Westport Local Transport Plan
Client: Mayo County Council
Duration: October 2022 to August 2024
Project Summary
Transport Insights, in partnership with WSP Ireland, was appointed by Mayo County Council to develop a Local Transport Plan (LTP) for Westport Town. The LTP, advanced in accordance with the Area Based Transport Assessment (ABTA) approach, sought to build upon the Town’s existing sustainable transport strengths, including the Great Western Greenway and Dublin-Westport Railway Line, while recognising constraints arising from the national road network which passes through the Town.
The project included multi-modal transport survey data specification, procurement and analysis; and design and execution of staff and student travel surveys (7 no. schools) to establish current and intended future travel patterns for educational land uses within the study area. Given the importance of parking and servicing to the Town’s commercial needs, survey data collection also captured on- and off-street activity levels (demand, duration of stay, turnover etc.) within the Core Town Centre.
Traffic survey data underpinned development of a SATURN Local Area Model (LAM), based upon the National Transport Authority’s West Regional Model (NTA WRM). As Westport formed part of the ‘buffer’ network within the WRM, it did not represent a robust basis for assessing LTP options. To address this, the road network coverage was expanded, model zones disaggregated, and the base year model calibrated and validated in accordance with Transport Infrastructure Ireland’s Project Appraisal Guidelines (TII PAG) standards. Future year models were subsequently developed, and applied to test the impact of a range of potential active travel and sustainable mobility measures within the Town.
Added Value Brought to Project
Transport Insights supported the WSP Ireland-led team in developing a LTP for Westport Town. In accordance with NTA/ TII ABTA guidance, the Plan was underpinned by evidence-based analysis of the Town’s current accessibility attributes and travel patterns, and future travel demand forecasting. Analytical activities were underpinned by traffic modelling, with the developed model used to assess a range of short- (to 2028), medium- (to 2034) and long-term (to 2040) sustainable transport interventions, including potential traffic impacts on the national road network through the Town. The LTP was finalised in mid-2024 and supports Westport Local Area Plan 2024-2030. It will guide transport investment decision-making within Westport and its environs over the next 15 years.
background image: Joseph Mischyshyn, CC BY-SA 2.0
