Traffic Impact Assessment
A traffic impact assessment quantifies the trips a development generates, assesses the effect on the surrounding network and intersections, and demonstrates that parking, servicing and access arrangements work. It is required for most commercial, industrial and higher-density residential applications, and parking shortfall is one of the most common single reasons for refusal.
Free consultation
- 3–4 weeks
- Quoted per project - typically from $3,200 + GST
- Quoted fixed after a free scope check
Parking decides more applications than traffic does
Network capacity arguments are usually resolvable. Parking is where applications actually fail - because it is the issue neighbours raise, so it is the issue councils are most sensitive to.
Evidence beats assertion. Surveyed on-street occupancy at the relevant times, a scheduling model that demonstrably manages demand, or a shared-use argument with actual usage profiles will carry a shortfall. A statement that the shortfall is acceptable will not.
Swept paths shape industrial layouts
On an industrial or bulky-goods site, the design vehicle geometry frequently determines the building footprint. Running it at concept stage is cheap; running it after the layout is documented means redrawing.
How it works
Scoping
2–3 days
Whether an assessment is required, and at what depth.
Data and modelling
2–3 weeks
Trip generation, surveys where required, intersection and parking assessment.
Coordination
3–4 weeks total
Assumptions reconciled with the planning report and other specialist reports.
What we take off your hands
What EHUP handles
- Determining whether a traffic assessment is required and at what scope
- Coordinating the traffic consultant and the trip generation assumptions
- Ensuring the traffic assumptions match the planning report and acoustic model
- Parking rate assessment and shortfall justification
- Servicing and swept path requirements for heavy vehicles
What you don't have to deal with
- A refusal on parking that a scheduling or design change would have solved
- A traffic report that contradicts the operational description in the SEE
Frequently asked questions
When is a traffic impact assessment required?
Most commercial and industrial DAs, most higher-density residential, child care, medical centres, places of public worship, and any development with a parking shortfall or requiring heavy vehicle access. The scope varies enormously - some need a full network model, some need a short parking assessment.
What if I cannot meet the parking rate?
A shortfall is not automatically fatal, but it has to be justified with evidence - surveyed on-street capacity, proximity to public transport, an operational model that manages demand, or a shared-parking argument. Unjustified shortfall is one of the most common refusal reasons.
Why does it matter that the traffic report matches the other reports?
Because council reads them together. If the traffic report models twenty heavy vehicle movements a day and the acoustic report models forty, that inconsistency becomes a request for further information regardless of which number is right. Coordinating those assumptions is the part we own.
What is swept path analysis?
A geometric check that the design vehicle can physically enter, manoeuvre and exit the site. It frequently drives the site layout on industrial and retail projects, and it is better run at concept stage than after the layout is fixed.
Related services
Specialist Reports
Most applications of any size need reports from specialists outside town planning.
Commercial & Industrial Approval
Commercial and light industrial projects span a wide range - from a cafe fitout that can be certified in two to three weeks, to a warehouse development where the capital at risk makes feasibility the first priority, not documentation.
Development Application (DA)
A Development Application is the merit-assessed approval pathway.
Why clients choose EHUP
- 10+
- 250+
- 14
- 1
Not sure which approval you need?
Tell us the address and what you want to do. We'll help identify the appropriate planning pathway, whether it is exempt development, complying development or a full DA. Your first conversation is free.