What Level of Tourism Traffic Should be Planned for in NC's Major Tourism Areas (RP 2013-39) Grant uri icon

abstract

  • The purpose of this research proposal is to provide the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) with an implementation strategy for interpreting traffic counts in high tourism areas, including bicycle and pedestrian traffic to aid in the development of Comprehensive Transportation Plans (CTPs). Because of the high variability of traffic counts in these areas, it is unreasonable to apply the typical weekday traffic count as the baseline metric for developing the CTPs for these areas. A literature review and an application of best practices, forecasting methods, and implementation strategies are proposed to address the research needs. The research team consists of faculty and students from East Carolina University. This team provides both the experience and depth to complete the research outlined in the RNS and this proposal. Currently, the NCDOT utilizes typical weekday traffic counts, local population counts, and local employment counts as the baseline for developing CTPs with the aid of local municipalities within North Carolina. However, there is a growing concern that high tourism areas, such as: Boone, Lake Lure, Blowing Rock, Topsail, Atlantic Beach, etc., experience a high variability in traffic (e.g., vehicle, bicycle, and pedestrian) due to seasonal tourism. This issue is obviously prevalent in other areas of the United States, and there is a need to identify best practices and methods used to provide an implementation strategy to the NCDOT that is equitable to the citizens of North Carolina and the financial constraints of the project budgets. The project plan outlined in this proposal covers twelve months and is organized so that the startup can begin as soon as the project is approved. During the first six months of the project period, the project team will initially conduct a review of other municipal, state, and federal governments? implementation strategies, existing plans, and best practices with regards to tourism traffic. Furthermore, data from the current North Carolina municipalities considered high tourism areas will be analyzed to determine what seasonal and other forecasting predictors can be determined. During the last six months of the project period, the project team will investigate implementation strategies and solution models to address CTP needs, such as: travel models for peak tourist travel, employment for peak season hiring, tourists counts, acceptable level of service during peak seasons with respect to underutilization during nonpeak seasons, land use evaluation plans, financial limitations, etc. The implementation strategies and solution models will be built using existing data and address the objectives and tasks outlined in the RNS. The proposed project will produce and deliver to the NCDOT a comprehensive study that summarizes the state of the art across the United States, with particular attention to best practices, and an implementation strategy and solution model for North Carolina. The project team includes faculty in engineering, economics, geography, and urban planning with research expertise in transportation planning, business and economic development, regional planning, and sustainable tourism.

date/time interval

  • May 2013 - August 2014

contributor