Skip to main content

Transport Design Manual Transport Design Manual

New releases

Signage and Wayfinding Design Guide version 2 (PDF 6MB) and Signage and Wayfinding Design Code version 2 (PDF 6.5MB) (November 2024) – Updated with guidance for bilingual signage and a new way of highlighting universally accessible journeys.

Practice Note 04, edition 1 (July 2024) (PDF 7.2MB) – See Section 4: Practice Notes, Cycling Infrastructure - Interim Facilities, with immediate effect from 17 July 2024.

Practice Note 02, edition 2 (July 2024) (PDF 582KB) – See Section 4: Practice Notes, Use of raised devices on the AT Network. Replaces Raised safety platforms (speed tables) – Practice Note 02, with immediate effect from 1 July 2024.

Cycling Infrastructure Standard Engineering Details (PDF 2.7MB)

Footpath Standard Engineering Details (PDF 1.9MB)

Standard Engineering Details are being updated from July 2024. Check version history for sets that have been superseded.

From 1 July 2024, the Auckland Council Group is adopting the national height system New Zealand Vertical Datum 2016 (NZVD2016). All new projects must use this new datum unless stated otherwise. All current projects will continue using the datum they were designed in.

For more information about NZVD2016, download the NZVD2016 Datum Change Impact Assessment Technical Report for Auckland Council (PDF 6.5MB).

The Transport Design Manual is a set of guides, codes and specifications created for the Auckland region based on international best practice and robust common engineering theory.

Background

Roads and streets represent a large portion of public space in Auckland and cater for a wide variety of users undertaking many different activities.

The Auckland region is comprised of 70% rural area and 30% urban area, with the majority of people living and working in the urban area. The scale and pace of growth in Auckland combined with increasing intensification and the development of Auckland's urban areas and Greenfields are placing increased pressure on an already constrained road network and limited road space to deliver quality place and multi-modal transport objectives.

To address this pressure, AT and Auckland Council have been looking at better ways to plan and manage our roads and streets to better reflect the full range of modes, activities and functions that occur on them.

Purpose

The Transport Design Manual (TDM) provides the design guidance and engineering requirements for the development and delivery of well-designed transport projects and their operation. The manual draws upon design approaches and practices, which have been successful in many cities and rural areas worldwide.

The TDM has 3 sections, design principles, engineering standards and specifications. Together, these sections allow end user outcomes, engineering design and construction requirements to be clearly identified and designed. The manual has been created to be a cascaded principle based approach that ensures consistency from strategic planning through to detailed design and construction of the outcomes.

The entire manual sets out:

  1. The design principles and approaches to designing user outcomes.
  2. How to apply safe design and safe speed requirements to achieve Vision Zero outcomes.
  3. Design guidance and key transport catchment for designing liveable, connected neighbourhoods and town centres, particularly in Greenfields.
  4. How to build a street from basic elements and how intersections should be designed to support this.
  5. The detailed engineering requirements to design and construct the facilities necessary for the users identified by the Design Guides.
  6. The construction specifications required to achieve consistent construction outcomes, including the opportunities to utilise recycled, synthetic and manmade products.

The Roads and Streets Framework and Transport Design Manual are complementary documents. Both documents when applied together will provide guidance to internal staff (such as Council family project teams), external parties (such as Government agencies, consultants and developers) about AT's requirements for the planning, design, construction and management of the road and street network, and the vesting of assets that will be managed by AT.

The TDM is a living document that is continually updated to ensure they are fit for purpose and reflect best practice.

Working together in an integrated approach

The Transport Design Manual brings together the key players in the design, development and improvement of Auckland's road and street network so that the strategic and local place and movement functions are balanced and integrated to meet the multiple outcomes sought from them. The early involvement of the Council family of organisations, key partners such as Mana Whenua, Waka Kotahi NZTA and other stakeholders such as developers and utility companies is critical. The process is deliberately holistic and multi-disciplinary, recognising that no one profession or organisation has all the answers in how to achieve integrated and place-sensitive solutions for roads and streets.

The TDM is for everyone who plays a part in managing, designing, improving or determining the quality of roads and streets in Auckland, including engineers, planners, urban designers, project managers, developers, politicians and users.

Strategic fit

Strategic documents such as the Auckland Transport Alignment Project and the Auckland Plan, together with Future Connect feed into the Roads and Streets Framework providing strategic direction. In turn, the Road and Streets Framework provides the vision for streets, guiding the Transport Design Manual as shown in the figure below.

Infographic of strategic direction showing relationships between projects and plans
Download image depicting strategic direction  (JPG 269KB)

The Transport Design Manual provides the design and technical specification to deliver projects and other improvements that ensure projects are aligned to strategic direction.

Section 1: Design guidance

Section 2: Detailed technical requirements

Engineering Design Code

Includes minimum standards, considerations and drawings required to undertake accurate and detailed designs based on a component approach for facilities.

Design toolbox

Design Tools to support the various Engineering Design Codes. Coming soon.

Standard Engineering Details

Standard details for common elements such as kerbs, footpaths and drainage devices.

Section 3: Specifications for Transport Infrastructure

Section 4: Practice Notes

Practice Notes have effect immediately on publication. They may override published TDM standards for urgent safety reasons. Necessary changes to affected TDM documents will be incorporated in future updates.

 

Legacy AT Code of Practice

The AT Code of Practice remains active to provide guidance for projects already in design at the time Transport Design Manual (TDM) became operational and for subdivision use, and to address matters not covered in the TDM.

TDM will replace ATCoP completely and ATCoP will be considered legacy once the new transport chapter for land subdivision, based on the TDM, is released as part of the Auckland Council integrated code of practice for land subdivision.

Feedback

Feedback can be sent at any time by emailing TransportDesignManual@at.govt.nz

Supporting appendix documents

Appendix documents for Street Lighting Engineering Design Code