Disclosed are systems, methods and computer program products for traffic volume reporting during radio access network (RAN) connection setup. In one aspect, the RAN broadcasts an indicator that it accepts traffic volume measurements (TVM) from access terminals (ATs) and an associated TVM threshold. An AT measures its traffic volume before requesting a connection with the RAN. If the traffic volume is above the threshold, AT transmits to the RAN a connection request containing a TVM indicator that the measured traffic volume from the AT is above the threshold. If the traffic volume is below the threshold, AT transmits to the RAN a connection request containing a TVM indicator that the traffic volume is below the threshold.