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Highway and Specialized Testing
Traffic Survey Services in India — Volume Count, ATCC, O-D and Axle Load
Classified traffic volume counts, origin-destination, turning movement, speed-delay and axle load surveys for highway DPRs across India
NABL TC-14144
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ISO/IEC 17025:2017
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NHAI / PWD / BRO Approved
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24-72h Mobilisation
IRC SP 19:2020
IRC SP 72:2015
IRC 106:1990
A traffic survey measures how many vehicles use a road, what type they are, where they are going, and how heavily they are loaded. In India these surveys are governed principally by IRC SP 19, IRC SP 72 and IRC 106, and their output — classified volume, AADT, vehicle damage factor and design traffic in MSA — is the mandatory input for pavement design, DPR preparation, toll revenue modelling and capacity augmentation proposals.
What Is a Traffic Survey?
A traffic survey is the structured measurement of traffic on a road section. It is not one test but a family of surveys, each answering a different question:
- Classified volume count — how many vehicles, of which IRC categories, pass a point per hour and per day.
- Origin-destination (O-D) survey — where journeys start and end, used for bypass justification and corridor planning.
- Turning movement count (TMC) — how traffic distributes across each arm of an intersection, used for junction and flyover design.
- Speed and delay study — journey speed and where time is lost, used for capacity and level-of-service assessment.
- Axle load survey — the load each axle actually imposes, converted to vehicle damage factor (VDF) for pavement thickness design.
NKMPV conducts all of the above. Counting is done by video-AI ATCC rather than pneumatic tubes or manual enumerators, which is what allows a verifiable 17-class breakdown per IRC SP 19 and a re-auditable video record if a client or arbitration panel disputes the figures.
Surveys are delivered anywhere in India. Our field team mobilises to the corridor, installs and powers the equipment, runs the continuous 7-day × 24-hour count required for a defensible AADT, and returns a DPR-ready report with the raw data appended.
Traffic Survey Outputs and Deliverables
Every traffic survey we deliver reports the parameters below. Which subset applies depends on the survey type commissioned; a full DPR traffic package normally includes all of them.
| Parameter | Value / Range | Unit | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classified Volume Count | Hourly and daily counts across 17 IRC vehicle classes, per direction | vehicles/hour, vehicles/day | IRC SP 19 / SP 72 |
| AADT (Annual Average Daily Traffic) | Seasonally adjusted daily traffic derived from 7-day continuous count | vehicles/day | IRC SP 19 Cl. 5 |
| PCU Conversion | Passenger car unit equivalents applied per vehicle class for capacity analysis | PCU/day | IRC 106:1990 |
| Peak Hour Factor | Highest hourly flow and its ratio to daily total, per direction | ratio | IRC 106:1990 |
| Directional Split | Share of traffic by direction across the count period | % | IRC SP 19 |
| Vehicle Damage Factor (VDF) | Computed from axle load spectrum for each commercial vehicle class | standard axles/vehicle | IRC 37:2018 / IRC 81 |
| Design Traffic | Cumulative standard axles over the design life, from CVPD, VDF, growth rate and lane distribution | MSA | IRC 37:2018 Cl. 4 |
| Origin-Destination Matrix | Trip matrix by zone with trip purpose and commodity where surveyed | trips/day | IRC SP 19 |
| Turning Movement Count | Arm-by-arm and movement-by-movement counts at intersections, by class | vehicles/hour | IRC SP 41 |
| Journey Speed and Delay | Average journey speed, running speed and delay points along the corridor | km/h, seconds | IRC SP 19 |
| Traffic Growth Rate | Historic and projected growth applied to the design horizon | % per annum | IRC 108 / IRC 37 |
| Video Evidence Archive | Time-stamped video retained for re-audit and dispute resolution | days of footage | NKMPV QA protocol |
Applicable IRC Codes for Traffic Surveys
IRC SP 19:2020
Manual for Survey, Investigation and Preparation of Road Projects — traffic survey methodology and 17-class vehicle classification
IRC SP 72:2015
Guidelines for the Design of Flexible Pavements for Low Volume Rural Roads — traffic input requirements
IRC 106:1990
Guidelines for Capacity of Urban Roads in Plain Areas — PCU factors and capacity analysis
IRC 37:2018
Guidelines for the Design of Flexible Pavements — design traffic in MSA from survey data
