Film, Media & TV71 mins ago
people by the road
20 Answers
hi all ,
could someone please tell me what the people who sit at the road side or in there cars are doing (we have all seen them ) with there clipboards are ....
thanks ...
could someone please tell me what the people who sit at the road side or in there cars are doing (we have all seen them ) with there clipboards are ....
thanks ...
Answers
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They are members of an old peoples rave group.
They arrange on the internet to meet up, and wait by the side of main roads for text messages about where the rave is.
They always wear yellow jackets as some sort of religious rite. They also bring folding chairs and flasks of tea just because they are old.
They arrange on the internet to meet up, and wait by the side of main roads for text messages about where the rave is.
They always wear yellow jackets as some sort of religious rite. They also bring folding chairs and flasks of tea just because they are old.
LOL... there are just doing traffic surveys ! Counting the number of heavies (lorries etc) which go down a particular road.
They have to wear bright yellow jackets so that us lot will see them and not be tempted to race ahead and beat them to the next roundabout... (only joking again... health and safety rules mean that they must be visible). Panic is however quite correct about the folding chairs and flasks of tea.... The next Rave is in Drumpton Wood, just off the A47(N), all should meet up at the nearby Little Chef and mutter *ravesrus* when ordering tea and toast on Tuesday morning....
They have to wear bright yellow jackets so that us lot will see them and not be tempted to race ahead and beat them to the next roundabout... (only joking again... health and safety rules mean that they must be visible). Panic is however quite correct about the folding chairs and flasks of tea.... The next Rave is in Drumpton Wood, just off the A47(N), all should meet up at the nearby Little Chef and mutter *ravesrus* when ordering tea and toast on Tuesday morning....
(Multi-part, extremely boring, post):
If you see those guys (and ladies) by the side of the road anywhere in East Anglia (and beyond) there's a very good chance that I might be the supervisor, because that's how I make quite a bit of my money.
I'll try to give you an outline of what we might be doing, but we're often not told why we're doing it! ;-)
Firstly, I should explain that I work as a self-employed contractor for a specialist traffic survey firm. They get most of their work from traffic consultancies, who in turn are usually working for local councils or government agencies (although private companies, e.g. firms developing shopping centres or industrial estates, might also use their services). So the guys at the side of the road often don't know why the information is being collated, because even the people who're paying them don't definitely know.
If you see those guys (and ladies) by the side of the road anywhere in East Anglia (and beyond) there's a very good chance that I might be the supervisor, because that's how I make quite a bit of my money.
I'll try to give you an outline of what we might be doing, but we're often not told why we're doing it! ;-)
Firstly, I should explain that I work as a self-employed contractor for a specialist traffic survey firm. They get most of their work from traffic consultancies, who in turn are usually working for local councils or government agencies (although private companies, e.g. firms developing shopping centres or industrial estates, might also use their services). So the guys at the side of the road often don't know why the information is being collated, because even the people who're paying them don't definitely know.
Nearly every survey is different. For example, we've recently completed a two-day 'cordon survey' in Luton. This involved throwing an imaginary cordon around the whole of the town centre and monitoring every vehicle and pedestrian entering or leaving the cordoned area, in quarter of an hour intervals, between 7am and 7pm. For the purposes of that survey, it didn't matter whether vehicles turned left or right (or went straight ahead) when crossing the cordon, all that mattered was that we noted the type of vehicle and the number of occupants in the vehicle. (as stated, we also counted pedestrians). That survey was on behalf of a consultancy I'd not heard of before, but I assume that they were trying to produce a model of commuter traffic flows, probably for Luton Borough Council. (Well, that what I told LBC's parking warden when I persuaded him to let me park my car, free of charge, for 12 hours on a 2-hour-maximum meter!).
There are other surveys where we're also required to carry out 'occupancy counts' but we're more often asked to do 'turning counts'. For those, we monitor how many vehicles (of different types) turn in each direction at a junction. We might also be required to do 'queue length counts' at the junction. (Sometimes we're just asked to count how long the queues are, in each direction, every 5 minutes. At other times, we'll need to do it for every phase of the traffic lights).
There are other surveys where we're also required to carry out 'occupancy counts' but we're more often asked to do 'turning counts'. For those, we monitor how many vehicles (of different types) turn in each direction at a junction. We might also be required to do 'queue length counts' at the junction. (Sometimes we're just asked to count how long the queues are, in each direction, every 5 minutes. At other times, we'll need to do it for every phase of the traffic lights).
As stated, many of the surveys are for government bodies (at either local or national levels) but one of the biggest users of our services is TRICS (Trip Rate Information Computer System). That's a national database of traffic movements that can be called upon by any organisation (such as local authorities, government departments, developers, etc) prepared to fork out around �2500 per year for a licence. TRICS is managed by JMP Consultants who collate data from sites which are semi-randomly selected, so that (for example) anyone proposing to build a new shopping centre can get some idea of the traffic it's likely to generate.
Earlier this year, I was asked to identify several suitable sites for TRICS surveys. These could be anywhere in East Anglia but one had to be a hospital with no more than two entrances plus an A&E department, one had to be a primary school with only one main entrance, one had to be a farm with commercial diversification, one had to be holiday accommodation and one had to be an 18-hole golf course. The data from those surveys would be totally unrelated to any future developments at those sites but if, say, someone proposed the creation of a new golf course somewhere else in the country, local authority planners would have some way of gauging likely traffic flows.
Have I bored you enough yet? ;-)
Chris
Earlier this year, I was asked to identify several suitable sites for TRICS surveys. These could be anywhere in East Anglia but one had to be a hospital with no more than two entrances plus an A&E department, one had to be a primary school with only one main entrance, one had to be a farm with commercial diversification, one had to be holiday accommodation and one had to be an 18-hole golf course. The data from those surveys would be totally unrelated to any future developments at those sites but if, say, someone proposed the creation of a new golf course somewhere else in the country, local authority planners would have some way of gauging likely traffic flows.
Have I bored you enough yet? ;-)
Chris
Nope Chris... I actually found that quite fascinating !
J was last seen with her chin in her hand listening astutely to our Chris (Buenchico) .... who has lots of useful information !!
(I'm one of the people that our Chris does this sort of survey for btw... and he does some superb data collections too !). It means that I can design future road / infrastructures according to actual need, not guesswork.
J was last seen with her chin in her hand listening astutely to our Chris (Buenchico) .... who has lots of useful information !!
(I'm one of the people that our Chris does this sort of survey for btw... and he does some superb data collections too !). It means that I can design future road / infrastructures according to actual need, not guesswork.
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