To evaluate a proposed skyscraper’s effect on nearby traffic and transit, compare a future “no-build” forecast with a future forecast that includes the project. Account for the building’s expected trips by mode, then assess roads and intersections, transit demand and access, walking and cycling, safety, parking, loading and curb activity. The right scope and measures depend on local rules, the site and the building’s uses; there is no universal congestion threshold or standard mitigation package.
What a transportation impact assessment should answer
A traffic impact study—or, in some jurisdictions, a broader transport or transportation impact assessment—should distinguish the project’s incremental effects from conditions that would exist anyway. A citywide traffic increase, for example, is not by itself evidence that one tower caused the change. The assessment should show what happens with the project compared with a defensible future background case without it.
For a skyscraper, that means looking beyond car trips. Employees, residents, hotel guests, retail customers, deliveries and visitors may use different modes and travel at different times. A useful assessment tests how the project changes movement and access across the local network, and whether its effects call for changes to the design, travel plan or transport system.
1. Agree on scope with the authorities and operators
Before modeling begins, the applicant should agree with the reviewing planning or transportation agency—and relevant road and transit operators—on what the study must cover. Set the project program and phasing, study area, forecast years, analysis periods and decision the assessment will inform. Include the periods that matter locally: a weekday commute peak may be important for offices, while evenings or weekends may matter more for housing, hotels and retail.
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Scope can affect the design, so it should be established early. UK national planning guidance says the need, scale, scope and level of detail for a Transport Assessment or Statement should be set as early as possible in development management. Its guidance is jurisdiction-specific, and its page was revised on March 6, 2014; check current national policy and the local plan before applying it. Texas Department of Transportation guidance likewise describes a state process in which the applicable project manager sets the final methodology. Neither is a universal rule for every project.
2. Document current conditions and the future background case
Measure the baseline across modes
Record representative conditions at the streets, junctions, transit stops and stations, walking routes, bicycle connections and site access points likely to be affected. The baseline should capture traffic volumes and operations, transit routes and service information, pedestrian and bicycle access, parking and curb use, and relevant safety conditions. Use normal conditions and include recurring peak or special periods where they are relevant to the project.
The UK planning framework identifies normal traffic conditions, relevant peaks, all-mode travel characteristics, public transport provision, flows, safety history, parking and environmental effects as potential study considerations. The precise data and study area should still be agreed locally; a tower’s likely influence is not defined by a universal radius.
Forecast what happens without the tower
A future “no-build” or background case should not simply freeze today’s network. Include relevant committed developments and planned transport changes so the assessment does not attribute their effects to the tower. UK guidance describes committed schemes as developments or transport schemes with a reasonable degree of certainty of proceeding. Agree with the authority which projects and forecasts qualify, and which horizon years to use.
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The comparison is then between that future background case and a future build case that adds the skyscraper. This isolates the project’s modeled contribution while still showing the network context in which it would operate.
3. Estimate the building’s travel demand transparently
Estimate demand separately for the building’s uses and operating patterns rather than treating the tower as one generic land use. An office, hotel, residential floors and retail space can generate trips at different times and in different ways. The assessment should explain its trip-generation, distribution and assignment assumptions, and use the methods and evidence accepted by the relevant jurisdiction.
Report person trips as well as vehicle trips, split by mode and analysis period where the method allows. Consider transit, walking, cycling, driving, deliveries and other curb activity. Account for site access, parking and the building’s connection to nearby transit. For a mixed-use project, internal capture—the trips people make between uses without leaving the site—may reduce external vehicle trips, but its assumptions should be explained and supported rather than used as a convenient deduction.
Raleigh’s traffic-study guidance illustrates why context matters: it discusses internal capture at mixed-use developments and differences in trip rates and distances between urban infill and edge locations. Those are local methodological considerations, not rates that can be transferred automatically to another city.
