Abstract:

Vehicle counting a fundamental technique used in traffic engineering to measure the quantity and type of vehicles that circulate on a roadway during a given period. This data allows for understanding the behavior of vehicle flow and serves as a basis for infrastructure design, transportation planning, and urban mobility management. In the academic field, it is important that urban mobility engineering students not only understand the theory related to traffic studies, but also develop practical skills for collecting and analyzing information in the field. For this reason, an educational practice was conducted that allowed students to learn in an applied manner the basic process for carrying out a vehicle counting.

The methodology for this practical exercise began with a theoretical explanation of the concept of vehicle capacity, its importance in traffic studies, and the different ways in which it can be measured.

Subsequently, a field exercise was organized at a previously selected intersection, where students manually counted vehicles for a specific period, at 15-minute intervals within an hour of observation. During the practice, students recorded the number of vehicles passing through the study point, classifying them by type, such as private cars, motorcycles, public transportation, cargo vehicles, or bicycles. Finally, the data was collected and organized into tables and graphs that allowed for analysis of traffic volume and understanding of vehicle flow behavior at the observed point.

The objective of this educational practice is to teach students the fundamentals of vehicle counting and its importance as a tool for analyzing and planning urban mobility.

As a result, students learned how to properly record traffic data, developed skills to organize the information collected, and were able to interpret the results obtained using tables and graphs. They also identified traffic patterns and understood how this data can be used to analyze road performance.

The practice of vehicle counting allowed students to relate theoretical knowledge to direct observation of traffic behavior in the city. Through this educational activity, students developed fundamental skills for analyzing urban mobility and understood the importance of data collection in decision-making related to transportation management and road infrastructure.

Keywords:

Vehicle counting, Urban mobility, Field practice, Traffic flow.