Transport Assessment Good Practice

Compiling a Transport Statement or a more complex Transport Assessment Report is at the core of the professional activity for Modal Group. Modal's transport planning consultants are often required to prepare these statements and reports to accompany planning applications where the development proposals may have an effect on the public highway.

After receiving instruction to carry out an assessment, and as long as the proposals are not secret, Modal Group Ltd will approach the local Highway Authority and discuss the scheme in general and scope the parameters required to carry out the project. This will have the advantage of not only getting to know the Highway Officer involved, by agreeing whether the transport evidence required need only be in the form of a Transport Statement, a requirement for smaller developments, or the lengthier and more in depth Transport Assessment Report. Additionally, scoping the development proposals with the Highways Officer will agree what parameters or information would be required in the report as well as getting an early indication as to what are the local issues and what sort of contributions, if any the Highways Authority would look for. This should result in saving time later once the Application is submitted and reports sent to the Consultees who can then raise issues and make comments.

The Four Stage Model Approach
When carrying out the highway study, Modal Group, in most cases, will follow the typical 4 stage model approach. This is where we look at:
1. The development's likely traffic generation
2. How the traffic distributes across the highway network.
3. The modal split of the traffic, such as the split between types of vehicle (car, bus, cycle etc) as well as considering pedestrians or any other mode of transport
4. Assigning the traffic to the local highway network.

By following the 4 stage model, Modal Group will have a good prediction of travel characteristics of the development proposals. By comparing these with what is currently happening on the local highway network. This may need traffic surveys to get a present day snapshot. Modal Group can assess the significance of the additional development traffic, if any, would have on the operation of the local highway network for the opening year of the development proposals or the design year which could be a number of years ahead.

If there is no significant impact then there may be no need for any off-site highway works, however if there is a significant impact then Modal Group Ltd can assess and advise the Client on what highway works will need to be carried out, such as junction improvements or road widening. Any such highway schemes would then require a Road Safety Audit, carried out by an independent highway consultancy, a service Modal Group Ltd can offer to other designers.

The Effect of Additional Development Traffic
In some instances, the impact of additional development traffic could be mitigated by encouraging the developments end users to make fewer car journeys by car sharing, promoting cycle, bus and pedestrian forms of travel. Modal Group Ltd would prepare a separate document called a Travel Plan which would bring all this information as well as advising on how to monitor the effectiveness of the Travel Plan and identify targets for the end users to achieve.

After all the above information has been prepared, and in most cases, Modal Group Ltd will continue to liaise with the local Highway Authority in order to discuss any other issues or concerns that may arise with the aim to get the Highways Officer to recommend the scheme to the Planning Officer.

To get in touch with Modal Group for a no-obligation chat please phone 015398 86015 or contact us via the website at Modal Group.

The Role of Transport Planning

Civil engineering covers a wide range of activities relating to both public sector projects and private sector development schemes. Transport planning is one of the specialist areas that comes under the umbrella of civil engineering. The public perception of transport planning is that they don't really think about it as such, but transport planning does indeed play a vital role in our everyday lives as it impacts hugely on a regions economic well being as well as the quality of life experienced by its inhabitants . Think about it this way, carefully designed and well constructed transport links allows a region's populace to access jobs, education and health services easily and safely. Meanwhile, it also enables businesses to gain access to customers, suppliers and importantly the skilled employees they'll need to do the work. As a transport planning consultant, you may be thinking that I'm overdoing our role in the scheme of things and perhaps you're right! However, I'm hoping that you are starting to see how transport planning is an essential link between our transport system requirements and the needs of society at local, regional and national levels.

Transport planning consultants aim to improve the transport infrastructure, provide advice on policies as well as work on various transportation related projects. When the general public consider transport projects, it tends to be that they think of road networks. I guess this is because most of us tend to drive private vehicles more than we use public transport. However, the highways consultant will also get involved with railway networks, pedestrian systems, cycle routes and air travel. So, as well as having to think about the various transport systems, these days we also take into consideration climate change, the economic development objectives, travel behaviour and community needs.

