Traffic Analysis

Traffic counts are a fundamental driver of retail success. More cars passing means more potential customers seeing your business. Ploti combines FDOT traffic data with commercial parcel records to identify, classify, and rank sites by their traffic exposure—turning raw AADT numbers into actionable site selection intelligence.

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The Opportunity

Traffic analysis helps you:

• Identify high-visibility locations on the busiest corridors
• Compare sites objectively using actual traffic counts
• Classify roads into tiers by traffic volume
• Rank commercial sites by their exposure to potential customers

The challenge: Traffic data exists but connecting it to available commercial sites requires spatial analysis. Ploti joins AADT data to parcels and ranks results by traffic exposure.

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Walkthrough: Finding Commercial Sites on High-Traffic Corridors

Let’s identify the busiest traffic corridors and find commercial sites along them. We want to understand which roads carry the most traffic and rank available sites by their exposure.

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Step 1: Select Your Search Area

Draw a boundary around your target market. In this example, we drew an area spanning Orlando, Winter Garden, Ocoee, and surrounding areas—capturing major highway corridors and commercial arterials.

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Step 2: Ask the Question

We asked:

Which roads have the highest traffic in this area? Show me commercial sites on the busiest corridors and rank them by daily traffic count.

This triggers a multi-step analysis:

• Traffic corridor identification and ranking
• Commercial parcel filtering
• Spatial join to connect parcels with traffic data
• Ranking by AADT exposure

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Step 3: Watch the Discovery

Ploti discovered FDOT AADT data and analyzed traffic patterns: Top Traffic Corridors Identified: Commercial Properties in Boundary:

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Step 4: Review the Plan

Ploti’s plan:

1. Create traffic corridor checkpoint (AADT ≥ 50,000)
2. Create commercial parcels checkpoint (all commercial properties)
3. Spatial join—find commercial parcels within ~720 ft of high-traffic roads
4. Calculate traffic exposure—assign highest nearby AADT to each parcel
5. Create ranked checkpoint sorted by traffic count

Data Sources:

• FDOT AADT 2024 — Annual Average Daily Traffic for state roads
• US Parcels — Property records with commercial classification codes

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Step 5: Run the Analysis

Click Run Plan to execute. Ploti creates tiered checkpoints:

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Step 6: Review the Results

2,227 commercial sites identified on high-traffic corridors, with 724 premium sites near roads carrying 100,000+ vehicles per day. Sites by Traffic Tier: Sites by Property Type (High-Traffic):

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Step 7: Examine Top-Ranked Sites

Top 10 Sites by Traffic Exposure: The top sites cluster around I-4 at International Drive (tourism corridor) and SR 408 in downtown Orlando—the two highest-traffic areas in the boundary.

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Step 8: Understand the Corridors

The analysis revealed distinct corridor profiles:

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Why This Matters

This analysis demonstrates traffic-based site ranking:

1. Corridor identification — Found and ranked roads by actual AADT data
2. Tiered classification — Grouped sites by traffic exposure (150k+, 100k+, 75k+, 50k+)
3. Spatial joining — Connected parcels to nearby traffic counts
4. Quantified exposure — Each site has an objective traffic number
5. Property type breakdown — Understand what’s available at each tier

Without Ploti, this analysis would require:

• Obtaining FDOT traffic count data
• Mapping road segments geographically
• Filtering commercial parcels from property records
• Performing spatial joins between parcels and roads
• Ranking and categorizing results

That’s specialized GIS work. Ploti translated “rank sites by traffic” into the right spatial analysis.

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Taking It Further

With traffic tiers established, you can refine further:

Which premium sites (100k+ AADT) are retail properties under 2 acres?

Find high-traffic pad site opportunities.

Show me commercial sites on SR 50 that are currently vacant

Focus on a specific corridor with available inventory.

Compare traffic on International Drive vs Colonial Drive

Understand corridor differences for site selection.

Which high-traffic sites are NOT near highway on-ramps?

Filter for arterial frontage vs limited-access highway adjacency.

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Key Insights

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Why AADT Matters for Retail

AADT (Annual Average Daily Traffic) measures:

• Exposure — How many potential customers see your location daily
• Market validation — High traffic indicates economic activity
• Comparable basis — Objective metric to compare sites

Rules of thumb:

• 50,000+ AADT = Major arterial, strong retail potential
• 100,000+ AADT = Premium corridor, national retailer interest
• 150,000+ AADT = Highway-level traffic, maximum exposure

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Traffic ≠ Access

High AADT doesn’t guarantee good retail sites:

• Highways have traffic but limited access (SR 417, SR 429)
• Speed matters — 70 mph traffic can’t stop easily
• Medians may prevent left turns
• Frontage roads provide the access, not the highway itself

The best retail sites combine high traffic with good access—arterials like SR 50 and US 441 often outperform highways for actual customer capture.

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The I-4 / SR 408 Premium

Sites near I-4 and SR 408 have the highest traffic exposure (198,000+ AADT), but they’re also:

• Most expensive
• Most competitive
• Often already developed

The 50,000-75,000 tier (1,211 sites) may offer better value—strong traffic with less competition for available sites.

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Tips

• Toggle the traffic layer — Visualize which roads carry the most vehicles
• Check access points — High AADT means nothing without ingress/egress
• Consider speed — Slower arterials (35-45 mph) are better for retail than 65 mph highways
• Look at both directions — Morning vs evening commute patterns matter
• Premium isn’t always best — 75,000 AADT with good access beats 150,000 with limited access
• Verify frontage — “Near” a highway isn’t the same as “visible from” a highway

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Other Example Prompts

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Specific Traffic Threshold

Find commercial sites on roads with at least 30,000 vehicles per day for a neighborhood retail center

Lower threshold for local-serving retail.

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Traffic Growth

Which corridors have seen traffic increases in the last 5 years? Show me commercial sites in growing areas.

Identify emerging markets.

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Arterial vs Highway

Find retail sites on arterial roads (not limited-access highways) with 40,000+ daily traffic

Focus on accessible corridors.

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Traffic + Vacancy

Show me vacant commercial parcels on roads with 50,000+ AADT

Combine traffic analysis with availability.

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Commute Direction

Find commercial sites on the inbound (eastbound) side of Colonial Drive for morning commuter capture

Direction-specific analysis.