Research and publications

This remit was given to the Signals NZ User Group (SNUG) at the 2002 annual meeting in Christchurch. It makes the following recommendations:

• Benchmark Proposals against Six Generic Design Elements
• Put emphasis on Stress Point Treatment
• Adopt soon to be published TNZ ‘Cycling Design Guide’

The presentation is available online on this website.

These notes accompanied the technical training course "Fundamentals for Planning and Design for Cycling", commissioned by Transfund New Zealand (now part of Land Transport New Zealand). The structure of these notes followed the presentation of the one-day training course. It was intended that course attendees use these notes for more in-depth study of the topics covered in the course. The notes are no longer kept up to date.

These course notes were originally written prior to the enactment (in Feb 2005) of the Traffic Control Devices (TCD) Rule and Road User Rule (RUR), which have replaced much of the previous NZ Traffic Regulations. Since then, the notes were continually updated (until about 2008) to ensure that they correctly reflected the current legal situation, evolving best practice and new guidelines.

This remit was given to the Signals NZ User Group (SNUG) at the 2003 annual meeting in Palmerston North. It makes the following recommendations:

• Get AUSTROADS Part 14 (1999)
• Adopt NZ Supplement
• Use NZ Supplement for New Designs and Upgrades

The presentation is available online on this website. Please also refer to the main NZ Supplement article.

ViaStrada staff are the only authorised agents for delivering SIDRA INTERSECTION training courses in NZ. The courses run by the software developer Akcelik and Associates receive a very high rating. ViaStrada is proud to have so far received the same positive results.

ViaStrada presents cycling planning and design courses at both fundamental and advanced levels. As of 2009, over 700 people have attended these courses to date. This page contains background information on the Fundamentals course and its PowerPoint presentations can be downloaded from near the bottom of the page.

As part of a drive by the ‘Signals New Zealand User Group’ (SNUG) to achieve better consistency with the design and operation of traffic signals throughout the country, Transfund (now part of Land Transport NZ) funded the development of a signal audit methodology, where safety and efficiency of traffic signals are examined. Using this methodology a sample of 123 signal installations, in the area covered by nine TLAs, were audited by April 2004. The survey identified elements which can compromise safety and/or efficiency. As a result a booklet has been produced, which aims to contribute to safer and more efficient installation and operation of traffic signals in New Zealand.

This presentation was given to the 2005 Community Road Safety Symposium. It draws the following conclusions:

• Maintain a submission template
• Agree on a process for dealing with diverging views
• Submission process to suit size of organisation
• Time management is critical
• Earlier involvement equals increased effectiveness

This remit was given to the Signals NZ User Group (SNUG) at the 2005 annual meeting in Christchurch. It draws the following conclusions:

The current practice of not providing cycle signals is questionable.

Cycle signals reduce LOS for both motorists and cyclists.

Designers need to ascertain on a case-by-case basis that pathways are the right concept.

This conference remit describes an innovative approach developed to analyse cycle route network concepts. The remit is based on a study undertaken for the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA).

The remit covers how to use demographic data (population, education and employment) in a GIS environment to identify which network of potential cycle routes will be most effective in increasing the number of cyclists in Auckland.

The approach takes into consideration the "coherence" and "directness" (after CROW) of routes and accidents to determine the preferred cycle route network concept. It also looks at the relationship between infrastructure provision and cycling activity, forecasting cycling demand, network planning approaches and a new evaluation mechanism to score cycling concepts and routes.

The given problem is a signalised staggered T intersection that is congested. The queue space between adjacent T intersections is filling up. There are also significant queues on the side streets. The recommendations are that modelling software should be used that is appropriate for the task, and the engineer needs to be aware of the limitations of the different software packages.