CIVL4514 Civil Design

TAPS Policy – Designing for Cars

NUMBER OF CAR SPACES

§ Chapter 6:
• based on type and scale of land use:
• scale = GFA, sites, units, children, staff, courts, beds …
• location within the city affects provision rates:
• local area plans may stipulate a higher / lower parking provision
• check planning scheme to see if site falls within a local area plan
• base rates from:
• Table 13: for city core, city frame or within 400m of major PT
interchange (refer Figure a of TAPS Code)
• Table 14: for all other areas
• apply separately to component uses in mixed use developments
• round up once at the end

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 NUMBER OF CAR SPACES

Figure a from TAPS Code

EXAMPLE
§ Residential apartment complex in St Lucia with 26 2-bedroom units accessed
from a major road:
§ Not in city core, not in city frame and not within 400m of major PT interchange
… so Table 14 applies
§ Use = Multiple Dwelling
§ Spaces:
• 26 x (1.25 + 0.15) = 36.4
• round up to 37 spaces
• includes visitor spaces
• includes PWD spaces

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SIZE OF SPACES

§ Width of spaces:
• Section 7.8.1
• based on type of use (Table 18)
• generally 2.4-2.7m wide:
• wider spaces for higher turnover areas or areas where passengers
and goods are loaded or unloaded
• for fully enclosed garages refer to Section 7.8.3
§ Length of spaces:
• Section 7.8.2
• generally 5.4m long:
• 5.1m for small car spaces
§ Refer to AS2890.6 for PWD spaces

EXAMPLE

§ Residential apartment complex in St Lucia with 26 units

accessed from a major road:
• Table 18:
• Class 3 = “reserved spaces where passengers and goods are loaded or
unloaded, such as tenant car parking area in a residential complex”
• 2.6m wide
• 5.4m long

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AISLE WIDTH

§ Section 7.4
• two-way two-lane circulation roads (Table 15): 6.5-7.5m
• depending on traffic volume
• circulation aisles (Section 7.4.3): 6.0-6.2m
• depending on number of spaces
• parking aisles (Section 7.4.4): typically 6.2m
• can reduce parking aisle width by 0.4m for each 0.1m increase in
parking space width
• +300mm clearance to obstructions higher than 150mm

EXAMPLE

§ A large / high-turnover
car park:
§ Note:
• no parking on circulation road
• 7.0m wide circulation aisles
• 6.2m wide parking aisles
• 5.4m long spaces
• no dead-ends aisles
• no four-way intersections
• separate servicing area
• ample queuing at access
• separate pedestrian paths

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GRADIENTS
§ Section 7.6:
• minimum gradients:
• depend on drainage requirements, type of surface and roughness
• maximum gradients:
• vehicle performance, user comfort operating speed, control of car
doors, likely presence of prams, wheelchairs and shopping trolleys
• max 1:20 across spaces
• desirable maximum gradients in Table 17
• 2m long transitions required when change in grade > 5%

2m 2m

EXAMPLE

§ Residential apartment complex in St Lucia with 26

units accessed from a major road via a straight ramp:
• Table 17:

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CLEARANCES

2.3m
§ Lateral clearances:
• Section 7.4.2
• 0.3-0.6m depending on height and type of obstruction
• spaces adjacent to a wall should be 0.3m wider
§ Vertical clearances:
• Section 7.7
• generally 2.3m min, clear of services and lighting
• can reduce to 2.1m if over-height vehicles diverted
• 2.5m for PWD spaces
• be sure to check clearance on ramps

EXAMPLE
§ +0.3m next to walls, fences and columns
§ use Figure m to locate columns

Width of Space
Columns go here

Not here

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QUEUING AREAS
§ Section 4.8:
• entry queues are of primary importance
• no internal intersections within the defined queuing area
• measured from the property boundary
• min size of queuing area depends on:
• number of parking spaces
• capacity of vehicle control system (eg boom gates, card reader)
• type of frontage road
• internal design beyond queuing area
• with entrance control:
• control point to be set back to prevent queuing on road
• queue length a function of vehicle arrival rate and service rate
• without entrance control:
• use Table 10 as a guide
• assume 6m per vehicle