Assessing the effectiveness of reduced parking requirements in facilitating transit-oriented development: a case study of ‘pt areas’ in cape town

Abstract

In Cape Town a mechanism, referred to as ‘public transport areas’ (PT areas), was introduced in 2014 to allow for the decreased provision of off-street parking in areas wellserved by public transport. This mechanism was intended to not only reduce trip generation, but to also facilitate Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). To date the impact of the PT areas mechanism has not been systematically assessed. This paper reports on the results of an assessment of developer uptake of the PT areas offering, and outlines the implications for transport and land use. It concludes that substantial developable land has been saved in PT areas for more productive use, thus directly contributing to TOD. However, this has not been supported in turn by an improvement in the public transport system in most areas. It can be concluded that this mechanism can be an effective TOD tool, but that mechanisms should be put in place to measure its uptake, and its effect on reducing the number of private car trips.