After trialing ATLYST® traffic analytics dashboard for 8 months, this business case was created by the Centre to highlight the benefits of continuing use.
Thanks to Kin Kan, Logan’s Principal Traffic Engineer and Jerimia Tukadra, Traffic Management Officer for the below information.
Logan Traffic Management Centre
In 2020 Logan City Council established the Traffic Management Centre in order to provide efficient operational planning and traffic management across the Council’s vast road network.
This includes the formulation of road safety strategies, action plans and solutions.
Managing historical traffic data
The Council has been collecting traffic data for decades with MetroCount automatic tube counters and through intersection studies. Being able to manage these large amounts of data is a challenge in itself, prompting the council to either outsource the data collection and analysis process entirely or come up with a solution to securely archive and access /add to the database.
After hearing about ATLYST® online analysis and survey management software, they decided to start a trial in August 2020 to see if it could help improve traffic monitoring processes and save time.
ATLYST benefits
The business case highlights a variety of ATLYST functions that have already helped the Traffic Management Centre including:
- Comparing multiple traffic monitoring sites in one screen;
- Quickly identifying points of interest such as speed violations, rat runs and intense heavy vehicle traffic;
- Pinpointing gaps in the traffic survey network;
- Quick and easy access to all data across the entire road network;
- Applying filters such as Date, Class, Direction, Speed and Headway to customise reports and graphs;
- Comparing how traffic has changed at the same location over time;
- Easy and fast exporting of Site Lists to be surveyed.
Two major features that were a favourite with the staff at Logan City Council were the automated data validation process and the downloadable yearly data summaries for all sites.
ATLYST streamlines the data validation process. Once all raw data is uploaded, the system will automatically check each file and inform users of anomalies that require further investigation. This saves enormous time for users to identify any data issue with suppliers.”
Logan City Council's ATLYST business case
“ATLYST also allows users to download yearly summaries of all traffic survey sites into one .csv file. This information can then easily be imported into GIS applications, enabling secure sharing of comprehensive and graphical reports.”
The final benefit noted in the business case was the future ability to easily share data with neighbouring councils with reciprocal agreements.
“This unique feature allows users to identify adjacent traffic that might affect Council’s road network, or to compare traffic patterns on similar roads in other areas.”
Overall improvements
Overall, ATLYST has greatly improved Logan City Council traffic program by:
- Providing more accurate data for transport planning studies;
- Improving efficiency/cost savings;
- Assisting with more informed and timely responses to community concerns relating to anti-social driving, speeding etc.
- Better identifying and monitoring growth corridors.
Affordability
When comparing the options of building a similar software in-house or using ATLYST as an ‘off-the-shelf’ solution, the business case concluded the latter would not only be more affordable and minimise glitches, but allow staff to focus on other important tasks.
As ATLYST is an off-the-shelf product, it is considered to be priced very competitively when compared to a custom-developed product. This is because the cost involved in developing an off-the-shelf product is distributed among a large number of users.
Logan City Council's ATLYST business case
Scalability and future updates
When analyising the feasibility of ATLYST, Logan City Council emphasised the need for a system that is not only backward compatible with historical data, but also future-proof.
“Scalability is one of the most important factors to consider when choosing a traffic census product,” the business case states. “Currently, Logan has over 1,800 traffic survey data files that are logged in the ATLYST dashboard. This is anticipated to grow every year as we add on over 500 new counts every financial year.”
Overall in five years' time it is expected that we will have over 5,000 traffic survey data files managed in the one system.
Logan City Council's ATLYST business case
They concluded that ATLYST is scalable enough to accommodate present requirements while being capable of meeting future needs. In addition, ATLYST’s free updates and MetroCount’s “flawless” customer support ensure the software will be relevant for many years to come.
To read the full business case prepared by Logan City Council, click here.
Got a great MetroCount story? Share it with us and let the world know the great work you're doing in your community.
