A queue counter turns the traffic going past you into a predicted queue length, live, while you control traffic. The queue on the TGS is an estimate made in an office. All three states that publish a method expect it to be checked on site and watched through the shift, because a queue that runs past the PREPARE TO STOP sign is how rear-end crashes into stopped traffic happen.
This counter is built for that check: one thumb, big buttons, the screen stays on, and the answer updates with every tap. Counting is free with no sign-up, and your counts never leave the phone.
How to use the queue counter on site
- Pick your state. NSW counts cars, trucks and buses, and B-doubles separately. Queensland and WA count average (light) and heavy vehicles.
- Enter the protected distance for each direction: how far it is from your position to the PREPARE TO STOP sign or the cone marking the estimated end of the queue on the TGS.
- Tap each vehicle as it reaches your end. The clock starts on the first tap. Rename "Direction A" and "Direction B" to the road names so the report makes sense later.
- Time the stops. Tap STOP when you stop a direction and GO when you release it. The counter uses the longest stop you timed, or the average, or a time you type.
- Keep counting for at least 15 minutes in NSW, or a 5-minute block in Queensland. The 5-minute windows show you when the traffic peaks.
If you count both directions from one end, count the far direction as it arrives at the other controller, or ask them to count on their own phone and compare.
Queue length methods by state
Every method does the same thing: arrivals per minute × the time traffic is stopped = vehicles in the queue, then × a length per vehicle. They differ in the lengths, the rounding and the safety margin.
| NSW (TS 05492 s11.8.3) | QLD (QGTTM Part 3 Table 4.3) | WA (Main Roads fact sheet) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Count | At least 15 min at the busiest time | 5-minute count | Hourly volume ÷ 60 |
| Car / light | 8.5 m | 6 m | 8.5 m |
| Heavy vehicle | 22 m (trucks, buses) | 20 m | 22.5 m metro, 39.5 m regional |
| B-double | 29 m | counted as heavy | counted as heavy |
| Rounding | Vehicles rounded up per class | Part vehicles rounded up | Vehicles rounded up |
| Margin | + 30%, then up to the next 10 m | Minimum one car + one heavy | None |
The lengths include the gap between stopped vehicles: NSW allows 3 m. Stopped time runs from when the controller stops a direction until the same controller releases it next cycle. On a long shuttle that includes the time for the other side's traffic to clear the work area, which is why timing real stops beats guessing.
A worked example (NSW)
This is the example in TS 05492 Tables 29 and 30. Over 15 minutes, 45 light vehicles and 6 heavy vehicles arrive northbound. Traffic is stopped for 3 minutes each cycle.
- Light vehicles: 45 ÷ 15 = 3 a minute × 3 minutes = 9.
- Heavy vehicles: 6 ÷ 15 = 0.4 a minute × 3 minutes = 1.2, rounded up to 2.
- Length: 9 × 8.5 m + 2 × 22 m = 76.5 + 44 = 120.5 m.
- Add 30%: 120.5 × 1.3 = 156.7 m, rounded up to 160 m.
If the PREPARE TO STOP sign is 150 m from the controller, this queue runs past it. The counter turns that direction red and vibrates the phone. If you then shorten the stop to 2 minutes, the queue drops to 6 cars and 1 truck: (51 + 22) × 1.3 = 94.9 m, rounded up to 100 m, and it turns green again.
A worked example (QLD)
A controller counts 14 cars and 2 heavy vehicles in 5 minutes, and traffic is held for 2 minutes. Table 4.3 gives 2.4 m per car and 8 m per heavy vehicle for a 2-minute stop. In vehicles, that's 14 × 2 ÷ 5 = 5.6 cars, rounded up to 6, and 2 × 2 ÷ 5 = 0.8 heavy, rounded up to 1. The queue is 6 × 6 m + 1 × 20 m = 56 m. The minimum is always one car plus one heavy vehicle, 26 m.
Sight distance to the end of the queue
A queue inside the protected distance still has to be visible. In NSW, drivers should see the end of the queue from 2 × D on an open road and 1.5 × D in urban areas (Table 73), where D is the speed of the zone they're in. At 80 km/h that's 160 m on an open road. WA uses the same 2 × and 1.5 × the speed limit.
In Queensland the primary PREPARE TO STOP sign is measured back from the predicted end of the queue, not the controller. If that puts it more than 240 m from the controller, a second PREPARE TO STOP goes 120 m from the controller to protect them. The sight distance check measures what you have with your phone's GPS, and the end-of-queue planner places the signs.
When the queue is longer than planned
TS 05492 s11.8.6 sets the order, and Queensland's guide says much the same:
- Adjust the controllers' timing straight away to give priority to the longer approach.
- Tell the site supervisor.
- If the queue doesn't come back, put the contingency plan in place. If there isn't one, get urgent advice from the TGS designer.
Queues are watched all shift so drivers can always see the end of the queue, the advance warning signs, the controller and the taper. Our guide to roadworks queue monitoring covers what to record and when to escalate, and end-of-queue management covers the controls that protect the back of the queue.
Your data and the free account
Every tap is stored on this phone only. Nothing is uploaded, and the count survives a reload or a closed tab as long as the browser's site data isn't cleared. If the counter was closed or asleep for more than a minute, the clock pauses at the moment it closed, so minutes nobody counted don't water down the rate. While counting, the page asks the phone to keep the screen on; some battery-saver modes block that.
Counting always works without an account. The live analysis, the warning and the report (print, PDF and CSV) need a free TrafWise tools account: your name and email, confirmed with a code. There's no payment, no card and no trial.
Limits of a count
A count tells you what happened in the minutes you counted. Traffic surges after school pick-up, at shift change or when a nearby intersection releases a platoon. Count at the busiest time and re-count when traffic changes. If the stop time keeps growing, check the cycle with the portable traffic signal timing tool or our guide to estimating lane closure queues. The estimate on the TGS and the designer's contingency plan still decide what you do.