The vehicles per lane mile is calculated as the roadway segment’s peak hour volume divided by the number of lanes weighted by the aggregate lane miles of each segment. Peak hour volumes are computed by applying an hourly-to-daily ratio factor to AADT.

• Area Type
  • Urban Area: An area with at least 2,000 housing units or at least 5,000 people.
  • Rural Area: An area with less than 2,000 housing units or less than 5,000 people.
• Context Classification: A classification assigned to a roadway that broadly identifies the various built environments in Florida, based on existing or future land use characteristics, development patterns, and the roadway connectivity of an area. For more information about context class, please reference the methodology report.
• Facility Type
  • Arterials: Signalized roadways that primarily serve through traffic, with intersections spaced two miles or less apart.
  • Highways: High speed roadways with signalized intersections spaced more than two miles apart.
  • Freeways: Multilane, divided highway with at least two lanes for exclusive use of traffic in each direction and full control of ingress and egress.
• Highway System: An integrated network of roads and highways for motor and non-motor transport. Multiple highway systems exist in Florida, with the following three maintained by the State of Florida with a little distinction:
  • National Highway System (NHS): Roads designated by Congress as nationally important for inter-regional travel, including roads designated as connectors to NHS intermodal facilities, which are part of the State Highway System, and other NHS facilities.
  • State Highway System (SHS): Roads under the jurisdiction of the State of Florida and maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation or a regional transportation commission; includes roads with Interstate, US, and SR numbers.
  • Strategic Intermodal System (SIS): A statewide network of high-priority transportation facilities, including the state's largest and most significant airports, spaceports, deepwater seaports, freight rail terminals, passenger rail and intercity bus terminals, rail corridors, waterways, and highways. The FDOT Source Book reports roadway SIS facilities on the SHS or the NHS.
• Reporting Periods
  • Peak Hour: 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on a weekday. This hour is chosen to allow consistent comparisons among transportation modes. It may not be the hour of greatest travel for any given roadway, mode, or area. The majority of travel typically occurs during the PM peak hour resulting in more congestion in the PM peak than the AM peak.
• Segment: A portion of roadway defined by two boundary points.
• Traffic Volume: The number of vehicles crossing a section of road during a specified time period.
• Vehicles per Lane Mile: Density of vehicles on a facility, commonly used to describe utilization.