HIGHWAY authorities don’t know when it’s best to deploy Kate Moss and when Iman would be more appropriate, reports Local Transport Today (June 23).
Research into the part that traffic management and parking policies play in reducing congestion identified “a lack of awareness of what type of model is most appropriate for what type of scheme”, says Jacqui Dunning, a deputy regional director with the consultant MVA, who carried out the Government-commissioned research with the University of Leeds.
Traffic models such as Arcady, Paramics, Vissim and Emme/2 (we hope you can see why we used code names for them at the start of the story) have different strengths and weaknesses that need to be taken into account depending on when and how they are used. Researchers are currently preparing guidelines to help authorities to choose the appropriate model.
Kevin Ratnasingham, a principal consultant at MVA, says that the lack of a professionally recognised traffic management qualification is causing problems for local authority teams, as its non-existence means that traffic management is not seen as a career choice. Maybe mentioning all the models involved will get more graduates interested.