As you can see, there's plenty of variety in transport planning work and may involve anything from working on anything from an access issue on a small parcel of land all the way to an international integrated infrastructure project. Accepting the complexity of any particular scheme, the transport planners’ responsibilities will typically include:

1. Identifying transport problems and providing potential solutions
2. Report on transport systems and present options and recommendations
3. Creating designs for new or improved transport infrastructures (including junctions, pedestrian areas, and car parking areas, etc
4. Resolving development site access issues
5. Carrying out a road safety audit
6. The design and interpretation of traffic surveys
7. Forecasting the impact of road improvements, policy changes and public transport schemes
8. Analysing and reporting on the benefits of various transportation strategies
9. Evaluating infrastructure needs to support planning applications for development projects
10. Analysing and reporting on environmental impact
11. Advise local authorities on their development plans
12. Participating in negotiations with planning authorities, local councillors, developers, architects, special interest groups and transport providers
13. Contributing to the bid writing process to gain funding for projects
14. Being an expert witness at planning appeals

Transport planners make a major contribution to developing and improving transport systems and really should be involved in infrastructure projects from the earliest stages to ensure that they are sustainable and provide the greatest benefit to the economy in the long-term.

If you would like to discuss this article or find out more about Modal Group UK services then please phone 015398 86015 or get in touch via the website at Traffic Consultants.

Discover How Climate Change Will Impact Our Transport Systems

There is now a general acceptance across the globe of the scientific evidence that climate change is with us. Plans are being drawn up and actions are being taken to mitigate the impact of climate change on our communities and our economies.

As transport planning consultants, Modal Group has to consider and assess our transport networks in terms of their flexibility and long-term resistance to the potential effects of climate change and the extreme weather conditions that this may bring.

How can our transport systems become vulnerable?

On TV we regularly see the impact that extreme weather conditions such as coastal storm surges, extreme temperatures and flooding has on UK communities as well as internationally.

A storm surge in a coastal area could result in cliffs collapsing blocking routes, the loss of basic services such as electricity and clean water, homes and roads being washed away, etc… Extreme cold spells and winter storms can easily bring roads, railways and airports to a standstill creating considerable delays, accidents and damage to our economy. Though the UK would probably welcome an extended heatwave, extreme heat will damage tarmac, encourage subsidence as well as create other surface and structural damage. It can also impact on how we travel depending on the level of discomfort (think London Underground) with any particular mode of transport thereby potentially adding greater pressure on certain networks.

At the moment, we are more used to heavy rainfall and flooding than heatwaves (though this may change in the future). However, flash floods will endanger lives, damage embankments and wash away most things in its path thereby causing considerable disruption to our transport infrastructure and the communities that use them. Prolonged heavy rain can cause landslides that will bring down buildings and other structures, bridges can be washed away and cause severe problems for underground networks.

These are just some of the problems that can happen and when you also consider the costs of the clean up operation, the potential damage to tourism and the impact on insurance premiums it all becomes a bit of a headache.

How can we make protect our transport systems and make them resilient?

New transport infrastructure development tends to be determined by new housing or commercial developments. Therefore it is essential that all stakeholders work together to improve our transport networks by making them more resistant to the extreme conditions that are being brought about by climate change. In many cases, there will be a regional strategy or transport plan in place that will provide guidance to planners on the best way forward on extreme weather issues such as flood risk and potential storm damage as well as looking at options for reducing carbon emissions.

It is essential that planners and developers alike confront climate change and continue to work towards meeting future transportation needs. We'll need to deal with a variety of issues such as how climate change will affect the way we travel and how we can adapt our current infrastructure to cope better with these changes. It will also be necessary put in place preventative measures to limit disruptions to businesses. When considering that climate change takes place over a long period of time those businesses involved in longer term investments such as those in the construction and transport infrastructure could be particularly vulnerable.