Traffic counts and site surveys
When a consent application, parking assessment or TMP needs traffic evidence, the data must be collected at the relevant location and times and scoped to the question the assessment needs to answer.
What we count
- Turning movement counts: intersection counts classified by vehicle type and movement, peak and off-peak, the standard evidence base for consent traffic assessments.
- Tube counts, pneumatic tubes across the carriageway recording mid-block volume, speed and vehicle class over days or weeks, the representative-week data councils expect for corridor questions.
- Pedestrian and cycle counts, footpath and crossing demand, school-peak movements, cycle lane volumes, increasingly the numbers that decide footpath diversion and active-mode conditions.
- Site observations: structured observation of parking demand and turnover, queue lengths, gap acceptance at accesses, and how drivers actually behave at your frontage (as opposed to how the plans assume they will).
What the counts are for
- Resource consent applications: the measured existing-environment data your AEE needs before anyone models what your development adds. Pairs with our resource consent support.
- Parking and access assessments: demand surveys and access-movement evidence for parking and traffic assessments.
- TMP design evidence: real volumes and speeds that size the plan correctly, so a TMP is scoped to the road as it is, not as a template assumes.
- Development feasibility: before you buy or design, find out what the road in front of the site actually carries and whether the access will cope. It is cheaper to know now than at the hearing.
Need traffic evidence a council will accept?
Send the site address and what you're applying for. We'll scope the count, usually within one working day.
Why a properly scoped count matters
The count method, timing and interpretation determine whether the data is useful for the application:
- The count is designed to answer the council's actual question. A consent planner asking "will this intersection still perform?" needs peak-period turning movements by class: not a fortnight of mid-block volumes. Scoping the wrong count means paying twice.
- The timing is defensible. Counts taken during school holidays, public holidays, roadworks or major events get challenged, sometimes thrown out. We plan count windows that survive scrutiny and record the conditions on the day.
- The interpretation is part of the deliverable. The count results are explained in the context of the consent application, parking assessment or TMP, with relevant limitations clearly stated.
Deliverables you can use directly
Every count programme closes out with two things:
- Count summary: what was counted, where, when, under what conditions, and the measured volumes, speeds and classifications in clean tabulated form.
- Technical interpretation: what the data means for the application, prepared for use in an AEE or transport impact assessment with the assumptions and limitations stated clearly.
The underlying count files can also be supplied for the project planner or traffic engineer.
Frequently asked questions
Why do I need a traffic count for a resource consent?
Because councils don't accept guesses. If your development adds traffic to a road or intersection, the planner assessing your consent wants measured evidence: existing volumes, peak periods, and turning patterns. A properly scoped count answers the council's actual question in the format the assessment expects: a spreadsheet of raw numbers from an unscoped count usually generates a Section 92 request instead.
What types of traffic counts do you do?
Turning movement counts at intersections (classified by vehicle type and movement), tube counts for mid-block volume and speed over days or weeks, pedestrian and cycle counts, and structured site observations: parking demand, queue lengths, gap acceptance, access behaviour. The count type follows the question: consent evidence, parking assessment, TMP design or feasibility.
How long does a traffic count take?
The count itself is typically one to three days on site for intersection counts, or one to two weeks for tube counts that need a representative week. The end-to-end turnaround, scope, count, analysis and report, is usually two to three weeks. School holidays, public holidays and major events can invalidate a count window, so we plan around them rather than explain them afterwards.
What do I actually receive at the end?
A count summary plus an engineer's interpretation: not just raw numbers. The summary covers what was counted, when, and the measured volumes; the interpretation explains what the data means for your consent application, parking assessment or TMP design, written so it can drop directly into an AEE or transport assessment. If the data says something awkward, we'll tell you that too, before council does.
Paperwork to pavement.
Send us what you have. We'll take it from there.