Section 106 transport obligations.
Negotiating transport obligations that are fair, necessary and related to the scheme: contributions, works and Travel Plan commitments.
Also known as: Section 106, S106, planning obligations, transport contributions, Travel Plan monitoring fee
What’s included.
Section 106 agreements under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 secure obligations that make a scheme acceptable. Transport obligations commonly include bus, cycle and highway contributions, Travel Plan monitoring and works delivered through Section 278.
- Review of requested contributions
- Tests of necessity and proportionality
- Evidence to support negotiation
- Wording for transport obligations
- Triggers and phasing
- Coordination with Section 278 works
Straightforward, proportionate, agreed early.
Fair
Obligations must be necessary, directly related and fairly related in scale. We test each request against those tests.
Evidence-based
Contributions tied to a real need shown by the evidence.
Workable triggers
Payments and works phased with occupation, not all up front.
Questions we get asked
Can transport contributions be challenged?
Yes, if they do not meet the legal tests in the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations. We set out the evidence clearly.
What is a Travel Plan monitoring fee?
A payment some councils require to cover monitoring the Travel Plan over several years.
How do Section 106 and Section 278 fit together?
Section 106 often requires works to be delivered, and a Section 278 agreement is the mechanism for building them on the highway.
Often needed alongside.
The legal tests
A planning obligation can only be taken into account if it is necessary to make the development acceptable, directly related to it, and fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind. These tests are set out in the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010.
Transport obligations often cover Travel Plan monitoring, bus service contributions, off-site improvements or traffic regulation orders. We check each request against the tests, and agree what is fair.
Last reviewed October 2026 by Ripple Development Planning. Policy and guidance change; for advice on a specific site, send us the details.
From our insights.
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