Ian Clark (Flow Transportation Specialists)

"The use of parking restraint as a tool for enforcing travel plan initiatives."


A travel plan consisting of a plethora of ‘carrots’ or enticing measures but without the ‘sticks’ or the restrictive measures, will struggle to achieve modal shift away from single car occupancy trips to a site. People will take the easiest and most convenient form of transport to make a trip and it can not be denied that if you have a car sitting outside your house then the easiest form of transport for you is your own car. Very often changing to a more sustainable mode requires planning, commitment and perhaps a lifestyle change. Therefore, without a ‘stick’ to act as a catalyst for change people won’t make these changes. One of the most common ‘sticks’ that is incorporated into travel plans is parking restraint.

This paper will discuss the pros and cons of providing maximum and minimum parking provision for new developments in conjunction with the introduction of effective travel plan measures that provide travel choices and options. The theory will be supported by examples and cases studies demonstrating best practice from New Zealand and overseas with reference to planning conditions.

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