A project traffic forecast estimated without a travel demand model should reflect an evaluation of the effect of future traffic growth relative to historical trends, the addition of major development, the diversion of traffic to nearby facilities and the impact of capacity constraints. The traffic forecast should be made using the best available resources and engineering judgment. Also, the methodologies described in this chapter can be used in areas where a travel demand model is available as an additional source of information for checking the reasonableness of the traffic forecasts.

All FDOT districts rely on trend analyses for areas where models do not exist and as a guide for checking the model projections.