Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) is a vital part in transportation to understand the information to determine and judge the movement for upcoming road development (Wagner, 2010). One of the major problems on the roads is traffic congestion. Traffic congestion can result in many hazards and problems, these including delayed travel time which leads to economic costs, air pollutions due to the vehicle are stopping and going, and this can also lead to accidents (Bhatta, 2010). If major traffic congestion is found, drivers will intend to look for alternative routes to reach their destination; this could lead to congestion on side roads, one lane closure and slip lane queues extending to the main road. This is resulting in a delay of movement of goods and services come to the market. It can also affect the fuel consumption budget of the motorists (Australia, 2014, p. 654). For when the vehicle in the traffic jam, the engine consumes fuel, and that is a wastage of fuel for it was not intended for that purpose.
In case a road is broad in on end while there is the narrow end, it can result in slow movement of automobiles when they reach the area. It can happen another the road is closed one lane for utility works, thus creating traffic congestion. The complete closure of one road makes the nearby road to be used alternatively by motorists that leads to traffic congestion on that road. It may inconvenience the motorists and the pedestrians using the same roadway (Rao, 2012).
The Traffic Impact Analysis is (TIA) is the tool that utilized to ensure development effects are properly mitigated Tonsley Precinct grows in quite manageable and sustainable way. Tonsley Precinct Impact Analysis will be used to make knowledgeable decisions concerning preliminary plat, rezoning, site plan, and for particular important applications (Glasson and Therivel, 2013). The Traffic Impact Analysis will safeguard Tonsley is capable of: Identifying in advance whichever potential contrary effects to the current transportation network; guarantee adequate measures are provided for the intended development. Assisting in private and public sector entities in the timely identification of traffic operations related issues, including but not restricted to traffic signals, access locations, and extra factors facilitating transportation. Supporting long-term design solutions which foster in control advance of transportation set-up stable with the Comprehensive Plan of the local government and community vision (Buchanan, 2015, p. 82).
Traffic impact analyses are becoming more popular to pre-develop current and future scenarios for the transportation network, this helps improve the flow and infrastructure. A new pre-developed structure such as commercial, institution, shopping centres and any new usage of land need TIA to predict what the traffic flow would be. Typically, in realistic environment traffic flow vary by the time within the day, using the surrounding areas traffic volume TIA can be used to predict future impact analysis for the development area.
Flinders University has invested in the Tonsley Innovation District which aims to operate a learning environment, commercial buildings, and a residential property development. The residential development is called the Tonsley Precinct it is located 11.8 km from Adelaide CBD and 6 minutes’ drive from Marion shopping centre. It is the main attraction in the Tonsley innovation district, and this village offers a 21st century modern way of living. The land size is approximately 11 hectares, and it is projected to accommodate around 850 homes and 1,200 residents. Tonsley innovation also has a high commercial and educational use (Bull, 2015, p. 873).
The research method was profound by the literature review and the guidance of this thesis supervisor. The aims will be presented and addressed throughout this thesis. The research procedure includes getting the SCAT details for each of the corresponding intersections, second to use SIDRA intersection to construct a model for all corresponding intersections and run SIDRA to find the worst scenarios and traffic management to suit the best design and to develop a model on the software Infra Works.
Fig 1: Tonsley innovation area
Figure 1 shows the Tonsley innovation area and the square that is shown is where the Tonsley Precinct will take place. This report objective is to traffic analyse and manage the roads that will be contained within the precinct and the connection to major outer roads.
The proper understanding of this development needs to be acknowledged, if the purpose of this development isn’t considered, then the resolution of producing an economical, environmental friendly design would not be satisfied. It is a fact when a new development is underway there would be new traffic generated which will cause a volume increase to the surrounding routes and new routes (Downs, 2013, p. 71).
The traffic congestion at Tonsley has been a big problem for commuters. It is frustrating for a commuter to spend unexpected more time on the road which can lead to time lose. Road network and public transport have failed to keep pace with the progressing growth in the economy in this vicinity. Using motor vehicles has caused many passengers to spend more time in the traffic jam because it slows the efficient movement of vehicles (Ison, 2011, p. 782). These are the causes of traffic congestion in Tonsley precinct:
A great number of cars on the roadways resulting in insufficient mass movement possibilities or other motives. Blockage and merger caused by the obstacles on the roads which can result from any of the following: Works on the road, an accident, narrowing down of the road, closure of the lane because of utility works or double parking.
