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SCOTLAND'S TRANSPORT FUTURE: GUIDANCE ON LOCAL TRANSPORT STRATEGIES

ANNEX A - TRAFFIC DATA COLLECTION AND TRANSPORT MODELLING

Traffic Data

Where appropriate, local authorities should make use of road traffic information from the Scottish Roads Traffic Database (SRTDb). This database, which has been in place since 1992, was introduced to store traffic data collected on a link-based network covering all motorway, trunk, principal and the majority of non-principal numbered B class roads.

Data extracted from the SRTDb can provide authorities with past trends and up-to-date information on which to base their assessments of traffic levels within their areas. In addition, many local authorities continue to support their own data collection programmes to monitor regional road traffic and for other statutory purposes. The combination of these data sets should provide a fairly comprehensive representation of traffic flows on the area-wide network. To ensure consistency of approach when preparing traffic data, local authorities should have regard to SRTDb.

Transport Modelling

Appraisal of alternative transport schemes can be assisted by computer modelling. Models can provide a consistent basis for comparison and can analyse data in terms of traffic flows on specific links and different modes of transport throughout the modelled network.
Area-wide modelling will aid understanding of the likelihood of intense local effects versus less extreme widespread outcomes.

The Road Traffic Reduction Act 1997 (RTRA) introduced a requirement for authorities to give a forecast of expected traffic growth in their areas and this will require a degree of modelling in some form.

In 2004, the Transport Model for Scotland (TMfS) was made available for general use. TMfS is an enhanced and updated version of the previous Central Scotland Transport Model (CSTM3). It is a multi-modal model covering approximately 95% of the population of Scotland from the north-east of Scotland to the English border. The Scottish Executive can assist those authorities within the TMfS area with information from the model relating to road and public transport networks, council boundaries and other geographic features, demographic and economic information and projected travel demands. Data can also be provided on road traffic flows and passenger flows on key public transport routes. The intention is that this information will specifically assist local authorities in meeting their RTRA obligations.

TMfS includes full economic and financial appraisal as well as certain environmental evaluation modules. These provide information for scheme and policy appraisal. Information from different modelling stages within TMfS can be extracted for use in more detailed scheme appraisal processes.

Although designed primarily for forecasting traffic levels on trunk roads, TMfS can also provide forecast information on the strategic elements of the local road network. A User Group has been set up, with an associated website www.tmfs.org.uk, to assist authorities in the application of the model and the associated roadside interview (RSI) database. The model also incorporates an interactive land use model, TELMoS (Transport/ Economic/ Land-use Model of Scotland), which contains land-use data for the whole of Scotland. The land-use data contained in TELMoS has been collated from data kindly provided by the individual local authorities in Scotland. Authorities may alternatively wish to seek guidance from other forecasting tools such as TEMPRO or NRTF to estimate broad growth trends. It may also be possible to make some reasonably accurate, subjective forecasts of expected traffic growth based on Structure and Local Plan development proposals.

The Scottish Executive looks to continued co-operation from local authorities in the provision of planning and transport data from their databases, thus ensuring that TMfS remains a useful model tool for national and local government.

ANNEX B - LOCAL ROADS MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE

Maintenance and Bridge Strengthening

Local transport strategies should cover the local authority's responsibilities for maintenance of the carriageways of local roads with associated responsibilities for footways, winter maintenance, street-lighting and routine road maintenance, including drainage and sweeping. Authorities should set out the decisions they have made on the allocation of resources to the improvement of their local highway network in the strategy, taking account of the condition of their road network.

The Executive expects authorities to give appropriate priority to bridge maintenance and strengthening, with particular priority given to the busiest and most important routes. Strategies should make clear local authorities' priorities for the maintenance and future use of their bridge stock.

New Schemes

Strategies should review the rationale for major road schemes, whether actively under preparation or at an earlier stage of consideration. This will enable decisions on funding major schemes to be taken in the context of the local authority's wider transport strategy.

The Executive no longer believes that schemes can be justified simply on the basis of accommodating mechanistic projections of traffic growth. Before including major new schemes in their strategy, local authorities should be able to demonstrate that they have looked at alternative or complementary solutions, such as public transport improvements and traffic management measures, and that the road scheme is consistent with an integrated transport strategy.

New priorities for investment on trunk roads include making better use of the existing network. This applies equally to local roads and includes any proposals which enhance or better utilise existing capacity in a manner consistent with integrated transport objectives.

There is a range of measures which can be employed to secure better use, which might be appropriate in different circumstances or used to complement each other to achieve the best effect. Local authorities will wish to monitor development on the trunk road network to form a view on which initiatives are the most successful according to local transport conditions and which might be most suitable for them to employ or to tailor to suit their circumstances. The range of measures can include:

• network control;
• network management;
• improvements for the benefit of pedestrians and cyclists;
• priority for certain traffic such as public transport;
• reduction of on-street parking;
• improved interchanges between different transport modes;
• setting of appropriate speed limits;
• better information for road users on local traffic conditions and alternative modes; and
• minor improvements to enhance safety or improve the environment.

These measures are not mutually exclusive and local authorities are not limited to their use only. It is open to authorities to consider innovative measures of their own, provided that these are consistent with the principles of making better use of the network. However, authorities should ensure that there is a business case for the measures they propose and that the objectives are consistent not just with making better use of the network, but also with the broader aims of integrated transport.

Where a new road scheme is appropriate, including potential bypasses of settlements, it should be properly integrated with measures to promote modal shift and walking and cycling (for example bus lanes, pedestrian and cyclist facilities, interchanges). However integration schemes will need to be properly assessed for their contribution to other modes (in terms of reliability, quality of service and in level of demand). It should not be assumed that provision will automatically ensure modal shift.

Such inter-modal issues will be particularly relevant in urban areas or for roads where much of the traffic has a focused origin or destination, and where public transport may have the greatest scope for increased share. In these areas authorities should also give serious consideration to the possible impact of demand management and pricing measures. For non-urban areas, issues of interaction with other modes may well be less important, but local authorities should still consider whether certain (e.g. peak hour) problems can be addressed either by additional public transport provision or by giving priority to public transport.

ANNEX C - GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLES FROM PREVIOUS LTS

The Review of Local Transport Strategies and RTRA Reports³², produced by Steer Davies Gleave for the Scottish Executive and published in October 2001, identified what they considered to be good practice in local transport strategy preparation and presentation. Local authorities may find this research helpful and some of the report's findings are summarised below:

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