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Traffic surveys

Photo of a continuous counting station on a motorway Continuous counting station on a motorway

Automatic, continuous counting stations

Since 1975, traffic volumes on selected motorways and main roads outside municipal limits have been registered by automatic, continuous counting stations. The data are acquired by the federal states under commission of the federal government and submitted to the Federal Highway Research Institute on a quarterly basis.

The counting network on federal trunk roads incorporates 1900 continuous counting stations. All motor vehicles are registered by the continuous counting stations.

Depending on the selected device, it is possible to differentiate between up to 9 vehicle types (including a category for miscellaneous vehicles).

The data from the continuous counting stations are used to perform annual evaluations of individual counting points and calculations of average daily traffic intensities as well as annual mileages on motorways and main roads outside municipal limits. Manual counts of road traffic form a basis for calculating general developments in traffic on motorwys and federal roads outside municipal limits.

Manual counts of road traffic volume

Manual counts are performed to register traffic intensities on motorways and federal roads at five-year intervals. These manual counts involve random sampling of traffic on the entire, extra-municipal trunk road network over selected days / hours in a particular year.

The counts are organized by the state road building authorities according to standardized directives. The surveys cover the entire extra-municipal federal trunk road network. In addition, the states at their own discretion schedule counts on country, district and municipal roads; a standard nationwide procedure is used for these surveys.

Detailed results on nearly every network segment are available for the specified roads in the stipulated areas. These results are also displayed cartographically in the Federal Road Information System (BISStra).

Axle load

Das Bild zeigt eine Achslastmessstelle

To examine the actual loads on roads and bridges BASt has build up a nationwide network of axle load measurement points. At 21 cross sections vehicles are detected and weighed at the main lanes (and in some cases at the first overtaking lane) . For this purpose sensors are installed within the carriageway which detect the flowing traffic. Each vehicle is classified by its type as well as its speed, distance to the vehicle in front, distance between the axles as well as the axle load and total weight are determined. By statistically evaluating all this information the dimensioning of highway construction and the load models of bridge construction can be optimised.

 The graph shows the frequency distribution at the axle load measurment points Frequency distribution at the axle load measurment points 2019

Furthermore the axle loads are used for preselection at weight controls by the Federal Office for Goods Transport. Suspicious vehicles can be flagged down more aimed to weigh them statical.

Counts of foreign transit traffic

The last nationwide survey of foreign motor vehicle traffic on freeways and European roads was conducted in 2008 on behalf of the then Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Housing. The results and reports of the three surveys conducted in 1998, 2003 and 2008 are published by Carl Schünemann Verlag GmbH.

A repetition of the counts is not planned. In the meantime, further information on foreign motor vehicle traffic is available from the 2014 mileage survey and from BALM's regular publications on toll statistics.