Our wheelhouse is Traffic Impact Assessments at Quantum Traffic.
Councils often request Traffic Impact Assessment Reports (TIAR) as a prerequisite for assessing and approving development plans.
While councils may request these at the RFI stage, town planners, architects and designers will often seek one to be prepared proactively to accelerate the planning approval process.
Traffic impact assessment reports: what you need to know
In this blog, we'll unpack everything you need to know about Traffic Impact Assessments (TIA) and why your development will need one.
What is a Traffic Impact Assessment?
As the name suggests, Traffic Impact Assessments (also known as a traffic impact analysis) analyse a development's impact in traffic from all aspects, including:
Car parking
Vehicle access
Traffic generation
Traffic impacts
Waste collection
Bicycle parking
And any site specific requirements
What is the purpose of a Traffic Impact Assessment?
The purpose of a Traffic Impact Assessment is to make sure a new development does not unreasonably impact on the traffic and car parking infrastructure in the surrounding areas.
Traffic impact of developments
A traffic impact assessment largely falls within the requirements of the Planning Scheme, which is why they are required on most development applications.
We have completed traffic impact assessments for several kinds of developments, including:
Industrial developments (warehouses, industry, showrooms)
Commercial developments (offices, childcare centres, medical centres, gyms)
Retail developments (restaurants, shopping centres, cafes, etc)
Mixed-use developments
Residential developments (residential subdivisions, high-density, medium density, townhouse and apartment-style developments)
What is included in a Traffic Impact Assessment?
For all different kinds of developments, we generally look at the same things:
How many car spaces is your development required to provide or is a car parking reduction being sought?
How has the car parking and vehicle access been designed?
Is the level of traffic generated in and out of the car park able to be accommodated?
How will waste be collected?
A traffic impact assessment also analyses some environmentally conscious considerations such as how can people access the development by sustainable transport modes (i.e. walk, cycle or catch public transport). Does the development look to provide for electric vehicles (EVs) or bicycle charging stations?
Another term under the Traffic Impact Assessment umbrella, one your local council may ask for, is a Car Parking Demand Assessment (CPDA).
Essentially, this is an assessment of the statutory car parking requirements relative to how many car spaces a development has.
While the Planning Scheme may specify the number of car spaces required, this does not mean that they all need to be provided on-site, with car parking reductions often approved by council and VCAT if sufficient justification is provided.
Quantum Traffic undertakes Car Parking Demand Assessments (CPDA) as part of our engagement. They will form a significant portion of the Traffic Impact Assessment Report when we submit the TIAR (Traffic Report) to council.
Traffic Impact Assessment Reports: what you need to know
All of these different factors come together in the end to create a holistic assessment of a development's traffic engineering impacts.
Traffic Impact Assessment Guidelines - Melbourne/Victoria
The Department of Transport (formerly VicRoads) has a set of guidelines that developments in Victoria must follow when submitting a Traffic Impact Assessment in Melbourne. This is particularly relevant for developments which take access or front the arterial road network.
Quantum Traffic will ensure that your development plans meet all of these guidelines when undertaking a Traffic Impact Assessment in Melbourne.
Want to find out more about traffic impact assessments Melbourne and how they are relevant to your development?
To ensure your development plans aren't met with congestion, get in contact with us today for a free, a no-obligation Traffic Impact Assessment quote.