Traffic Survey Scope of Works Template

How to use the Word template

Download the file, replace the bracketed prompts and attach a marked location map. Keep the measurements your decision needs, complete the quality and pricing requirements, then issue the scope through your organisation's procurement process.

The document includes the technical brief, collection and measurement schedules, supplier response requirements, a pricing table and an acceptance checklist. A worked example shows how to specify a school-approach speed survey. Remove that example and the template instructions before sending the brief to suppliers.

Use it once you have identified an evidence gap. If you are still deciding whether a new survey is necessary, start with Do We Need New Traffic Data?.

Define what the supplier is being asked to do

A request for “a traffic survey on Willow Street” leaves too much for each supplier to interpret. One may price two hours of counts; another may assume a week of speed data. Their quotes can look comparable while buying different results.

Write the question and intended use first. For example: “Compare the observed eastbound speed distribution at the school entrance during the arrival period and a later morning period, to decide whether a wider speed investigation is warranted.”

Then name what is included: field collection, analysis of data already held, or both. List source files council will provide and the measures the supplier must add. State whether interpretation is part of the fee. Do not leave the supplier to infer a design study, model or formal Road Safety Audit from a general request for advice.

Describe the place so another person can find it

Give every collection point a unique ID and use it throughout the brief. On the attached map, mark the road section, direction, lane, turning movement, crossing line or camera view. Add coordinates with their coordinate system and enough landmarks to check the location on site.

Two counts on the same street can answer different questions if a driveway or side road lies between them. A street name alone is not a collection location.

Complete the collection and delivery schedules

The Word document provides editable schedules for the decisions below. Agree them before the supplier books fieldwork.

Collection periods and conditions

Specify dates or an agreed date-selection process, days, start and finish times, time zone, duration and repeat periods. Explain which conditions the sample should represent.

Record school terms, public holidays, events, works and weather that affect suitability. Decide who can postpone collection, when an interruption must be reported and how a replacement period will be approved. Choose duration for the question and required confidence; do not copy the example's three days as a default.

Measurements and definitions

Name the output precisely: directional volumes, vehicle classes, speed distribution, turning counts, walking and cycling movements, queue duration or parking occupancy. Specify units, reporting intervals and the boundaries used to count or observe each measure.

For speeds, agree the sample count, bins or percentiles and any filtering. If reporting exceedance, identify the applicable limit for each period. For interactions, define the event and its review method. A request for “near misses” without a definition gives suppliers no common basis for measurement or pricing.

Files that another officer can use

Ask for processed CSV or Excel data, a data dictionary, a collection log, the mapped points and a quality report. Specify any required source records and their permitted transfer; footage does not need to be included automatically.

The dictionary should explain units, classifications, timestamps, missing values and derived measures. Missing intervals must be distinguishable from measured zeros. Agree a sample output before collection, so a polished final report does not conceal an unusable dataset.

Quality checks and failed collection

Set a validation method and project-specific tolerance before award. Require evidence of the proposed check, such as an independent comparison or a manually reviewed sample. “High accuracy” is not an acceptance test.

State the usable coverage needed for each point and measure. Define what happens when equipment fails or the view is obstructed, including notification, repeat work, cost responsibility and approval of any substituted period. An overall completeness percentage can hide the loss of the one hour you needed.

Make quotations comparable

Have each supplier return its proposed method, marked collection plan, duration rationale, program, named lead, sample outputs and quality checks. Ask for departures from the scope to be listed explicitly.

Use the pricing schedule to separate mobilisation, collection or source analysis, processing, reporting and optional work. Confirm quantities, rates, GST, quotation validity and review rounds. State who obtains access and permits, manages field safety and arranges any traffic management.

For video or other identifiable records, assign responsibility for authorised use, storage, transfer, access, retention and deletion. Resolve these requirements before collection or sharing begins.

Worked example of a specific brief

This example is fictional and illustrates drafting choices rather than a standard survey period.

Decision: Council needs to decide whether a wider investigation of speeds at a school approach is warranted.

Collection: One marked eastbound point at the entrance on three ordinary school-term weekdays. Compare 8–9 am with 10–11 am. Confirm operating speed limits and exclude planned works or special events.

Outputs: Separate each day's 15-minute counts and speed distributions, with sample sizes, units, collection conditions and quality results. Include the source records agreed for transfer and a short comparison of the two periods.

Acceptance: All six one-hour windows must be usable. Agree speed verification and count-check tolerances before award. Report a failed window by the next business day and agree its replacement. Price equipment-failure repeats and council-directed changes explicitly.

These outputs describe the observed periods. They do not establish crossing safety, identify why drivers behave as they do or represent an entire school term. The Word example explains these boundaries and the supplier response in more detail.

Check the delivery before accepting it

Use the final checklist in the brief to inspect the actual files, not only the report. Confirm that the mapped points and windows match, the required measures are present, the quality results meet the agreed criteria and the report answers the commissioned question.

Record missing items, the correction required and the supplier's response date. Once accepted, nominate the data owner and retain the scope, source references, outputs and limitations together. The next officer should be able to understand exactly what was commissioned and received.

For a supplier discussion with XVision, bring the completed brief and marked map to Investigate a Location. These identify the required outputs and let the proposed method be assessed against the work.

References

This template supplies practical technical drafting guidance. Apply your organisation's procurement terms and the relevant authority's requirements to the particular commission.

• Austroads, Guide to Traffic Management Part 3: Transport Studies and Analysis Methods — survey planning, sampling, data integrity and collection methods.
• OAIC, Security cameras — privacy coverage and state and territory requirements.