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 planning 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 approvals
Specialist Reports
Most applications of any size need reports from specialists outside town planning.
Heritage Impact Statement
If your property is a listed heritage item, is in a heritage conservation area, or is adjacent to a heritage item, a Heritage Impact Statement is required with the application.
Waste Management Plan
Most DAs above a council-set construction value threshold - commonly around $5,000, set locally - need a Waste Management Plan detailing how construction and demolition waste will be sorted, reused, recycled or disposed of, usually against a target diversion-from-landfill rate.
Bushfire Assessment
If your lot is mapped as bushfire prone, a bushfire assessment is required and it changes two things: the construction standard your building must meet, expressed as a Bushfire Attack Level, and usually the approval pathway, because bushfire-prone land removes complying development eligibility in most cases.
Stormwater Drainage Plan
Stormwater is assessed as part of every DA's general merit assessment, but the engineering standard comes from your council's own specifications - typically requiring on-site stormwater detention (OSD) so your development does not increase peak flood flows onto downstream properties.
Why clients choose EHUP
- 10+
- 250+
- 17
- 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.