S* - Headers Describing The Station

Contract identifier

An identifying number of a contract used to purchase the count. This allows the data producer to track data for payment purposes.

SA contract_id

contract_id [REQUIRED]

A contract ID value

Channel Definition

Defines a channel. Every file with count data must have at least one channel definition record. All 'T' and 'V' count records have a 'channel_id' field which relates to one channel definition record. The channel ID is also used for station labels (SL header).

SC channel_id,to_dir,to_lane,to_surfacetype,from_dir,from_lane,from_surfacetype

channel_id [REQUIRED]

Each channel definition record must contain a channel ID. This is unique across the other channel definition records in this file.

to_dir [optional]

The direction the counted objects are heading towards. This may be referred to as the 'departure' direction. If a counter is monitoring a combined direction, join the two direction codes together. For example, '15' indicates North and South combined.

A Value for this parameter must be one of the following:

Value	Meaning	More Information
-1	Undefined	Direction not yet known
1	North	1: North
2	Northeast	2: North East
3	East	3: East
4	Southeast	4: South East
5	South	5: South
6	Southwest	6: South West
7	West	7: West
8	Northwest	8: North West

to_lane [optional]

For all travel (except to_surfacetype = 4) this represents the lane on which counted objects are heading towards. Allowable values:

• -1 = undefined
• 1 = lane closest to a curb (sometimes called the 'slow' lane)
• Other values 2 and above
• 0 = multiple lanes in the direction are combined

For pedestrian crossings at an intersection (to_surfacetype = 4), this field is used to represent rotational crossing directions.

• -1 = undefined
• 0 = No distinction between the directions (combined count)
• 1 = Crossing in the clockwise direction
• 2 = Crossing in the counter-clockwise direction

to_surfacetype [optional]

The type of surface on which the counted objects are traveling towards.

A Value for this parameter must be one of the following:

Value	Meaning	More Information
-1	Undefined
0	Area	Parking lot, field, park, etc
1	Road lane	Always used by motorized vehicles, frequently includes bicycles, and rarely shared with pedestrians.
2	Bike lane	Intended for use by bicycles but not-motorized vehicles or pedestrians. This may be on the road surface or separated.
3	Sidewalk or footpath	Intended for use by non-motorized traffic to travel parallel to a road. It may also describe a road underpass or overpass. If the space usage is shared, such as commonly found at sporting venues, schools, etc, use 1 (Road lane) instead.
4	Road crossing	Any sort of crossing on a road for non-motorized traffic. For example a zebra crossing, school crossing with crossing guard, crossing at an intersection, crossing not at an intersection, etc. A pedestrian-only underpass or overpass should use 3.
5	Light rail tracks	Typically for trams, trolley cars or monorails
6	Heavy rail tracks	Typically for trains
7	River	Used by boats
8	Moving walkway	Often found at airports
9	Elevator
10	Escalator	Use lane numbers as follows: 1 to show objects are entering the count station via an up escalator 2 to show objects are exiting the count station via an up escalator 3 to show objects are entering the count station via a down escalator 4 to show objects are exiting the count station via a down escalator
11	Turnstyle	For pedestrians to pass through, such as is typically found at the entrance of subway stations. Use lane number = 1 to show objects are entering the count station or lane number = 2 to show objects are exiting the count station
12	Entrance/exit	Use lane number = 1 to show objects are entering the count station or lane number = 2 to show objects are exiting the count station

from_dir [optional]

The direction counted objects are coming from. This may be referred to as the 'approach' direction. Options are the same as to_dir.

from_lane [optional]

The lane counted objects are using to approach from. Options are the same as to_lane

from_surfacetype [optional]

The type of surface on which the counted objects are approaching from. Options are the same as to_surfacetype

Examples:

SC 1,3,1,1,5,3,1

SC 3

SC 12,1

SC 1,13,1

Equipment Labels

Counter Equipment information contains information about the counting equipment's state

SE element_type,element_id,field,text

element_type [REQUIRED]

The type of equipment element to be labeled: 'station' or 'channel'

element_id [REQUIRED]

• When element_type is station, this field is ignored. Simply set it to '0'
• When element_type is channel, this is the channel ID

field [REQUIRED]

• When element_type is station, use fields from

  Value	Meaning
  countertype	Type of counter: String
  counterversion	Version of the counter: String
  countersetup	(Since 1.283) Setup of the counter: String. This may describe the binning system. For example speed x class, or pvr etc.
  counterid	(Since 1.302) ID of the counter: String. This may be a station ID as programmed into the equipment. E.g. '001'
  configdate	Time of last configuration: yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss

  or use an equipment extended field
• When element_type is channel, use fields from

