What is a traffic count, and why do buyers ask about it?
A traffic count, as VDOT publishes it, is Annual Average Daily Traffic: an estimate of the mean daily vehicles on one road segment across a whole year, published with its year, its direction and a quality code. Buyers ask because a commercial use has to suit the road it sits on, and a lender reviewing the site asks the same question.
One row of VDOT's 2025 layer, read field by field
Start with a single row from VDOT's 2025 bidirectional traffic volume layer. The route is Interstate 77. The segment runs from US 58 to Coulson Church Road (Route 620). The ADT field reads 46,000, the quality field reads A, and the dataset's data currency runs through December 30, 2025.
- Route
- Interstate 77
- Segment
- US 58 to Coulson Church Road (Route 620)
- Layer and year
- VDOT Bidirectional Traffic Volume 2025, data currency through December 30, 2025
- Volume
- 46,000 vehicles a day, both directions combined
- Quality code
- A: an average of complete continuous count data
Each field carries part of the meaning. Without the year, the number reads as current for as long as it stays in print. Without the segment, it reads as the whole interstate. Without the direction, nobody can tell whether it describes one side of the road or both. Without the quality code, a figure built from a year of continuous counting looks the same as one factored up from a few days.
The volume itself is an Annual Average Daily Traffic estimate, or AADT. VDOT computes and publishes AADT for each locality in Virginia and describes it as an estimate of the mean traffic volume across all days of a year at a location, Sunday through Saturday.
AADT is the total annual traffic estimate divided by the number of days in the year.
VDOT, Traffic Counts: description of the publications
That makes it an annual estimate for a stretch of road, not a tally taken on one particular day in front of one particular parcel.
Year-round stations, short counts, and the letter that tells them apart
VDOT's Traffic Monitoring Program gathers volume, vehicle classification and speed from two kinds of station: continuous count stations that run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and portable short-term stations that count for 24 to 72 hours.
A short count has to be factored into an annual figure, and the quality code records which kind of data sits under a number. Code A is an average of complete continuous count data. Code F is factored short-term count data. Code G is factored short-term count data with a growth element added.
| Segment | 2025 ADT | Quality code |
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina state line to Old Pipers Gap Road (Route 620) | 43,000 | A |
| SR 148 Chances Creek Road to US 58 | 42,000 | F |
| US 58 to Coulson Church Road (Route 620) | 46,000 | A |
| Coulson Church Road to SR 69 Lead Mine Road | 45,000 | F |
The two segments that meet at Coulson Church Road show why the letter matters. One is 46,000 from continuous data; the other is 45,000 factored from short counts. Editions move as well: VDOT's 2024 layer put the Coulson Church Road to SR 69 segment at 46,000 with code G. That is the reason a year travels with every figure.
Weekday or all week, one direction or both, mainline or ramp, new or old
- Weekday versus all week. VDOT's data glossary defines Average Annual Weekday Traffic as typical traffic over one year for the days Monday through Thursday. It is a different number from AADT, and the two are not interchangeable.
- One direction versus both. Roads counted separately by direction, such as interstates, are published with an estimate for each direction and a combined estimate for the whole route. Check which one a quoted figure is.
- Mainline versus ramp. VDOT's 2025 layer lists two Exit 19 off-ramps: I-77N Ramp 19A, from I-77 North to Coulson Church Road, at 380 with code G, and I-77S Ramp 19A, from I-77 South, at 970 with code F. Those are ramp estimates, far smaller than the interstate figure, and they are never added into a total for the interchange.
- New versus old. Carroll County's 2024 comprehensive plan, citing VDOT's numbers for 2021, says Interstate 77 through the county averages 34,500 vehicles per day. That is a countywide average for an earlier year, not a 2025 segment estimate. How the county plans' 2021 figures frame the corridor is covered for Austinville on its area page for Austinville and the Exit 19 corridor.
A listing figure is a fifth kind. The Coulson Church Road listing near Exit 19 prints its own figure of 44,000 vehicles a day on its photographs; that is the listing's marketing figure, labeled as such on the page, and not a VDOT estimate.
A use has to suit its road before a price makes sense
A commercial buyer asks for the traffic figure early because it bears on which uses the road can support, and the price follows the use.
The traffic count should be suitable for the retail type; small neighborhood centers can be successful on tertiary or secondary roads while larger properties, such as power centers or major malls, require location on or access to primary arteries.
