Traffic Impact Assessment: A Case of Proposed Hypermarket in Skudai Town of Malaysia

Abstract

This paper deals with traffic impact assessment (TIA) of a proposed commercial development in the neighbourhoods of Skudai Town in the Johor Bahru region. We used three regimes: Trip Rate Analysis, Cross-Classification Analysis, and Regression Analysis to assess the future traffic expected to be caused by a development – a proposed Tesco hypermarket (TH) in Skudai. The obtained mean trip rates were critically examined for forecasting traffic. The results indicated no significant variances from the estimated mean entry trip rates as mentioned in the Trip Generation Manual, Highway Planning Unit (HPU) of Malaysia. The estimated mean trip rates were used to measure the performance of a critical intersection in the immediate vicinity the development. The critical Intersection was analyzed using SIDRA software to estimate the delay – a criterion for determining the level-of-service (LOS) provided to motorists. Traffic projections made for horizon year 2025 depicted a LOS ‘F’ with 2716.9s of average delay. Traffic improvements were also proposed to mitigate the impact of future development and traffic conditions. The study provided a framework for the estimation of trip rates for Malaysian conditions along with some guidelines for their adoption. These insights to TIA can assist developers or local authorities in decision making.