  Value	Meaning
  sensortype	Type of sensor: String
  sensorspacing	Distance between two sensors (tubes or piezos). Needed to compute vehicle records. Use the same units as defined in the 'FU length_unit'. E.g. decimal feet, or meters.
  looplength	Length of an inductance loop. Use the same units as defined in the 'FU length_unit'. E.g. decimal feet, or meters.

  or use an equipment extended field

An equipment extended field allows the file to store data about equipment characteristics which this format does not support more directly. It must start with ' XX:'. See examples below.

text [REQUIRED]

The text value. There are no defined values; the software producing this format can enter whatever is appropriate to describe the information. As a guide, if speed, mass or length units are used in the value, they should be written using the units defined in the FU header.

Examples:

SE station,0,counterversion,V 5.3

SE channel,2,sensortype,PLP

SE channel,1,XX:somedevicestate,42

Channel Contra-Flow Definition

Contra-Flow information [RESERVED FOR FUTURE USE]

Station GPS coordinate

This represents where the counter is placed, which may be different to where the data is observed. Latitude and longitude use the World Geodetic System of 1984 (WGS84) datum

SG latitude,longitude,height

latitude [REQUIRED]

Value between -90 and +90

longitude [REQUIRED]

Value between -180 and +180

height [optional]

Height in meters above sea level (ignores the length settings in 'FU')

Default Behavior:

If this record is not present in the file, the following record is implied

SG 0.0,0.0

Station ID

The station ID is an optional field. It is useful if data is stored in something other than a file. For example, when data is stored in a "BLOB" database field, or when transmitted using a protocol which does not support file names. If included, it must precisely match the station ID in the file name.

SI station_id

station_id [REQUIRED]

A station ID. The format must satisfy these rules:

• ASCII alphanumeric text (0-9, A-Z, a-z)
• No white space such as spaces or tabs
• No underscores (you may use hyphens)
• No commas, semicolons, colons, plus signs, etc
• Case is normally ignored

Station Labels

This record provides additional descriptive information about the station being monitored. Labels are used to add human-readable information to diagrams, tables and charts. They could also be used to link the station record in this file with external systems.

SL element_type,element_id,fieldid,text_value1[,text_value2...]

element_type [REQUIRED]

The type of station element to be labeled

A Value for this parameter must be one of the following:

Value	Meaning	More Information
channel	Labels refer to a channel	A channel is defined with a SC record
direction	Labels refer to a direction	A direction is contained within an SC record. Valid direction codes range between 1 and 8.
station	Labels refer to a station

element_id [REQUIRED]

• When element_type is station, this field is ignored. Simply set it to '0'
• When element_type is direction, this is a direction code (1 through 8. See the SC record's to_dir field for more)
• When element_type is channel, this is a channel ID found in one of the SC records

fieldid [REQUIRED]

The fieldid parameter gives the label a meaning. Possible values of the fieldid are constrained by the chosen element_type. The values that may be used for each element_type are shown in the table. For example, the regionname fieldid may be used to label a station but not a channel.

A Value for this parameter must be one of the following:

Value	Station	Direction	Channel	More Information
description	X	X	X	A general description. Use this if other label elements are not suited to the information.
pathname	X	X	X	The name of a linear path this object sits on. E.g. a road name, a river name, etc
pathid	X	X	X	The ID of a linear path this object sits on. E.g. a route number, a bus route ID, etc
pathclass	X	X	-	(Since 1.263) The classification of the linear path this object sits on. For example, a road functional classification.
pathlrs	X	X	-	The ID of a linear reference this object sits on. This can be paired with the pathdist
pathdist	X	X	-	Linear distance. This information should match the pathlrs
regionname	X	-	-	The name of a region. For example, the name of a county or local government area
urbanareaname	X	-	-	The name of an urban area. For example, a city or town. An urban area does not need a local government to exist.
groupname	X	-	-	The name of a group to which this station belongs. For example, a group of similar stations.
from	X	X	X	A "from" label can be used to label where counted objects are arriving from.
to	X	X	X	A "to" label can be used to label where counted objects are going towards.
mapref	X	-	-	A map book page and grid reference. E.g. 15F07
speedlimit	X	-	X	A posted speed limit.
exitnum	X	X	-	(Since 1.282) An exit number
othersystemid	X	X	X	An ID that links this element to another external system database. This uses two elements for the text fields. The first identifies the external system. This can be any value The second is the identifier value used by the external system
TC	X	-	-	Labels for the TC header record. The label elements always begin with element 0 even if the TC defines a lowest_id of 1. The number of elements should therefore always equal "highest_id + 1", where highest_id is defined in the TC header record.
TL	X	-	-	Labels for the TL header record. The number of elements should equal the number of length bins, including the implied final bin defined by the TL header record
TS	X	-	-	Labels for the TS header record. The number of elements should equal the number of speed bins defined by the TS header record

text_value(x) [REQUIRED]

The text value of the label.

