Articles

Earlier this year the international transport planning industry lost the ‘rock star of car parking’, distinguished urban planning professor Donald Shoup. I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on some of the key ideas that emerged from his book ‘The High Cost of Free Car Parking’.

In Australia, there’s generally a simple permit process when civil works are required within a Council-managed road reserve in comparison with a State managed road reserve. Nevertheless, the process can still be confusing for the applicant with multiple stakeholders involved and variance in the process between councils.

Part 1 of the AS2890 Series has not been updated since 2004, however is currently undergoing revision with authors incorporating public comments received following the release of the draft version. With more than 20 years between revisions, what are the changes that can be expected and how were they derived?

The provision of traffic management during construction activities is required to provide a safer environment for road users, including our more vulnerable users – pedestrians and cyclists.

While accessible design is increasingly emphasised when developing new transport infrastructure, there are still many issues that are overlooked. These issues can create significant barriers for individuals with disabilities, the elderly, and other vulnerable road users.

A wide range of heavy vehicles are required to transport materials and infrastructure to renewable energy project sites. So how do we ensure that these vehicles comply with road regulations and provide project owners and road authorities the confidence that the materials and infrastructure can arrive safely to the project site?

The car parking requirements of different land uses are typically outlined by Councils through their local planning controls. When there is no car parking rate specified for a land use or if a car parking reduction is sought, it is the role of a traffic engineer to forecast the likely car parking demands of the development.

Amber staff benefit from experience across project scoping, Environmental Impact Statement and post-approval management phases of State Significant Developments of renewable energy project across NSW. Through this experience we have insights into the best ways to manage (and hopefully avoid) risks to construction activities on-site.

I was recently working remotely in Bali, a privilege I’m grateful for while working at Amber, when I became acutely aware of road traffic inefficiencies present on the popular tropical island. This one particular example highlights this finding.

Amber staff are established leaders in preparing traffic assessments for wind farm, solar farm and battery storage (BESS) projects across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania. The assessment process is somewhat unique as these projects generate the highest traffic impacts during the construction phase, as opposed to other types of development which are typically assessed for the operational phase.