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4. Compare effects on roads, transit and active travel
Road operations, access and safety
For critical roads and intersections, assess how project demand changes operations, queues and delay in the agreed periods. Examine whether site driveways, loading areas and curb activity create conflicts with through traffic, transit, people walking or cycling, or emergency access. Apply the locally accepted level-of-service or other operational methods; a single vehicle-focused score cannot describe every transportation effect.
Transit capacity and access
Estimate the project’s transit demand and compare it with available service and capacity information, where those data exist. Check how people will reach stops and stations, including the routes, crossings and entrances between the building and transit. A finding about added transit demand should distinguish passenger loads or access constraints from road congestion; the two are related but not interchangeable.
Walking and cycling
Assess whether people can reach the building and nearby destinations on connected, usable walking and cycling routes. Look at crossings, gaps in the network, conflicts at driveways and loading areas, and relevant safety conditions. The Institute of Transportation Engineers describes a professional shift from vehicle-focused traffic analysis toward assessing safety, mobility and access for all modes.
Use consistent measures when comparing designs
If the applicant is comparing tower designs, access plans or mitigation packages, use the same assumptions and forecast conditions for each option. Useful comparison measures include:
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- Person trips and vehicle trips by time period.
- Transit demand relative to service, capacity information and stop or station access.
- Intersection delay, queues, safety and access.
- Pedestrian and bicycle connectivity and conflicts.
- Parking, loading and curb demand.
- The project-attributable change relative to background conditions.
- Mitigation cost, feasibility, timing, responsibility and expected performance.
These measures are a practical synthesis of multimodal assessment guidance; local agency requirements determine which metrics govern.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.5. Separate existing problems from project effects and target mitigation
An assessment should identify which deficiencies already exist and which changes are attributable to the project. Mitigation should then be linked to the effect it is intended to address, rather than offered as an unrelated list of improvements.
Depending on the findings, measures could include changing site layout or access, improving pedestrian or bicycle connections, addressing transit access or service, implementing travel-demand management, or making a targeted roadway improvement. The appropriate package, funding responsibility and approval process depend on local law and evidence. Transport for NSW guidance says mitigation should be relevant to the development and reasonable, feasible and practical; ITE guidance discusses evaluating the relationship between site-generated demand and recommended system changes.
6. Check the forecasts after opening
Forecasts are estimates that can be tested against actual travel after the building opens. A travel plan or similar agreement can establish the pre-opening baseline, measurable targets, data collection responsibility, monitoring schedule and response if results diverge from forecasts. Possible indicators include vehicle entries, mode share, queues or delay at selected junctions, transit passenger loads where data are available, and observations of pedestrian or bicycle access and safety.
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Those indicators and the monitoring period should be agreed locally, not assumed to be a universal checklist. UK guidance calls for a clear baseline and targets, an agreed monitoring duration and frequency, and assigned responsibility; it says monitoring should continue until evidence shows targets have been met consistently.
Which guidance applies depends on the project’s location
There is no single review process or trigger for every skyscraper. The relevant planning authority and transportation operators should confirm the applicable methods at the outset.
- United Kingdom: National planning guidance covers Transport Assessments, Statements and Travel Plans, but local plans and current policy also matter. The cited guidance page was revised March 6, 2014.
- United States: ITE’s MTIASD is a professional recommended practice, not a nationwide binding requirement. TxDOT’s manual describes Texas procedures; it does not establish a uniform method for all states.
- Raleigh, North Carolina: The city’s traffic-studies page, updated July 27, 2026, describes local review criteria and context-sensitive estimates. Its stated review turnaround, fees and NCDOT trip trigger are local administrative details that can change; verify current criteria and applicability with the city and NCDOT.
- New South Wales, Australia: Transport for NSW’s Guide to Transport Impact Assessment, Version 1.1, has a 2025 print version. Confirm that version and its applicability for the project date.
For transportation professionals, developers, agency reviewers or advanced readers, ITE’s MTIASD guidance page describes the recommended practice. TRID lists the publication as RP-020G-E, ISBN 9781737766100, published in January 2023, at 158 pages; see its publication record.
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