It’s well-documented that Perth has a high dependency on cars.

As new stations are planned one of the first questions asked is ‘how many parking bays are there’. The answer is either met with ‘that’s not enough’ or ‘it’s too big for this community’.

It is neither practical nor possible to provide a parking bay for every person who catches the train. Nor is it a sustainable way to plan and grow our city.

Balancing the need to get passengers easily to stations and maximising the land around the stations to create places that are easier to walk, have more housing, employment and commercial uses is what METRONET’s integrated transport and land use approach is all about.

As each new or redeveloped station is planned it creates an opportunity to encourage passengers to use a variety of modes to access the station.

While parking is a key consideration, so to is making it easier for people to walk, cycle or use a feeder bus service before they jump in a car. We do that by thinking about higher density development immediately around the stations, public spaces that are inviting to be in, including bike parking at stations, connecting to cycling networks and providing infrastructure for the surrounding bus network to connect into the station.

New station planning also considers the number of parking bays that may be required in the first few years of operations. This amount may be temporary and reconfigured over time as future land-use outcomes are achieved.

This may see smaller car parks or ones that change and reduce over time, but the long-term result will help reduce road congestion, grow Perth more sustainably and encourage more people to get active.

All of which will help create a well-connected Perth with more transport choices.