New Taipei City Relaxes Parking Standards for Small Apartments, Introduces Flexible One-Parking-Space-Per-Home Rule

(Central News Agency, reporter Wang Hongguo, New Taipei City, 10th) In response to the increase in small-sized residential products in recent years, the New Taipei City Government has promoted the "Principles for Review of Traffic Impact Assessments for Base Development." This introduces a flexible mechanism to the original standard of one car parking space per household for various development projects, aiming to prevent the cost of parking spaces from being excessively reflected in housing prices.

Wu Zhengyan, a Senior Specialist at the Transportation Department, pointed out that the previous standard for parking spaces in various development projects was one car parking space per household. However, with changes in living patterns, an increase in small apartments, and increasingly convenient public transportation, people's car usage habits are also gradually changing. After multiple consultations with industry, government, and academic circles, as well as relevant agencies, the "New Taipei City Government Principles for Review of Traffic Impact Assessments for Base Development" were formulated and announced.

Wu stated that the new system, in addition to maintaining a standard of one motorcycle parking space per household, adopts a differentiated and flexible mechanism for small apartments, urban renewal projects, and developments near public transit stations such as MRT, Taiwan Railways, and Light Rail.

The Transportation Department stated that the main relaxations in the new system include: for building sites within 500 meters of the entrances and exits of MRT, Taiwan Railways, and Light Rail stations (including MRT land development sites), or those located within the scope of bonus floor area incentives around MRT stations, the number of parking spaces should reach 70% of the number of households.

Furthermore, the number of parking spaces in urban renewal project sites should reach 80% of the number of households; for social housing sites, it should reach 30% of the number of households. If there is a shortfall in the number of car parking spaces, it can be offset by donating public bicycle rental stations, with each station offsetting 10 car parking spaces, up to a maximum of two stations.

The Transportation Department indicated that considering some sites are limited by spatial conditions and cannot set up enough parking spaces, the new system also includes a parking space fee-in-lieu mechanism. Developers can pay a fee according to regulations to replace the installation. The related revenue will be dedicated to parking lot construction and parking environment improvement, enhancing overall parking service quality and returning development benefits to urban public construction. (Editor: Long Baian) 1150610