Cape Town 2.0: Embracing a Car-Free Future

Cape Town’s central business district (CBD) aims to become a largely car-free environment in the future, featuring freeways and bypasses for vehicles, while ensuring that inner streets are safe and welcoming for pedestrians and cyclists.

This vision is reflected in the City of Cape Town’s draft Mobility and Access plan, crafted specifically for the CBD. This document is part of the city’s Local Spatial Development Framework (LSDF) and is currently open for public feedback.

A car-free inner city translates to a significant reduction in parking bays available to Capetonians within an already congested CBD.

The city recognizes that the primary goal of the mobility plan is to “decongest” the CBD by limiting vehicle access and prioritizing pedestrians and cyclists.

This approach includes initiatives to enhance walkability and cycle-friendliness in the CBD for both residents and visitors, featuring a 30 km/hour speed limit for vehicles and dedicated routes for cyclists and pedestrians.

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The city, which has already experienced significant population growth over the last decade, anticipates even greater expansion through 2040.

“This growth cannot be sustained by accommodating more vehicles,” states Nicky Sasman, senior transport planner at the City of Cape Town.

“We need to prioritize public transport access to the CBD, and once people are there, they must enjoy a walkable experience in the city. Our focus is on facilitating movement for people—walking and cycling.”

The plan

Sasman participated as a speaker at a virtual public engagement meeting on Tuesday, where officials outlined the city’s LSDF and the Mobility and Access Plan.

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The Mobility and Access Plan proposes a division of streets within the CBD into:

• Bypass routes (such as the Foreshore freeway and Buitengracht and Strand streets) which will facilitate vehicular movement while ensuring safe pedestrian crossings but will not allow parking;
• Transit streets (like Darling and Adderley streets) designated for public transport, walking, and cycling with loading zones but no parking;
• Activity streets (including Bree, Long, and Roeland streets) focused on walking and cycling, with low-speed traffic and limited parking;
• Shared streets (such as Bloem, Longmarket, and Harrington streets) serving pedestrians and cyclists, with mixed and limited traffic but no parking;
• Walking streets (like St Georges Mall, sections of Waterkant Street, and Old Marine Drive) exclusively for walking and cycling, prohibiting parking.

Parking approach

The plan anticipates a significant reduction and limitation of parking availability in the CBD.

Sasman emphasizes, “Parking users must be prepared to bear the full economic cost of parking, which is currently subsidized by those who do not park.”

The city aims to discourage the expansion of additional on- and off-street parking, with the only exception being peripheral parking outside the CBD where motorists can park and access the CBD by foot or public transport.

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The city will prioritize parking for delivery purposes, avoid additional structured parking in the CBD, and eliminate incentives to provide more parking.

Sasman acknowledges the need to tackle “current parking issues,” with proposals including:

• Relocating tour buses to facilities on the outskirts of the CBD;
• Transforming traditional parking bays into motorbike bays at major staging areas;
• Altering infrastructure to accommodate major events management and the logistics for large cruise liners;
• Identifying suitable remote stacking areas for buses and minibuses;
• Establishing publicly accessible, open, and structured parking.

Rob Quintas, a member of the mayoral committee for urban mobility, states that the primary goal is to achieve a “car-free” CBD in the future, where freeways, key mobility routes, and minor mobility routes enable vehicle access to and from the CBD, while the inner grid prioritizes pedestrians and cyclists.

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Quintas adds, “This plan must be supported by a comprehensive parking strategy. I want to emphasize that transitioning to this vision will not occur overnight and will need to be aligned with improvements in public transport services, particularly the restoration of passenger rail services in the coming years.”

The public has until May 11 to submit comments on the draft plan.

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