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III. CHAPTER 3: DATA REQUIREMENTS
This chapter walks you through the process of extracting system data using the data and
tools provided by Mn/DOT. The system data extraction flowchart is documented in
Figure 1. This flowchart will be reiterated throughout the text to reinforce the steps in the
process.
The first step in the process is to determine feasible dates that can be used to pull
system data. Outlined below are the steps in the process:
Step 1: Start by selecting and printing out a calendar for September
October timeframe for the previous year.
Step 2: Eliminate Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays.
Step 3: Eliminate holidays and the days proceeding or following a
holiday.
Step 4: Eliminate bad weather days.
Step 5: Eliminate dates that the roadway is impacted by incidents.
A. Weather Impacts
The weather information can be accessed from the National Weather Service
Forecast Office. This site has weather information by month and year for the
Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. Select the month and year of interest. Typically,
this is last year for September and October timeframe. Below outlines the steps
necessary to identify days that should be eliminated due to bad weather.
Step 1: Log onto the National Weather Service web site: .
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