Assessing the impact on travel caused by a new development used to be a simple case of designing access and parking arrangements relating only to the development itself. This grew in complexity to encompass wider network effects and to consider such issues as trip generation, trip distribution and the extent of redistribution of diverted traffic. Over recent years this complexity has continued to grow and the requirements now cover all modes of transport with an emphasis of switching travel away from car to other more sustainable modes of transport. Other issues such as the accessibility of services and travel planning need also to be considered.
Transport assessment analysis methods have consequently become more complicated and demanding, requiring substantial technical knowledge and understanding in order to ensure that all avenues are explored. Naturally, as the complexity of analysis increases, so does the importance of using a process which minimises the likelihood of errors.
PDC have a strong track record of undertaking this analysis across a range of developments and locations. These projects vary in size from the extension of a small hotel to the building of 20,000 new houses within a small town. Our services are specifically focussed for the requirements of the client.
Our approach to this type of work is generally focussed upon early consultation with the relevant local or national government authority. This enables us to immediately identify requirements specific to that department or site and helps to minimise the time spent performing the assessment.
To support this policy PDC uses all computer programs and databases that are recognised tools used throughout the transportation planning sector. These include ARCADY, PICADY, OSCADY, LINSIG, SATURN, TRIPS, TRICS, ERICA, PARAMICS etc. PDC have also developed our own multi modal modelling package called Visual Transport Modeller (Visual-tm). This package is particularly useful in the transport assessment context as it enables rapid model development which is of particular importance when costs and time scales are tight. Visual-tm also has accessibility modelling functionality. Accessibility modelling is a key component of transport assessment. Visual-tm integrates seamlessly with pd-Green, a travel plan monitoring programme which has been used for developing and managing travel plans for both new and existing developments to a tried and tested structured methodology.
We work across a diverse range of clients incorporating government organizations, transport operators, banks and private clients including: the World Bank, Network Rail, Network Southeast, The London and Edinburgh Trust, Blue Circle Cement, London Underground, Stagecoach, Bedfordshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Surrey, Gloucestershire, Kent and Somerset County Councils, Bedford Borough, South Somerset DC and Taunton Deane DC, LB Newham, Enfield and Kingston, TRL, BAA, the Scottish Office, the UK DfT, the Highways Agency and Eurotunnel and overseas in Europe, China, Morocco, Malaysia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Bahrain, Qatar and Dubai.