• If speed, mass or length units are used, they should use the same units defined in the 'FU' header.
• If labeling the fieldid "TC", "TS" or "TL", the text_value is repeated for as many elements as are defined by the corresponding classification system.
• Values must use escape characters.
  • To include a comma in text, add a backslash: \,
  • To include a backslash in text, add another backslash: \\
  • To represent a new line use \n

This parameter may be repeated

Examples:

SL station,0,pathid,I-35

SL station,0,regionname,Travis

SL station,0,description,Western Ring RD\, btw Calder Hwy and Tullamarine Fwy

SL station,0,urbanareaname,Austin

SL station,0,othersystemid,tmas,123456

SL station,0,TC,,Pedestrian,Car,Truck,Bus

SL station,0,TS,Slow,Fast,Very Fast

SL station,0,TL,Short,Medium,Long

SL direction,3,description,East side entrance

SL channel,2,description,Fast lane

Device serial number

A serial number of the counter(s)

SN snvalue1[,snvalue2...]

snvalue(x) [REQUIRED]

The serial number

This parameter may be repeated

Examples:

SN M5367374

SN abc123,xyz345

Station Shape

This represents a polyline or simple polygon.

SP shape_type,numcoords,value1[,value2...]

shape_type [REQUIRED]

The type of shape described by the points.

A Value for this parameter must be one of the following:

Value	Meaning	More Information
1	line	A line could be used to represent a road. This must have at least 2 points.
2	area	An area could be used to represent a parking lot, building or intersection. This must have at least three points.

numcoords [REQUIRED]

The number of coordinates in the shape. A coordinate is a sequence of 3 values: latitude, longitude and height. A line must have at least 2 coordinates and an area must have at least three.

value(x) [REQUIRED]

The value array specifies the latitude, longitude and height for every point. The number of values representing all the coordinates in the shape must always equal 3 x numcoords. For an 'area' shape, the last coordinate is implicitly connected to the first, so you do not need to specify the same coordinate twice.

This parameter may be repeated

Examples:

FV 1,GC Format Example 11
SL station,0,description,Parking Lot
SL station,0,urbanareaname,Kew
SP 2,5,30.309002,-97.739708,0,30.308842,-97.739336,0,30.308392,-97.739594,0,30.308569,-97.739719,0,30.308669,-97.739921,0

FV 1,GC Example 12
SL station,0,pathname,Guadalupe St
SL station,0,regionname,Travis County
SP 1,2,30.287697,-97.741568,0,30.286456,-97.741675,0

Start and End Time

The time extents of data in this file

SR start_date,start_time,end_date,end_time

start_date [REQUIRED]

Format as 'yyyy/MM/dd'

The date this count data starts

start_time [REQUIRED]

Format as 'HH:mm:ss.SSS'

The time this count data starts

end_date [REQUIRED]

Format as 'yyyy/MM/dd'

The date this count data ends

end_time [REQUIRED]

Format as 'HH:mm:ss.SSS'

The time this count data ends

Examples:

SR 2014/07/11,00:00:00.000,2014/07/11,03:00:00.000

Field technician retrieved

A field technician who retrieved the counting device

SS tech_name

tech_name [REQUIRED]

Name (or user ID) of the technician

Examples:

SS Jane Doe

Field technician set out

A field technician who set out the counting device, OR a field technician who performed the count

ST tech_name

tech_name [REQUIRED]

Name (or user ID) of the technician

Examples:

ST John Doe

Analyst producing output

An analyst who produced the output

SU analyst_name

analyst_name [REQUIRED]

Name (or user ID) of the analyst

Examples:

SU Roger D. Analyst

SU rda

Time zone

Time zone of the count data

SZ offset_h_m,tzmeaning

offset_h_m [REQUIRED]

Format as 'xHH:mm'

Offset from UTC

tzmeaning [optional]

Describes how to treat time stamps in body records (V, T and M)

A Value for this parameter must be one of the following:

Value	Meaning	More Information
local	Local time	Time stamps in body records (V, T and M), and header record SR, indicate local time and will change to reflect daylight savings times if it occurs.
utc	UTC time	Time stamps in body records (V, T and M), and header record SR, indicate Universal Coordinated Time

Examples:

SZ +06:00,utc

SZ -10:00

Default Behavior:

If this record is not present in the file, the following record is implied

SZ +00:00,local