Intermodal transport centres: towards establishing criteria

Abstract

Paper presented at the 20th Annual South African Transport Conference 16 - 20 July 2001 "Meeting the transport challenges in Southern Africa", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa. ABSTRACT: Increasing importance has been placed on the development of intermodal transport centres. Planning for these facilities could prove especially useful in middle-income countries, such as South Africa or Chile, where a sizeable proportion of the urban population depends on public transport; indeed, an effective network of transfer centres could provide better access to many working class residents living on the urban periphery. Many issues central to the development of these centres are discussed in the paper: definition of a transport centre; government’s role in establishing a network of centres; operational concerns; and impacts on surrounding land uses. In San Francisco, local transport policy has identified issues central to the establishment of a centre (e.g. safety, comfort, reliability, connectivity, access to other modes); however, planners there have only recently come to realize the role that transport centres can play in facilitating economic growth and providing better access to non-motorised modes, such as walking and bicycling. This paper concludes that many cities in middle-income countries are in a position to establish effective transport centre criteria, based on local transport objectives,needs and resources. At a minimum, these transport centres should improve interchange, shorten travel times and expand service coverage. In addition, they should strategically encourage the desirable development of surrounding land uses.