Other causes of traffic congestion in Tonsley precinct include occasional malfunctioning of the traffic lights. Lack of sufficient green time. Too many pedestrians are crossing not allowing cars to move or turn. Many trucks on the road resulting to insufficient rail freight prospects. Overdevelopment in this region with an already overcrowded transit system and insufficient road system. Unreliable travel time. Too many traffic checks on the roads.
The blame of traffic congestion is laid on the drivers, traffic official, the ministry of transport and pedestrians. Sometimes the drivers continue using private cars even when the public transport is the right choice. The reason being people tend to what is sensible for them. Not only that but also aggressive drivers who want to overtake or overlap. Furthermore, the department of traffic is blamed for intentionally making Traffic lights without considering enough time for either green or red which are automatically working. Sometimes the traffic officers may stop the motor vehicle near school zones for children to cross the road while the traffic light is green and that reduces that can lead to traffic congestion. However, the ministry of transport is blamed when it does not have long-term plans for every road. The ministry of transport is to increase road capacity as the motorists’ increase so that to avoid traffic congestions. Even some roads have been widened, but unnecessary roundabouts can lead to slow transit (Jane, 2011, p. 720).
The main aim of this research is to investigate and analyse the impact of traffic on the Adelaide Tonsley precinct. In order to achieve the main aim of the research, various specific objectives were set to assist in the achievement of the main aim. Some of them include; Analysis of the trip generation, estimation of time per trip queue, and to analyse the traffic management.
This project is carefully crafted to cover the impact of traffic on the Adelaide Tonsley precinct. The research strictly focusses on the topic of the research such as to determine the causes of traffic congestion in Adelaide Tonsley precinct, the financial and environmental implications of traffic and what are the solutions to the traffic congestion. Various techniques will be used that relate to the study of traffic such as the use of SIDRA. With that, the research is tied to using the materials that relate directly to the topic of the research.
This thesis contains the following chapters.
Introduction; which introduces the dissertation to the reader and it contains a summary of the entire paper. In this chapter, there are aims and objectives of the research, significance of the research, the scope of the research and the research.
Literature review; this chapter reviews the various studies that have been conducted by various scholars regarding the impact of traffic on the Adelaide Tonsley precinct are reviewed to get a deeper understanding of the whole concept regarding the impact of traffic on the Adelaide Tonsley precinct. In this chapter, various subtopics are used regarding the impact of traffic on the Adelaide Tonsley precinct.
Research Methodology: This chapter discusses the various techniques that were used to gather the data. various techniques and approaches that were used are discussed in details
Results and discussions; In this chapter, the findings of the research are presented, for instance, the causes of the impact of traffic on the Adelaide Tonsley precinct.,
Conclusion; this chapter summarizes the entire dissertation. It gives a summary of what has discussed in this dissertation. It also presents the main findings of the research and gives recommendations on how the challenge can be solved.
References; This section contains all the materials where the data in the dissertation was obtained from.
This chapter is the summary of literature research by previous researchers which is connected to the resolution of this study. It is essential to conduct a TIA study for any new development to assessment upcoming traffic circumstances that can probably happen from any new development for instance commercial, residential, industrial and extra forms of land users. It is essential to recognize the existing traffic factors to rub in the course of TIA (Lipson, 2014, p. 72).
There are different ways the traffic congestion affects supply chain of goods and services in different perspectives of the economy. The impacts of delays because of high rates of non-recurring traffic incidents and much severity of back up results; rerouting of traffic patterns (Moses, 2015, p. 762).
The traffic impacts have both spatial and time characteristics that successively lead to business effects. These business effects are distinctively grouped into Delivery of freight which involves the size of the market and fleet size. Business scheduling which includes time of delivery and configuration of all operations (Currie and Walke., 2011.). How the business is operated that, include cross-docking, and inventory management. Travelling and compensation of the worker which involves worker schedule reliability and time or cost. Relocation of the business for instance moving outside the major markets, and shifting the production elsewhere. Connection arrangements of the worker to access air, bus and sea terminals (Nielsen, 2011, p. 112).
