Who's looking after the children? Trip generation and car parking demands for childcare centres

The childcare industry is a large and growing one. The combination of increased participation in the labour force by parents, as well as government incentives to reduce the cost of childcare, resulted in a significant increase in the use of childcare throughout the 1990s. This has led to the development of numerous childcare centres, which can be generators of significant traffic volumes and parking demands. It is vital that these are assessed appropriately at the planning stage to minimise the adverse impacts on their surrounds. Through an analysis of four sites in Newcastle, New South Wales, the suitability of the standards for childcare centres was assessed. The investigation found that peak traffic generation and length of visit for long day care centres have increased since the standards were published. Complementing this, use of alternative modes of transport have decreased, and did not appear to be influenced by proximity to public transport. Despite the increase in vehicle trips and length of visit, the peak demand for parking has remained steady. It can be concluded that the rates that should be used for assessing the demands imposed on the transport system by childcare centres are different now to those that applied at the time standards were developed. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E214755.