What's Changed?
In March 2007, the Department for Transport published the new Guidance on Transport Assessment. Preceding this, the principal guidance on Transport Assessment was the 'Guidelines for Traffic Impact Assessment' published by the Institution of Highways and Transportation in 1994. However, due to considerable changes in Government policy concerning the sustainability of transport, there was a need to update the guidance so that it corresponded with these policies.
Government policy now stresses the need to integrate planning and transport at the national, regional and local level, promoting sustainable transport (public transport, walking and cycling), reducing the need to travel (especially by car) and ensuring accessibility to goods and services for all.
New development proposals provide the basis for future land use planning and hence it is essential that their transport implications are adequately assessed and that solutions offered as part of a new development are sustainable in the long term.
The aims of the new guidance are to:
· Update the Transport Assessment process so that it corresponds with current Government policy
· Provide guidance in determining when a Transport Assessment is required and if so what the level and scope of that assessment should be
· Provide guidance on the content and preparation of Transport Assessments and Transport Statements
So what's changed?
Site Accessibility
Development in out-of-town locations can lead to high car usage as they are typically not well served by public transport. There is now a much greater focus upon the sustainability of sites, and new developments should be located in areas which are easily accessible by public transport, bicycle and on foot. Mixed use sites can also reduce the need for people to travel by creating key facilities that are easily accessible.
New developments should conform to Local Development Plans, which take into account the accessibility of sites, when allocating land for future uses.
Sustainable Transport Measures
Measures to mitigate the transport impact should focus on improving the accessibility to the development, such as:
· Ensuring safe walking and cycle routes to the site
· Providing cycle stands and changing facilities
· Funding improvements to public transport services and infrastructure
· Providing a car share database for employees
In addition, every Transport Assessment should now be accompanied by a Travel Plan which sets out:
· Proposals to reduce the need to travel to the site;
· Proposals to encourage the use of sustainable modes; and
· How a reduction in trips to the site will be monitored and reviewed on a regular basis
Physical improvements to the highway network (such as carriageway widening and the installation of traffic signals) should only be considered as a last resort.
Materiality Assessments
Previously, developments which were predicted to cause less than a 5% increase in traffic on the highway network did not, generally, require any further assessments of highway capacity. However, this meant that capacity assessments would often be avoided for developments located in areas which experienced high levels of background traffic and would be required for locations with low levels of background traffic. The new guidance stipulates that an assessment of the percentage increase in traffic is no longer valid, and the need for capacity assessments should therefore be determined in liaison with the highway authorities.
The new guidance stipulates the following assessment years:
· For the Local Road Network, a minimum of five years after registration of application (to be agreed with local highway authority)
· For the Strategic Road Network, a period of ten years after registration of application
For the Strategic Road Network, the aim is to ensure that the network is 'no worse off' with the addition of the development traffic.