IRC 81:1997
Guidelines for Strengthening of Flexible Road Pavements — axle load survey and VDF derivation
IRC SP 41:1994
Guidelines on Design of At-Grade Intersections — turning movement count requirements
IRC 108:2015
Guidelines for Traffic Forecast on Highways — growth rate estimation
IRC 9:1972
Traffic Census on Non-Urban Roads — classical census methodology
Traffic Survey Equipment We Deploy
Video-AI ATCC System
Multi-lane camera array with on-device AI classification
17-class IRC SP 19 classification at 95%+ accuracy, 24h continuous, per-direction and per-lane
CalibratedPortable Axle Load Pad (WIM)
Piezo weigh-pad array
Axle-by-axle static and rolling load capture for VDF computation per IRC 81
CalibratedRadar Speed Gun
Doppler radar, handheld
Spot speed measurement for speed-delay and free-flow speed studies
CalibratedGPS Probe Vehicle Kit
1 Hz GNSS logger with journey-time software
Moving-observer journey speed and delay profiling along corridors
CalibratedSolar Power and Mast Assembly
Field-deployable, battery-backed
Uninterrupted 7-day unattended operation on corridors without mains power
Field-verifiedTablet-Based Enumerator Kit
Offline data-capture forms
O-D interviews and roadside questionnaire capture with GPS-stamped records
N/AHow We Run a Traffic Survey
1
Scoping and Station Selection
Day 1We review the project brief and corridor drawings to fix survey station locations. Stations must sit on straight, level sections clear of intersections, bus bays and toll plazas that would distort flow. Each station is GPS-recorded and agreed with the client or consultant before mobilisation.
2
Mobilisation and Installation
Day 1-2The field team travels to site — anywhere in India — and installs the camera array, mast and solar power assembly. Lane geometry is calibrated into the AI classifier so vehicle classes and directions map correctly to the IRC SP 19 categories.
3
Continuous 7-Day x 24-Hour Count
Day 2-9Counting runs uninterrupted for a full seven days to capture weekday, weekend and night variation. A shorter count cannot produce a defensible AADT, which is why IRC SP 19 requires the full week; we do not shorten it.
4
Axle Load and O-D Capture
ConcurrentWhere the scope includes VDF or trip distribution, axle load pads are deployed on a sample of commercial vehicles and enumerators run roadside O-D interviews in parallel with the automated count.
5
Validation Against Video
Day 9-11AI classification output is validated against the retained video for sample hours. Any class-confusion is corrected and the correction factor is documented in the report — this is the step that survives client scrutiny and arbitration.
6
Computation of AADT, VDF and MSA
Day 11-13Validated counts are seasonally adjusted to AADT, converted to PCU, combined with the axle load spectrum to derive VDF, and projected across the design life to give design traffic in MSA per IRC 37.
7
Report Issue
Day 13-14The final report is issued with raw data, hourly tables, class-wise summaries, station photographs and methodology appended. Video evidence is archived and available on request.
Who Commissions Traffic Surveys
Traffic survey data is a statutory input for most highway and urban road approvals in India. Our clients commission surveys for the following purposes:
DPR preparation for new national highway, state highway and expressway projects
Flexible and rigid pavement thickness design per IRC 37 and IRC 58
Overlay and strengthening design for existing pavements per IRC 81 and IRC 115
Toll revenue estimation and traffic risk assessment for BoT, HAM and TOT concessions
Feasibility studies and bypass justification using origin-destination data
Intersection, junction and flyover design from turning movement counts
Capacity and level-of-service assessment for four-laning and six-laning proposals
Traffic impact assessment for townships, malls, warehouses and industrial parks
Independent engineer and lenders engineer verification counts on operating assets
Arbitration and claim substantiation where actual traffic is disputed
Periodic monitoring counts for maintenance and asset management planning
Road safety audit support, correlating flow and speed data with crash locations
Traffic Survey Types Explained
Classified Traffic Volume Count
The core survey. Every vehicle crossing the station is counted and assigned to one of the 17 IRC SP 19 classes — from two-wheelers and auto-rickshaws through to multi-axle trucks and oversized vehicles. Counts are reported hourly, by direction, for the full seven days. Outputs feed AADT, PCU-based capacity analysis and the commercial vehicles per day (CVPD) figure used in pavement design.
