Transport Assessment

Most major planning applications require a Transport Assessment to be prepared and submitted as supporting documentation. A Transport Assessment will usually cover a detailed assessment of trip generation together with an appraisal of the impact of traffic on the local highway network. Where a requirement for a link or junction capacity improvements is found to be essential, designs can be prepared to support your proposals. An accessibility assessment will also be undertaken, detailing the available choices for travel mode to and from your development, including on foot, by cycle and by public transport. A TA will often require discussions with the highway authority before and during the application process in order to agree and negotiate the scope, contents and conclusions of the assessment.

For smaller developments that generate lower levels of traffic, a Transport Statement may be required to support the planning application. This will cover a similar range of transportation aspects as a Transport Assessment, though generally in less detail. A Transport Statement will typically only consider the impact of traffic associated with the development on the site access, reducing the overall size of study area.

Although many minor developments will fall below the thresholds for either a Transport Assessment or Statement, they will often require a Highways Statement to address a specific issue relating to the site. This could be as a result of local car parking problems, visibility constraints, or simply due to local concerns for which a Highways Statement may help to assure local residents.

Some major planning applications can be required to be supported by an Environmental Statement, covering a variety of disciplines such as Air Quality, Bio-diversity and Socio-economics. One of the aspects that should be included is Transport and its environmental impact on the surrounding area.

SCP can prepare the Transport chapter, covering the construction, operational and decommissioning (where relevant) stages of a development. The report addresses impacts on severance, congestion, road safety and pedestrians.

SCP provides highways and transportation advice on schemes at the feasibility stage, allowing land owners or prospective purchasers to understand the constraints of a site before preparing detailed consultant reports. We can advise on the sustainability of a site, likely access requirements and prepare preliminary drawings to demonstrate the ability to achieve a suitable access.

As part of any development layout the ability for appropriate vehicles to manoeuvre is a key requirement. We can offer swept path analysis of any scheme with an extensive library of vehicles as well as having the ability to assess bespoke vehicles. Our preliminary and detailed design input to schemes includes checking of swept paths to ensure that our designs will accommodate vehicles satisfactorily.

Customer parking is a valuable asset to clients and therefore maximising its use is sometimes critical to a business operation. Using traffic surveys, we can undertake an assessment of a car park to identify any abuse by non-customers and advise on a range of parking management initiatives to address capacity issues.

For major developments, public consultation is a key aspect of progressing the design of a scheme towards meeting the requirements of a planning application. SCP can assist in preparing presentation material as well as attend public consultation events, including providing expert advice as part of a Q&A session with the public.