Commercial REI in TX: Vehicles per Day Numbers - how to verify?

Question

Hi all, I'm new to BP and this is my first post.

I'm a licensed real estate agent in TX and I'm helping a client invest in a commercial property.  The offering memorandum for the property lists "vehicles per day" on the freeway in front of the property and for the cross streets nearest to the property.  How do I go about verifying these numbers to make sure they are accurate?  I did a google search and found a few companies that offer numbers/reports for money, and also went to the TXDOT website but was thoroughly confused.

I also want to be able to see if the traffic has been steadily increasing or decreasing over the past few years.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

-Sal

Jeff Kehl · Answer

@Sal Virani you're going down the right path. I get mine in Georgia from the Georgia Department of Transportation. If the Texas site confuses you, call them up and ask for help. State government people are often happy to help because that's what they're there for after all. If that doesn't work you'll need to find a consultant/company that does it and pay them like other commercial brokers do.

Sal Virani · Answer

Thanks for the responses @Jeff Kehl @Michael Flight @Joel Owens and @Ronald Rohde

Appreciate the additional thoughts/factors to look at regarding VPD numbers Joel.

Assuming there isn't someone on the message board who could give me a quick tutorial/instructions on how to find the numbers myself on TXDOT's website, I'll try giving them a call.

Ronald Rohde · Answer

TXDOT was straight forward for our properties. Send me an email with your address and I'll have my staff shoot it to you.

Joel Owens · Answer

If your clients potential property is not right on the corner or next to the corner with a cross through from the corner tenant then likely you are not getting much cross traffic from both roads of traffic.

You also need to look at where the property is located.

A road could have total traffic counts of 30,000 cars a day but that doesn't mean both sides of the road are equal. One side could have 20,000 and another 10,000 cars a day. Conversely the sides could change traffic volume based on the time of day. Heavy in the morning and light in the evenings or vice versa. The real estate or business your client is buying could be heavily dependent on morning or late evening business. So seeing if on (going to work) side or (going home) is critical.

Another factor is if there is a concrete median in the middle of the road. Consumers are very lazy and visually tend to make decisions with their eyes. If they have to do a u-turn or do multiple steps to get into a place it is a major deterrent versus a middle turn lane without a concrete median.

Check any road widening projects in the area as that could take existing parking spaces from the property you are looking at by eminent domain. DOT's usually have certain road frontage rights for road widening. So if I saw a 20k plus daily traffic count on a 2 lane road and numbers are rising fast then I might think a road widening to 4 lane is coming sooner rather than later. Generally it can be a benefit for better traffic flow but the 1 year or longer time can put some smaller businesses out as they cannot take the reduced sales while consumers go elsewhere to avoid the construction until finished. National tenants tend to do better as their sales and profit is spread out among many stores and locations so a dip in one location with eventual upside can be a positive.

Another factor is checking to see road projects coming up and if the changes will impact the traffic flow from your area. An example is you get 25,000 cars a day but a new bypass once complete will drop traffic down from your site to 12k a day and move growth and traffic in a new direction. Commercial likes cars and rooftops.

Michael Flight · Answer

Listing sites like CREXI and Loopnet will sometimes have that information.  Also, county or city traffic departments have that information.  Sometimes the economic development department or Chamber of Commerce will be helpful with traffic counts, demographics and local area spending power.

Commercial REI in TX: Vehicles per Day Numbers - how to verify?

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