Description:

Corridor Performance: S. Germantown Road

Bi-Directional Traffic Flow Analysis

The Level of Service (LOS) for roadways is determined by a wide range of factors, including signal timing, corridor length, efficiency, accessibility, and safety. The City of Germantown is committed to improving the flow of traffic on our major roads and optimizing timing at key intersections.

This indicator analyzes the efficiency of travel across the City on S. Germantown Road. The data represents a combined average of both Northbound and Southbound travel during the AM and PM peak times to provide a comprehensive view of corridor health.

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Data Collection Methodology

FY24 Q1 – FY26 Q3:

The City utilized Google Maps route estimate data. For each quarter, the City recorded the highest and lowest estimated travel times (averaged across both directions) over a one-week period to establish a performance baseline.

FY26 Q4 – Present:

Beginning in Q4 of FY26, the City transitioned to logging data specifically during peak rush hour times. This metric now reflects the average time it takes to travel the corridor in both directions during the most high-volume traffic periods of the day.

Strategic Goals

• Bi-Directional Efficiency: Ensuring signal coordination benefits both morning and evening commuters regardless of travel direction.
• Data-Driven Decisions: Using peak-hour averages to prioritize high-impact infrastructure projects.
• Consistency: Reducing the variance between the "fastest" and "slowest" trips to provide a predictable commute.

 
Analysis:

The Level of Service (LOS) for Germantown Road remains variable based on seasonal conditions and time of day. To better capture peak traffic conditions, the City recently updated its methodology for pulling travel time data. Previously, the City utilized average historical travel times from Google Maps, averaged across the week, which resulted in a Q3 travel time of 11.93 minutes.

Starting in Q4, the City transitioned to using Live TomTom GPS routing to pull real-time travel data based on current traffic levels specifically during morning and evening rush hours. To ensure that isolated incidents did not drastically affect the data, this live routing data was averaged across all of the days throughout the reporting quarter. This approach more accurately reflects what our commuters experience on a daily basis. Under this new method, the Q4 travel time was recorded at 11.34 minutes.

The City will continue to monitor the corridor using this real-time approach as a proactive measure to increase the free-flow LOS on Germantown Road. Moving forward, an increase in travel time would indicate a need to further investigate conditions at high-traffic intersections or where slowdowns frequently occur.

 
Impact:
The City has moderate ability to impact this measure.

Description:

Corridor Performance: Poplar Avenue

Bi-Directional Traffic Flow Analysis

The Level of Service (LOS) for roadways is determined by a wide range of factors, including signal timing, corridor length, efficiency, accessibility, and safety. The City of Germantown has been working to improve the flow of traffic on our major roads and timing at intersections.

This indicator provides an analysis of the time it takes to move through the City on Poplar Avenue. To capture a full picture of traffic health, this metric represents an average of both Eastbound and Westbound travel during the AM and PM peak times.

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Data Collection Methodology

FY24 Q1 – FY26 Q3:

The City utilized Google Maps route estimate data. For each quarter, the City averaged the highest and lowest estimated travel times for both directions over a one-week period to establish a baseline.

FY26 Q4 – Present:

Starting in Q4 of FY26, the City began logging data specifically during peak rush hour times. This reflects the average travel time across the corridor during the most congested periods, helping staff better manage high-volume throughput.

Strategic Importance

• Flow Optimization: Balancing East-West throughput to minimize delays during peak commutes.
• Infrastructure Planning: Identifying how Poplar Avenue interacts with intersecting north-south routes.
• Reliability: Ensuring travel times remain consistent even as regional traffic volume increases.

 
Analysis:

The Level of Service (LOS) for Poplar Avenue remains variable based on seasonal conditions and time of day. To better capture peak traffic conditions, the City recently updated its methodology for pulling travel time data. Previously, the City utilized average historical travel times from Google Maps, averaged across the week, which resulted in a Q3 travel time of 16.25 minutes.

Starting in Q4, the City transitioned to using Live TomTom GPS routing to pull real-time travel data based on current traffic levels specifically during morning and evening rush hours. To ensure that isolated incidents did not drastically affect the data, this live routing data was averaged across all of the days throughout the reporting quarter. This approach more accurately reflects what our commuters experience on a daily basis. Under this new method, the Q4 travel time was recorded at 13.38 minutes.

The City will continue to monitor the corridor using this real-time approach as a proactive measure to increase the free-flow LOS on Poplar Avenue. Moving forward, an increase in travel time would indicate a need to further investigate conditions at high-traffic intersections or where slowdowns frequently occur.

 
Impact:
The City has moderate ability to impact this measure.

Description:

Percent of respondents indicating somewhat satisfied/very satisfied with the City government's overall job of providing ease of mobility on City streets based on results from the City's annual community survey.

 
Analysis:

Satisfaction with current traffic flow in the City indicates that motorists are generally satisfied with the mobility between lanes at the posted speed limit. A drop in satisfaction would indicate a need to investigate the mobility of traffic patterns especially at high traffic intersections or where traffic accidents frequently occur. According to the survey in fiscal year 2025, 86% of total survey respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with the traffic flow in Germantown. This is an increase in the satisfaction score of 17 percentiles compared to fiscal year 2024.

*The City did not administer a Community Survey in FY19, FY20, FY21, or FY22. They FY26 Community Survey has not been administered at this time.

 
Impact:
The City has moderate ability to impact this measure.