Origin-Destination (O-D) Survey
Roadside interviews establish trip origin, destination, purpose and, for freight, commodity. The result is a zone-to-zone trip matrix. O-D data is what justifies a bypass or realignment: it shows how much of the traffic through a town has no business there and would divert if an alternative existed. It is normally sampled rather than exhaustive, with the sample rate stated in the report.
Turning Movement Count (TMC)
At intersections, total volume is not enough — the design depends on how traffic distributes across each approach and each movement. TMC records left, through and right movements for every arm, by vehicle class, usually at peak hours. It is the direct input to at-grade intersection design under IRC SP 41 and to grade-separation justification.
Speed and Delay Study
Using a GPS-instrumented probe vehicle driven repeatedly along the corridor, we record journey speed, running speed and the location and duration of every delay. The gap between journey and running speed quantifies congestion; the delay locations identify the bottlenecks worth treating. This is the standard evidence base for level-of-service assessment and for prioritising capacity works.
Axle Load Survey
Commercial vehicles are sampled onto portable weigh-pads and each axle load recorded. The load spectrum is converted to vehicle damage factor using the fourth-power relationship in IRC 37. Because MSA scales directly with VDF, and because overloading in India is routine, a measured VDF frequently differs sharply from the code default — which is precisely why the survey is required rather than assumed.
From Survey to Design Traffic
The chain is: classified count → seasonally adjusted AADT → commercial vehicles per day → multiplied by measured VDF → projected over the design life at the applicable growth rate → distributed to the design lane. The result is cumulative standard axles in million standard axles (MSA), the single number that drives pavement thickness under IRC 37:2018. Every step is shown in our reports so a reviewing engineer can reproduce the figure.
Why Counts Get Rejected
In our experience the four recurring reasons a traffic annexure is sent back are: a count shorter than the seven continuous days IRC SP 19 requires; ADT presented as AADT with no seasonal adjustment; an assumed VDF where a site-specific axle load survey was required; and classification collapsed to fewer than the full 17 classes so CVPD cannot be verified. All four are avoidable, and all four are why we run the full protocol rather than a reduced one.
Why Clients Choose NKMPV for Traffic Surveys
Video-AI, Not Pneumatic Tubes
Tube counters miss stationary and overtaking vehicles and cannot distinguish a 3-axle truck from a bus. Our video-AI system classifies to the full IRC SP 19 17-class schedule at 95%+ accuracy and keeps the footage for re-audit.
Auditable Video Evidence
Every count is backed by time-stamped footage. When a concessionaire, lender or tribunal challenges the numbers, the raw evidence exists — the single most common reason clients move to us from manual enumeration.
Full 7-Day x 24-Hour Coverage
We run the complete week that IRC SP 19 requires rather than extrapolating from a 3-day or 12-hour count. Shortened counts are the most frequent cause of a traffic annexure being returned for revision.
Pan-India Mobilisation
Our field team deploys anywhere in India, including remote and greenfield corridors without mains power, using solar-backed unattended stations. Distance from our Pinjore base is not a constraint.
One Team for the Whole Traffic Package
Volume count, axle load, O-D, turning movement and speed-delay are delivered by the same team under one scope — so the VDF, AADT and MSA figures in your DPR are internally consistent rather than stitched together from different vendors.
Frequently Asked Questions about Traffic Surveys
A traffic survey is the structured measurement of traffic on a road section — how many vehicles pass, of what class, in which direction, at what speed, and how heavily loaded. In India the methodology is set by IRC SP 19, with IRC SP 72 and IRC 106 governing pavement and capacity inputs. The output feeds pavement design, DPR preparation, toll revenue models and capacity augmentation proposals.
IRC SP 19 is the primary code — it defines survey methodology and the 17-class vehicle classification. IRC SP 72 sets traffic inputs for flexible pavement design on low-volume roads, IRC 106 gives PCU factors and urban capacity, IRC 37:2018 converts survey output into design traffic in MSA, IRC 81 governs axle load surveys and VDF, IRC SP 41 covers turning movement counts at intersections, and IRC 108 covers traffic forecasting.
The count itself runs for a continuous 7 days and 24 hours per day, which IRC SP 19 requires for a defensible AADT. Including mobilisation, validation against video, computation of AADT, VDF and MSA, and report issue, a single-station survey typically completes in 13 to 14 days. Multiple stations run concurrently without extending the schedule.
