What happens after a traffic survey?
Usually, a traffic survey, pedestrian, journey or speed survey is part of a wider project – either a development or a consideration of changes to the road system, or an investigation into a specific problem. From motorways to school parking; new supermarkets to much-needed housing developments, the traffic survey plays an important part in decision making.
Commissioning a survey
Transport planners, developers and local planning authorities are just some of the bodies who need good quality data in order to make the best decisions. It is likely that they will commission a range of surveys – particularly for a large or complex development – of which traffic is just one. However, as parking, congestion and safety are often some of the biggest concerns at the planning and local consultation stage, it’s important to gather as much relevant and timely information as possible.
So the first step is to talk to an experienced survey firm, which has the right technology to conduct the type of survey you need, which can help you to design and set the parameters for your survey and which can provide the data in the format you need. The survey might take place in a single instance, or may extend over several key periods in order to provide the range of data you need.
Using a traffic survey
The results from your survey will help to influence what happens next, and allow you to produce data that supports your decision process. This might include revising your plans to add pedestrian crossings, design traffic calming measures, change the way traffic is managed for access to your development, or to demonstrate that your changes will positively influence traffic and pedestrian safety.
You might also want to commission compatible surveys – so a pedestrian survey or journey time survey which, when combined with a traffic survey give you a much fuller picture; or it may be useful to undertake a traffic survey once your development is finished, or highway changes have been put into place, to allow you to gather real-time data on the impact of your plans.
Traffic surveys from RDS
At Road Data Services we work with a wide range of parties across all sorts of planning and development projects to ensure decisions can be made with the benefit of good quality, reliable data. To find out more about how we can help with your traffic surveys, contact us today.
