[sustran] Parking and transport issues

[Paul Barter]

Obet Verzola forwarded this item last week,

>              Traffic problems? Scrap parking facilities
>              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>    KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP)-The Malaysian government, searching
>for ways to ease worsening traffic in the capital, will allow building
>operators to reduce or scrap parking bays to force motorists to take
>public transport.
>
>    The New Straits Times said the other day that cabinet decided on
>the move as a sign of the government's seriousness in promoting public
>transport, es specially the new light rail transit system.
>
>    New buildings would no longer be required to allocate parking
>spaces, while existing buildings would be allowed to reduce their
>parking bays.

This announcement which was made a few weeks ago was very encouraging to
me. Incidentally, it was preceded by an announcement on bicycle networks
for all new residential areas. Unfortunately, the transport minister, Dr
Ling, (who is a rather large man) has since been the butt of some unkind
cartoonists' jibes...mostly relating to the (apparently) humorous idea of
Dr Ling on a bicycle. One cartoon showed Dr Ling arriving at Parliament
house only to find the Prime Minister busily painting out his parking space
and replacing it with a small bicycle-sized space. ;-)  Unfortunately
Malaysian politicians are not famous for their senses of humour, so I hope
these jokes don't deter the Malaysian government from its new enthusiasm
for sustainable transport.

Back onto parking, this proposed change in Kuala Lumpur is an example of a
growing global trend to replace zoned parking MINIMUM limits with MAXIMUM
limits. Singapore has such a system I believe, as do many European cities.
It would be useful if anyone out there could give some practical advice (or
good references) on any important lessons which have been learned from
previous experience with introducing this particular measure. It would be
useful to know if there are pitfalls involved and how to avoid them.

By the way, this very topic is currently being debated (heatedly) on the
alt-transp list. The point has been made there that most real estate
developers and businesses would actually be very happy to not be forced to
provide a large amount of parking space, provided that they can be assured
that their customers and employees have other viable options for accessing
their site.

A. Rahman Paul Barter
Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia & the Pacific (SUSTRAN)
Until 15 July I am in Perth, Australia.
During that time please reach me at <barter at central.murdoch.edu.au>