The NPF 2040 has set out that, in general, there will be no car parking requirement for new development in or near the centres of the five cities, including Cork, and a significantly reduced requirement in the inner suburbs. There will also be a general reduction in on-street parking levels in city and town centres over the lifetime of the Strategy to accommodate a wide range of sustainable transport sustainable transport and place-making measures including bus priority, laybys, safer crossing facilities, seating, contra-flow cycle lanes, bicycle share schemes and cycle parking. Cork has a high proportion of motorised trips that originate outside the City Centre and other strategic employment areas that contribute to local congestion, noise and air pollution.
The Strategy seeks to reduce this through the provision of Park and Rides. Park and Rides are the provision of high capacity, car parking facilities at designated public transport interchanges to provide onward access to the City Centre and other key destinations via high frequency public transport, walking or cycling. Park and Rides as a component of the CMATS is a means of increasing the accessibility of the transport network to a population that might not otherwise have access by walking, cycling or bus transfer. The strategic Park and Rides will be complemented by a number of smaller, local parking facilities known as ‘Mobility Hubs (points)’. Mobility Hubs will contribute to significantly lower car parking standards than at present, will be served by public transport, walking and cycling routes and will provide a wider range of functions including waste collection points and consolidated delivery points.