Each of the above business impacts affects the chains of supply differences differently as they vary from one industry to another, that affect the affected firms to mitigate congestion expenses through work-related operational changes, as well as resulting local economic competition in different ways (Wang, Quddus and Ison,2013). The results of the competitiveness can be designed by channelling supply chain effects into a set of major changes deliver access to the market, access to labour, scales of production and the cost of avoiding risk.
Traffic congestion can lead to road accidents. Offcourse it plays a major role in automobile accidents. As the number of drivers increases to take the road while fewer new roads are built, it creates a situation whereby more drivers are sharing less confined space. Consequently, this is a creation of a significant increase in automobile accidents that are caused by congested roadways. The badly equipped infrastructure to handle increased traffic and population can lead to road accidents. This also happens due to increased coupled with unsafe driving behaviours that are creating a surge in the number of automobiles accident deaths. If the number of automobiles is increased day by day and the roads remain the same; this creates a situation whereby even aggressive drivers may use the pedestrian pavements because they fear delays in the traffic jam during rush hour, hence may cause an accident by knocking a pedestrian. The traffic congestion, as well as dangerous behaviours in rush hour in addition to extra busy hours of the day, are common grounds of automobile accidents (Philis, 2017, p. 70).
Time far spent can be proportional to revenue earned. Actually for instance if the time of delivery of goods and services increases, the cost increases too. There is some fuel consumed during the traffic jam which increases unnecessary expenses (Anas and Lindsey, 2011). It is approximated that delays and longer travel times in Greater Adelaide have been causing the loss of one billion dollars annually since the year 2011, and it is expected to reach four billion dollars by 2031.In some instances, a freight automobile is paid by the hour. Therefore, it will need a firm to pay for the time delay in the traffic jam for the service delivery or goods. Chronic jams increase the cost of delivering goods and services to the consumer (Martin, 2016, p. 619). Currently, cab operators are paid hourly for services and good delivery. Let us say if the time travel from one destination to another is one hour and the car carrying a worker delays for one more in the traffic jam; the worker will also pay for the extra hour in a jam. The delays in the traffic jam have financial implications for the road users. When an automobiles delays in the traffic jam, some workers reach late for work, and this leads to the loss of substantial revenue to the firms and workers (Weisbrod, 2011, p. 338).
The drivers can waste some fuel and time due to traffic jams, during rush hour traffic delays and busy times of the day. Two-thirds of the incurred cost of fuel is as the result of wasted fuel and time which can be spent somewhere for economic activity.
Transport and traffic jam, especially automobiles can cause many detrimental effects on the environment. It is not a surprise to discover the areas with the highest number of automobiles on the road has the highest levels of air and noise pollution. Cars are among the major pollutants in the world nowadays. The slower moving automobiles cause more pollution than the fast-moving vehicle. The effects of automobile pollution are major for people living in the urban centres. The emissions from the motor vehicles are dangerous to human beings like nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, and sulphur dioxide. Sulphur diode and carbon dioxide can lead to acidic rain. The pollutants can cause damage to the respiratory surface and respiratory diseases. Carbon dioxide is the contributor to climate change by increasing extra heat from the sun. The traffic jams create high noises that originate from the engines, hooting and movements and the noise can hurt the eardrums (Underwood, 2016, p. 18).
Traffic congestion can be easily solved. These are some of the ways it can be solved:
Increasing the load capacity; If the roads were lanes have become small to accommodate the number of automobiles, the road needs to be expanded for easy movement to reduce traffic congestion. This will reduce the amount of time of travel, cost and time.
Efficient use of traffic lights; To control movements of motor vehicles and pedestrians, functional traffic lights are needed for quick, reliable and timely programmed to ease congestion on the busy roads (Transport, 2017, p. 72).
Connectivity; More new roads are to be constructed which can connect to the right location to replace longer roads routes hence congestion.
Closure; Some round-about can be closed to increase the flow of vehicle, thus reducing congestion. Minimise road checks and control. When there are many traffic roads check and controls, congestion increases due to time spent at the traffic checks and controls. If they are minimised, there is a reduction in the traffic jam.
Proper training for the drivers and traffic control officers; If the driver is to be trained and the traffic officer, they will avoid crashes and follow the right signs and signals to avoid the traffic jams.
