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Rat running is used to describe when drivers use residential streets and routes not designed to handle large traffic volumes because of perceived shorter journey times and fewer delays caused by congestion or signalised intersections. Rat running is generally perceived as a nuisance by local residents.
Ku-Ring-Gai council wanted to understand instances of rat running in the local streets surrounding Clive St and Archbold Rd. They wanted insights regarding:
Vehicle-generated Origin-Destination data can help transport professionals understand rat running by providing insight into average travel times for various travel paths, the average speed across different paths, compare differences in times of day (e.g., differences in travel time and driver pathing decisions during AM and PM peaks, school zones, and off-peak), and compare the percentage of vehicles that use each possible rat running route. Based on this information, the council wanted to implement measures to reduce rat running.
The Origin-Destination study area
O-D alternative paths taken by drivers
Using the O-D data, the Council found that 48.9% of people were using shortcuts in the morning peak across different local roads. A large percentage of traffic that was meant to be using main roads was actually using the residential areas.
The council also found there were significantly more drivers using local roads Monday to Friday compared to weekends.
Vehicle counts for different rat running options for each day of the week
Visualisation showing the percentage of drivers using Moore St rat run path during PM Peak. 53% of traffic used this route.