Cost depends on the number of stations, the survey types in scope (volume count alone versus a full package with axle load and O-D), corridor location and mobilisation distance. Because those variables dominate, we quote per project rather than publishing a rate card. Send the corridor details and station count and you will have a written quotation, usually within one working day.
ADT (average daily traffic) is the mean daily count over whatever period was surveyed. AADT (annual average daily traffic) adjusts that figure for seasonal variation so it represents a typical day across the whole year. Pavement and capacity design require AADT; quoting a raw ADT from a short count is one of the most common reasons a traffic annexure is returned for revision.
VDF expresses how much pavement damage one commercial vehicle causes relative to a standard axle. It is derived from an axle load survey by converting each measured axle load using the fourth-power law in IRC 37. Because design traffic in MSA is directly proportional to VDF, an assumed VDF instead of a measured one can change pavement thickness materially — which is why NHAI increasingly insists on a site-specific axle load survey.
Yes. We maintain multiple ATCC station kits and deploy them concurrently across a corridor or network, which is normal for DPR work requiring counts at several chainages. All stations are then processed to a single consistent methodology so the resulting matrix is internally coherent.
Both. Every report includes hourly and class-wise raw data tables as appendices, alongside the summary computations. Time-stamped video evidence is archived and released on request — clients doing lender or independent-engineer verification usually ask for it.
For accuracy and defensibility, yes. Manual enumerators fatigue over a 24-hour cycle, cannot reliably classify 17 vehicle categories at highway speed, and leave no evidence trail. Video-AI holds classification accuracy above 95% continuously and retains footage so any disputed hour can be re-counted. Manual enumeration remains appropriate for O-D interviews, where a human interviewer is required.
Yes, across India. Our field team mobilises to any corridor, including remote and greenfield alignments, using solar-backed unattended stations where mains power is unavailable. The locations listed on this site are projects we have delivered, not the boundary of where we work.
An O-D survey establishes where journeys begin and end, producing a trip matrix by zone. It is the evidence base for bypass justification, corridor realignment, and estimating how much traffic a proposed facility will divert. It is normally run as roadside interviews concurrent with the automated volume count.
Coverage
Traffic Survey Across India
Wherever your project is, there are two ways to work with NKMPV on Traffic Survey.
Standard
IRC SP 19:2020
Field work
On site, across India
Laboratory
Pinjore, Haryana
Service area
Pan-India
Or courier samples to our lab
Distance is not a constraint for laboratory testing. Send samples to our Pinjore laboratory and receive the digital report on completion — the route most of our out-of-region clients use.
Where NKMPV has delivered projects
- Chandigarh
- Panchkula
- Mohali
- Ambala
- Karnal
- Kurukshetra
- Yamunanagar
- Hisar
- Gurugram
- Faridabad
- Ludhiana
- Jalandhar
- Patiala
- Shimla
- Solan
- Haryana
- Punjab
- Himachal Pradesh
These are locations where we have completed projects — not the boundary of our service area. We mobilise across India on request. See full coverage & project locations →
Which standards does NKMPV follow for Traffic Survey?
Traffic Survey is carried out to IRC SP 19:2020, IRC SP 72:2015, IRC 106:1990 and IRC 37:2018, as listed in the Applicable Standards section of this page. Tell us the specification your project must comply with and the quotation will state the standard the work follows.
Is there a Traffic Survey lab near me?
Our laboratory is at Pinjore, Haryana, within same-day reach of Chandigarh, Panchkula, Mohali, Ambala and the wider Tri-City. If you are further away, distance is not a constraint: our field team travels to site anywhere in India for on-site work, and for laboratory tests you can courier samples to the Pinjore lab and receive the report digitally. Clients across Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi-NCR, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh already work with us this way.
Do you carry out Traffic Survey outside your home region?
Yes. NKMPV operates pan-India. We have delivered projects across Chandigarh, Panchkula, Mohali, Ambala, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Hisar and beyond, and we mobilise to greenfield and remote corridors on request. The 18 locations listed on our site are the places we have already worked — not the limit of where we go.
How do I book Traffic Survey and what does it cost?
Send us the project details — location, quantity, and the standard you need to comply with — and you get a written quotation, usually within one working day. Pricing depends on sample count, site access and mobilisation distance, so we quote per project rather than publishing a fixed rate. Call +91-82953-60108 or use the quote form; every quotation states the applicable IS/IRC standard.
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