Encourage commuters to use public transport; If more people are encouraged to travel to use public buses rather their private cars, the traffic jam will be reduced. Use of the train; When the train is moving across the city, it will carry a greater number of passenger. So if commuter uses it, instead of the private car, congestion will be minimised in the city (Terrill, 2015, p. 54).
Other strategies on how to reduce the traffic congestion include; Proper planning of ongoing road construction on the same road used by motorists. The law to be enforced to deal with traffic offender by fine, imprisonment and re vocation of the licences. Introduction of the cable cars which actually move overhead. Introduction of taxi drone’s services to carry people from one destination to another. Cycling and walking to the job if one is living the place wants to go and Telecommuting
SIDRA is a software package used by professional for planning and operation for simulation of traffic at isolated intersections or multiple intersections. This software can provide initial timely and design layouts optimum intersection phase.
The software is mainly used in performing the analysis on the traffic operations and design which is often for the intersections and the network intersections. The application of SIDRA will greatly assist in identifying signals for the intersections for instance pre-timed, fixed time and the acute time traffic flow, two way stop signs, roundabouts with the material signal. In Tonsley Precincts, it will help congestion by:
Accessing intersection design for roads at Tonsley to ensure traffic reassignment associated with the design considered. Determining the traffic service level, capacity and analysing the performance statistics for instance stop rates, queue length and delay time. Calculating network timing and signalised intersection in traffic design, for instance, constant time, pre-timed in addition to actuated time for flow of traffic, roundabouts, metering signals metering at roundabouts, give-way, two way stop signs, and return sign control signals that are all efficiently used through this software. Identifying any effective special lanes, uneven lane use, change of lane, and a short lane for discrete movement of modelling classes which can be used by heavy vehicles, light vehicles, bicycles, buses, and large trucks (Pojani, 2016, p. 78).
The economy and the community will benefit from the uniqueness of SIDRA’s lane orientation for analysing the model road traffic network which can help skilled engineers to make a decision, then apply measures wherever they are commended in the best excellent manner (Transport, 2017, p. 45). It can also give provisions for the functionality very specifically to prototype movement classes so that the traffic experts for example engineers as well as transport associates to organize, design and deliberate on measures such as light rail lines, bicycle lanes, and signals.
Many researchers have been carried out by the use of computer-based simulation technique for approximating incident impacts for a specific transport network. There are many benefits that are associated with the use of computer models in analysing traffic to determine their impacts on the network performance in a safe and cost-effective way, with that eliminating the need to carry out laboratory or onsite based evaluation of the flow of traffic. Within the domain of computer simulation, there are many different levels of details that can be achieved in the analysis of traffic, specifically for the application to the freeways. These include mesoscopic, macroscopic, nanosomic and the microscopic. Even though these modelling approaches are presented regarding their size of the study. Their complexity and their level of detail which can be obtained from the outputs of these models having macro and Nano being the least and most detailed. Another application of the computer simulation is the testing of the operational performance, policy strategies and the changes to the transport and networks services for all different travel modes. The application of the computer simulation is greatly used by the public and private entities in order to identify or justify that must be implemented within a given road network (Ison, 2011, p. 67).
Sidra program was developed by Rahmi Akcelic. the initial version of SIDRA was developed in 1975.The first SIDRA intersection was first released in 1984, and it became very famous due to its professional tools for the traffic engineers and planners. SIDRA intersection is a macro analytical software that is used to evaluate and design individual intersections as well as the network of intersections. SIDRA offers an estimated output of the area based on the level of services, capacity and many performance measures such as queue lengths, delays, fuel consumptions and the operating costs (Lipson, 2014, p. 829).
A large number of the input data based on the traffic and geometry parameter are very crucial for this project. The input information is applied to analyse the intersections of the study area, and it is usually a very complicated process. Likely the SIDRA software has built-in parameters which are referred to as default values in order to make the presentation easy and efficient. The input dialogue in the software is included in the ‘site input; normally the software refers the intersection as ‘site’ It is very important to specify the input data hierarchy order when creating a new intersection because this will guarantee an effective output. The hierarchy order shown in the figure below indicates that the intersections geometry comes first then the movement classes and finally all other parameters such as traffic volumes.
