The current environment for roads in Australia is one of decreasing Federal funds, increasing travel demand and increasing network age. More than ever, the need to adequately plan for future road investments is of vital importance. Against this background, the trend towards less complex transport planning methods, requiring less input data and analysis time, is finding continued impetus. While not discounting the need for adequate transport infrastructure planning, Australian road authorities are tending towards more frequent and less complex transport planning studies than those conducted during the late 1960s and 1970s. Sketch planning techniques have recently been developed as a consequence of this consequence of this strategy. Proponents of these approaches argue that reliable order of magnitude estimates of travel demand can be obtained in a fraction of the time and cost of a traditional transport planning study. This paper discusses existing sketch planning techniques, focusing on the Quick Response System developed by the Transportation Research Board, and assesses the applicability of internationally transferred travel data to Australian conditions. It then goes on to highlight situations where existing techniques do not adequately model local conditions, and suggests new procedures in their place (A).
Abstract