Should CBD parking be buried?

And that's the key lesson here; Council should be concentrating on assessing why new buildings within the CBD and Southbank require as much parking as they're currently getting.

This is an extremely small part of Greater Melbourne with exemplary walkability and excellent public transport access both within and from the rest of the metropolitan area. Even the trams are free! Vehicles sterilise an inordinate share of public space in the city centre, hold up pedestrians, pollute the air, and are potentially dangerous to the great majority of street users.

Council should be focusing on a dramatic reduction in car parking, both on-street and associated with new developments. This applies especially in the extended CBD where densities are an order of magnitude higher than the rest of the metropolitan area.

Council should also start analysing fully the short and long-term implications of policy proposals rather than concerning itself only with appearances. It needs to assess rigorously the benefits and costs of ideas like this one before making a decision; put simply, it needs to understand what it's doing!