A research paper on transport modelling; microsimulation and macro for the case studies of Funchal by Rodrigues were found to be closely related to this project. The research paper is about the road of Avenida do mar in Portugal whereby the roundabout was constructed and connects to another road. In that four different solutions that were optimised were analysed by use of microsimulation and SIDRA intersection by using AIMSUN software. The first option that was considered was to add another lane to the existing roundabout thus making it a three lane. Initially, there was a reasonable amount of queue, and it was intended to drop as the time passes. For the second option, the roundabout was simulated as having two lanes. As a result of that, it showed that the queue time was increasing over time. The third option was like the first option but for the third lane in the roundabout was reserved for the buses alone. This option showed results that were similar to the first option (Underwood, 2016, p. 318). The final option modelled was having a reserved lane in the roundabout which extended through the connected roads. The traffic queue that was witnessed in the third option was the worst as compared to the other options. The mentioned options were proposed to be able to study the impact on the local and potential implementation of the traffic lights on the roundabouts.
In the hierarchy of modelling, there are usually four different levels of transport modelling. Which are usually nanoscopic, microscopic, mesoscopic and macroscopic. Additionally, some software packages are combining multiple levels within one model platform, and they are usually referred to as hybrid models.
Macro transport modelling is when the entire traffic flow across the network is treated as a single unit. Mesoscopic is usually based on the movement of the platoons of vehicles. The difference between the macro and the Meso is that the Meso the platoon movement is able to be visualised while the visualisation of movement in macro cannot be presented (Downs, 2013, p. 76).
References
Anas, A. and Lindsey, R., 2011. Reducing urban road transportation externalities: Road pricing in theory and in practice. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, 5(1), pp.66-88.
Australia, N. L. o., 2014. Australian National Bibliography. 1st ed. Perth: National Library of Australia.
Bhatta, B., 2010. Causes and consequences of urban growth and sprawl. In Analysis of urban growth and sprawl from remote sensing data (pp. 17-36). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Buchanan, C., 2015. Traffic in Towns: A Study of the Long-Term Problems of Traffic in Urban Areas. 3rd ed. Sydney: Routledge.
Bull, A., 2015. Traffic Congestion: The Problem and how to Deal with it. 3rd ed. Texas: United Nations Publications.
Currie, J. and Walker, R., 2011. Traffic congestion and infant health: Evidence from E-ZPass. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 3(1), pp.65-90.
Downs, A., 2013. Stuck in Traffic: Coping with Peak-Hour Traffic Congestion. 2nd ed. Berlin: Brookings Institution Press.
Glasson, J. and Therivel, R., 2013. Introduction to environmental impact assessment. Routledge.
Ison, S. G., 2011. Parking: Issues and Policies. 5th ed. London: Emerald Group Publishing.
Jane, E., 2011. Estimating Urban Traffic and Congestion Cost Trends for Australian Cities. 3rd ed. Auckland: Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics.
Lipson, H., 2014. Driverless: Intelligent Cars and the Road Ahead. 3rd ed. Auckland: MIT Press.
martin, P., 2016. Estimating Urban Traffic and Congestion Cost Trends for Australian Cities. 3rd ed. Sydney: Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics.
Moses, M., 2015. Traffic Congestion and Road User Charges in Australian Capital Cities. 4th ed. Sydney: AGPS.
Nielsen, O. A., 2011. Road Pricing, the Economy, and the Environment. 5th ed. Chicago: Springer Science & Business Media.
Philips, E., 2017. Estimating Urban Traffic and Congestion Cost Trends for Australian Cities. 4th ed. London: Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics.
Pojani, D., 2016. The Urban Transport Crisis in Emerging Economies. 4th ed. Chicago: Springer.
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Terrill, M., 2015. Stuck in Traffic?: Road Congestion in Sydney and Melbourne. 2nd ed. Chicago: Grattan Institute,
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Underwood, G., 2016. Traffic and Transport Psychology: Theory and Application. Auckland1st: Elsevier.
Wagner, T., 2010. Regional traffic impacts of logistics-related land use. Transport Policy, 17(4), pp.224-229.
Wang, C., Quddus, M.A. and Ison, S.G., 2013. The effect of traffic and road characteristics on road safety: A review and future research direction. Safety science, 57, pp.264-275.
Weisbrod, G. E., 2011. Economic Implications of Congestion, Issue. 4th ed. London: National Academy Press.
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