CDOT maintains a Traffic Count Program for traffic volume counts on thoroughfares and some non-thoroughfares within the Charlotte city limits.
Each thoroughfare is on a two-year rotation for counts unless the road falls under a special need to be re-counted. Such a special need might be for the opening of a new road where a count may be performed before the opening and after the opening, in order to achieve a comparison of the traffic volumes or a new accurate count. Most non-thoroughfare counts are performed for special projects, i.e. traffic calming and new sidewalks.
The counts are AAWT's, the Average Weekday Traffic Volumes (Monday - Friday; no weekends). Thoroughfare counts are taken as a 48-hour count and averaged between the two days to arrive at a 24-hour count. This avoids counting the traffic only once on a particularly busy day or a particularly slow day, (long weekend, special weekday event, etc.). Non-thoroughfare counts are taken for a 24-hour period, on school days only unless it is determined by staff that school traffic does not influence the street's traffic volume.
The count tubes are also placed approximately 200 feet away from an intersection to avoid cars waiting to enter into the intersection. This allows for a more accurate count.
NCDOT maintains traffic counts that are outside the City of Charlotte limits. Visit the NCDOT travel link if you would like to request these counts.