Focus on road traffic studies

Publication date: July 13, 2021

Following the public consultation, the road traffic studies for the Bus Bords de Marne project have resumed. These will make it possible to precisely assess the effects of the project on traffic conditions on the RD34 and more broadly on the adjacent roads, to inform the choice of development which will ultimately be brought to the public inquiry.

The first step in these studies is to carry out an inventory of current road traffic. The road counting campaign began on 21 June on all the roads in the study area. These counts are carried out in different ways:

• 30 directional counting points using autonomous video cameras: movement records at intersections with differentiation of vehicle types over a day during rush hour between 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Knowledge of the directions is important to properly adapt the traffic light plans and to properly size the facilities at intersections with, for example, the integration of a lane dedicated to left turns.
• 11 automatic radar counting points: carried out over 7 consecutive days, they make it possible to quantify the average daily flow, distinguishing between private vehicles and heavy goods vehicles.
• 4 "Origin / Destination" survey zones by reading number plates* using cameras: readings carried out over a day between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., making it possible to track the vehicle in an area. This type of counting makes it possible to better understand the structure of road traffic: what share of transit traffic compared to interchange or local traffic?

The particular period of deconfinement with teleworking still significant can bias these counts. This bias is well taken into account in the methodology. The data collected will be cross-checked with the data collected in 2019 in the same territory in order to obtain the most accurate reference situation possible.

And after the state of the road traffic?

Future traffic will be modelled taking into account many parameters such as the expected evolution of the population and the number of jobs, other local road projects, etc. This dynamic modelling will then make it possible to test and compare the effect of the project on traffic, according to different scenarios. We will keep you informed of the progress of the project! Don't forget to subscribe to the news if you haven't already done so to be alerted!

* Only the first 5 characters of each plate are recorded, in order to preserve the anonymity of motorists.

Photo: example of an automatic counting device installed on the RD143 – (c) Ile de France-Mobilités-CPEV-AIMSUN