- Transition from a demand-based standard to parking limitations that support mass transit    click here to open paper content94 kb
by    Pilzer, David | davidpi@moin.gov.il   click here to send an email to the auther(s) of this paper
Short Outline
Parking is a critical issue for low carbon cities. Israel is in the midst of drastically reducing parking allowed in its central cities. This move raises a broad range of planning, environmental and transportation issues.
Abstract
The restriction of automobile parking in urban areas is an important tool in the implementation of urban transportation policy and reduction of carbon emissions. The supply and price of parking directly impact the extent of private automobile use, especially with regard to the journey to and from work.

The current national parking standard in Israel was enacted in 1983 and is based on a ''predict and supply'' approach. Transportation planners predict that the traffic congestion that already exceeds capacity in the central business districts of Israel`s major cities will soon reach a near standstill during critical hours of the business day.

Light rail networks are in various stages of planning, approval and construction in the metropolitan centers of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. Accordingly, an effort is underway to reduce drastically the amount of private automobile parking that is allowed as part of new development, particularly in urban centers in proximity to mass transit facilities. Regulations that now specify a minimum amount of parking to be provided will stipulate instead the maximum that may be provided. For example, regulations that now require no less than one parking space per 25 to 40 sq. meters for commercial and office uses will be changed to allow no more than one parking space per 250 sq. meters. In buildings that exceed 400 % of ground coverage the maximum allowable parking will be one space per 500 sq. meters.

These proposed new regulations attempt to address a wide variety of objections and concerns. This paper discusses: synchronization between the actual reduction in parking and the full operation of mass transit;
measures to prevent the exodus of businesses to areas that allow greater parking; consideration of the special transportation needs of persons with disabilities; and the parking needs of bicycles, scooters and motorcycles.
Keywords
parking, transportation, mass transit
Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2009: Low Carbon Cities
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