Traffic monitoring
How and why we survey traffic, and information about statistics and trends.
We carry out transport surveys to support the development of:
- the Local Transport Plan
- area transport strategies
- traffic engineering
- road safety initiatives
Most of the traffic flow data we collect is produced from automatic traffic counts or manual classified counts.
Following COVID restrictions during 2020 and 2021 availability to collect traffic data and maintain traffic counters was limited. Most data collected during these periods followed lockdown restrictions when traffic volumes had increased, therefore not all data is fully representative of these yearly periods.
Automatic Traffic Counters
There are 474 Automatic Traffic Counters (ATC) sites located across the county. These predominately cover the major A and B road network along with some more heavily trafficked unclassified roads (for further information on the M40, A34 and A43 please refer to National Highways. Of these ATC 72% continuously count traffic flows while the remaining 28% are used to gather 1 to 2 weeks worth of data per year.
Data has been taken from our network of ATC counters. Data can also be search using the online map
Search annual average daily traffic flow using online map
Manual Classified Counts
Manual Classified Counts (MCC) are carried out on an adhoc basis either using enumerators or video cameras and are normally used to gather 12 hour link/turning counts as well as pedestrian and cycle survey data. Radars, Tube Surveys and ANPR cameras are also used on an adhoc basis and can provide speed, journey time, class and origin and destination data.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Junction count | 33 |
| Link count | 196 |
| Origin and destination | 3 |
| Other | 32 |
| Parking survey | 1 |
| Pedestrian/cycle | 50 |
| Queue length | 3 |
| Total | 318 |
Traffic survey data request
If you require further traffic count data relating to specific traffic counters or manual surveys listed in this webpage please specify reference numbers e.g. CP505 or TC5707. Data provided to private companies is chargeable and prices can be obtained upon request.
Contact the Transport Monitoring Team to request data.
Traffic congestion and growth
Congestion to most people means a motionless or slow-moving line of vehicles. Congestion has many negative social, environmental and economic impacts.
The Traffic Management Act 2004 (TMA) imposed network management duties on local authorities to tackle congestion. Understanding congestion is therefore a key requirement in being able to tackle it.
This Traffic Hotspot Map (pdf format, 1.4 MB) highlights the location of congestion on the 2022 A road network during the morning peak.
Growth on the Oxfordshire A and B road networks over the last 1 and 5 year periods can be seen in the below table
| Road class | 2019-23 | 2022-23 |
|---|---|---|
| A | -2.4% | 2.1% |
| B | -2.1% | 3.2% |