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Comptroller's Handbook: Commercial Real Estate Lending
The same handbook adds that properties and signage should be readily visible to passing traffic. It is written for bank examiners, and that is the point: the lender reviewing a buyer's loan reads the road the way the buyer does. A figure with its year, segment and quality code survives that reading. A round number with no source does not. How a listing documents traffic and access for that audience is on the page about selling commercial property.
Traffic is not the only input, and on some properties it is a minor one. An operating business is priced on the business as well as the road, which is why selling an inn or lodging property turns on different questions.
There is also the traffic a project would add, as opposed to the traffic already passing. Under 24VAC30-155-40, a locality sends VDOT a package on a complete rezoning application that substantially affects transportation on state-controlled highways, so that review arises only where there is zoning to change; what its absence means for a project is on what unzoned means for a commercial buyer. Whether a specific proposal triggers it is a question for that locality's planning office.
Pulling VDOT's estimate for the road a parcel fronts
VDOT says every traffic data publication it currently produces is available to the public on its traffic counts page, where the 2025 Traffic Data Publications are listed. The summary data also comes as a feature service, a spreadsheet, KML, a shapefile or a file geodatabase.
Find the right book
Interstate and Primary highway segments are listed in a booklet of AADT by segment. VDOT also publishes one hundred jurisdiction books, one for each of its recordkeeping areas, with traffic volume estimates for roads within that area's county, cities and towns.
Match the segment to the parcel
Read the start and end labels, and confirm that the parcel's road frontage actually falls between them.
Copy four things with the number
The year, the segment, whether the figure is directional or combined, and its quality code.
Expect gaps on back roads
Some segments show NA because no estimate is available. Many local secondary roads carry less data, and VDOT does not calculate vehicle classification, weekday volumes or design hour volumes for them. Where no estimate exists, none gets invented.
The figure answers how much traffic passes. It does not say where a drive can go. How close an entrance may sit to a ramp is on how far from an interstate exit is still commercial ground, and entrance design itself belongs to what VDOT considers a safe entrance. The large neighbor at Exit 19 has its own answer: what Wildwood Commerce Park is.
Which VDOT traffic figure belongs to the road your parcel fronts?
Send the road name and the parcel, and Lowell will match it to VDOT's published segment, with the year and quality code attached, before anyone prices the site. No cost, no obligation.
Got it. Thank you.
We'll be in touch shortly with an honest read.
Questions this raises
Is a count taken over a day or two the same thing as AADT?
No. VDOT's portable short-term stations count for 24 to 72 hours, and that data is factored before it becomes an annual estimate. In VDOT's quality codes, F marks factored short-term count data and G marks the same with a growth element. AADT is the total annual traffic estimate divided by the number of days in the year, covering every day of the week.
Does VDOT publish a traffic figure for a county back road?
It may. VDOT's one hundred jurisdiction books, one for each of its recordkeeping areas, carry traffic volume estimates for roads in that area's county, cities and towns. Some segments show NA because no estimate is available, and for many local secondary roads VDOT does not calculate weekday volumes or vehicle classification. Look the segment up rather than borrowing a nearby road's figure.
Can the two Exit 19 ramp figures be added into one number for the interchange?
No. VDOT's 2025 layer lists two Exit 19 off-ramps, I-77N Ramp 19A at 380 with code G and I-77S Ramp 19A at 970 with code F. They are separate estimates of different quality for two ramps, and adding them does not produce a total for the interchange.
Where this page's facts come from
Every rule, office and figure above traces to one of these. Rules change; check the office before you act on one.
- Traffic Counts: the Traffic Monitoring Program, AADT and the 2025 Traffic Data Publications Virginia Department of Transportation
- Traffic Counts: description of the publications, AAWDT and quality codes Virginia Department of Transportation
- VDOT Bidirectional Traffic Volume 2025 Virginia Open Data Portal
- VDOT Bidirectional Traffic Volume 2025: Interstate 77 segments and ramps in Carroll County Virginia Department of Transportation
- VDOT Bidirectional Traffic Volume 2024 Virginia Open Data Portal
- 2024 Comprehensive Plan: Interstate 77 traffic, VDOT numbers for 2021 Carroll County, Virginia
- 24VAC30-155-40, locality submission of rezoning proposals to VDOT Virginia Administrative Code
- Comptroller's Handbook: Commercial Real Estate Lending, Version 2.0, March 2022 Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
- Districts and residencies: the Martinsville Residency Virginia Department of Transportation