Parking Generation of Commercial Developments in Singapore

Estimation of parking generation of a proposed development is important in facility planning and traffic impact assessment. Studies of parking generation of various land uses have been conducted by many researchers in western countries but few for Asian conditions. In many cases, parking requirements of proposed developments in Asian cities are determined using rates developed for western cities. This may not be appropriate because there are differences in levels of vehicle ownership, public transport service, and traffic management as well as land-use planning. Such differences can result in poorly planned facilities. This paper reports the development of parking generation rates of commercial developments in Singapore. The study found that parking rates depend on the available floor area of the site and whether the site is well served by public transport. The estimated rates for Singapore are about one-quarter to one-third of those reported for similar developments in western cities. An evaluation of two methods of estimating parking generation rates indicated that the regression method provides better estimates.