Integrated public transport facilities : Menlyn Shopping Centre

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: The development of the Menlyn Shopping Centre provided limited accommodation for public transportation and pedestrian access, relative to private vehicle parking. It was therefore necessary to accentuate the issue of public transportation for the centre, in line with the National Land Transport Transition Act, 2000. It is however, an accepted fact that the local authorities initiated this effort in reaction to the development instead of proactive involvement. The number of home-base work trips by public transport is significantly greater than private vehicle trips in the Menlyn Node. Therefore, a high number of employees in the Menlyn area are public transport captive. Also, a number of social and/or non-work trips by public transport are significant during the weekend, especially on Saturdays. The quality of the existing public transport facilities in the Menlyn node was poor. The existing access point into the Menlyn Shopping Centre on Lois Road yielded the highest pedestrian/passenger movement in the Menlyn Node during the weekday peak period. The delayed attempt to improve public transport facilities at the Menlyn Shopping Centre realised that unlike for generation of private traffic, the Traffic Impact Study Guideline of the City Council of Pretoria did not mandate a developer to provide the necessary public transport facilities. Hence, the initial approval process for the development of the shopping centre trivialised public transportation, while the developer remained uninformed, until the intervention of the Greater Pretoria Metropolitan Council. The developer then realised the invaluable significance of an improved public transport facility specifically for employees working through extended shopping hours. This paper describes the conceptualisation and construction of the integrated public transport facility at the Menlyn Shopping Centre, that includes paved sidewalks, direct access for passengers and pedestrians into the mall from the adjacent streets, the provision of shelters for passengers, and ramps for wheelchairs. The paper also discusses the addendum to the Traffic Impact Study Guideline for the City Council of Pretoria to mandate future developers to provide the necessary public transport facilities.