at different sites, the methodology developed through the project could be replicated in communities throughout the United States.

Supporting regional transportation decisions

The project illustrates how technical innovation and regional collaboration can work together to address a practical transportation need.

By combining sponsorship from the El Paso MPO, technical expertise from TTI, coordination support from UTEP and field assistance from IMIP, the team developed an approach that makes reliable turning-movement data more accessible and affordable.

The result is not only a new tool for collecting traffic information, but a repeatable process that can help transportation agencies strengthen planning efforts, improve estimates of cross-border congestion and vehicle emissions, and make more informed decisions about future transportation investments.