Understanding Child Care Centres: Insights from Empirical Data

At Quantum Traffic, we have been involved in a significant number of child care centres preparing Traffic Impact Assessment Reports (TIAR), Waste Management Plans (WMP) and often Car Parking Management Plan (CPMP) per issuing of a planning permit.

This has afforded us the opportunity to collect empirical data of existing child care centres to inform our assessments with a robust set of data to understand how these facilities typically generate traffic and car parking demand.

Our empirical data allows us to offer valuable insights into the key factors influencing traffic and parking associated with proposed child care centres as outlined in our Traffic Impact Assessments (TIA) — insights that can assist developers, architects, and planners in achieving successful planning outcomes as well as ensuring an efficient and safe environments for families and staff.

Key Data Findings

Through our analysis, we’ve identified consistent patterns in vehicle trips and parking demand associated with child care centres. Some of the key takeaways include:

• Arrival and Departure Peaks: The busiest times typically align with drop-off (between 7:30 AM and 9:00 AM) and pick-up (between 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM).

• Peak Hour Trip Generation Rates: Based on our data, child care centres generate approximately 0.45 to 0.81 trips per child during the morning peak and 0.50 to 0.65 trips per child during the afternoon peak.

• Daily Traffic:  When assessing the impacts of a child care centre on the frontage road, it is often important to understand the daily traffic movements.  Our data identifies a rate of approximately 3.5-4 daily movements per child care place.

·       Parking Demand: Parking demand tends to reflect these peak periods, with an average of 0.13 spaces per child across the day (7am-6pm) and a peak demand of 0.2 spaces per child.

Traffic Pattern Distribution

The two graphs below illustrate the following:

1.        Typical distribution of trip generation rates over the course of a day, highlighting the distinct peaks during drop-off and pick-up periods.

2.        Parking accumulation of the on-site car park, showing the peak in the AM, latent staff demands throughout the day and then an increase in the PM, albeit not as high as the AM period.

Critically, the carpark was not observed to be fully occupied over the 15 minute period, with available car parking observed through the 15 minute periods.

Key notes of the distribution are:

·       AM Peak higher than the PM Peak due to a more confined drop-off period (observed as 2 hours compared to 3.5 hours in the PM).

·       PM Peak occurs over a longer period and therefore is not as intense.

·       Periods between 10am and 2pm see very low traffic volumes and can be suitable for on-site waste collection and loading periods, as required.

·       Generally, all demands are confined to the operating hours of the facility, which are typically 6:30am-6:30pm making child care centres able to coexist within residential areas without unreasonable impacts.

·      Quantum Traffic’s Traffic Impact Assessment Report (TIAR) for Child Care Centres will include all this relevant information to give you and your project the best chance of success.

Planning and Design Considerations

Our data highlights the importance of thoughtful site design, including:

• Generous crossover and accessway provisions to facilitate simultaneous entry and exit movements, where possible.

• Car Parking Management Plans (CPMP) to assist with the management of the carpark ensuring operation is safe and efficient.

• Pedestrian-friendly design such as clearly marked crossings and safe walking paths between the building entry and car parking areas.

• Waste Management Plan (WMP) – Waste management planning provided by Quantum Traffic can inform waste (refuse) storage requirements as well as how and when waste collection (Swept Paths) should be undertaken. 

  
  

Leverage Our Expertise

If you’re planning a new child care centre or looking to optimise an existing site, Quantum Traffic can provide you with tailored insights and evidence-based recommendations. Our deep understanding of traffic and parking requirements will help you design a safe, efficient, and compliant facility, ultimately garnering support from referral authorities and the determining authority.

Quantum Traffic now prepare Waste Management Plans (WMP), including waste vehicle Swept Paths which provide huge efficiency gains for Clients in accompanying any Traffic Impact Assessment Report (TIAR) and/or Car Parking Management Plans (CPMP).

👉 Get in touch with us today to learn how our data-backed strategies can enhance your next project!