How traffic surveys could be integral to transport planning
It’s often been said that one of the biggest problems with transport planning in the UK is that various parts of the country are disconnected from one another. This means poor communications and a lack of consistency across the network.
The thing that could bring all these disparate elements together is a national transport plan. It’s something that’s been on the wish lists of regional planning groups for some time and a recent government white paper on house building pledged to align infrastructure spending with the Housing Infrastructure Fund.
The Housing Infrastructure Fund is worth over £2bn and targets those areas with the greatest housing need. The white paper suggests that, in order to encourage the delivery of new homes in these areas, infrastructure projects such as transport and utilities upgrades should be funded alongside house building.
What’s more, with other transport links underway, such as HS2, a greater emphasis on more usable public transport, and predictions about the escalation in the number of road users despite additional public transport alternatives, it is becoming crucial that the road network is upgraded and extended to reduce congestion, improve journey times and increase safety.
Why traffic surveys help
Whether existing road systems are changing or new roads being introduced, a range of reliable data is needed to help with design and planning decisions. A variety of traffic, journey and road-user surveys are needed in order to assess existing road use and provide the information from which planners can predict the impact of changes to the system.
This is particularly important in the case of housing developments, where often hundreds or even thousands of new homes are built in a single area, increasing the potential road traffic significantly. A professional traffic survey uses the latest equipment to survey and collect data in whatever format is best for the client. Traffic can be surveyed across a range of days, times and conditions, giving a full picture of road usage and having a significant influence on the decisions that are taken at the planning stage.
Traffic surveys and more from RDS
At Road Data Services, we provide a wide range of transport and road-user related surveys, including pedestrian surveys and parking data. To find out more about how we can help you with your next transport planning or development project, please call us today.
