Business and Industrial Parks
Business and industrial parks are agglomerations of companies in physical proximity. Their accessibility is not only related to their transit connections, but also their location. Where industrial parks are typically located at the periphery (where multiple transport modailities coincide: highways, railroads, airports and rivers), business parks are also making the switch from city centers to the periphery. The main motivations: deteriorating accessiblity of cities, space limitations for new developments, a focus on car-accessibility and lower costs of land.
However, specifically business parks are recognized for their high intensity of labor and visitors, contributing to road-based commuter and business transport. Consequently, their accessibility by environmentally friendly means of transit is vital for the environment and the economy. To accommodate the high transit demand of business parks located at the periphery, new transit solutions to provide suitable (connections to) public transportation are required.
Where the external accessiblity of business and industrial parks is determined by their relative location within the region and urban (or rural) area, the internal accessibility is determined by the parking policy and facilities. For the service-sector parking was even named as the most important criterion for location choice (over car-accessibility, 2nd and public transportation, 7th). Companies thus desire ample parking, while (real estate) developers want to minimize space wasted and (local) authorities use parking policies as an instrument to influence location choice (by imposing parking norms). Centralizing parking (and creating efficiencies of space) or interconnecting multiple de-centralized parking facilities, ensures the demands of all parties are met (to a degree) and a pleasant, car-free working environment is created.
A trend is the development of sector-specific business and industrial parks. Although relatively common in the automotive industry for years, other businesses are now being organized in sector-specific parks as well. These parks are set-up to stimulate and enhance interactions to ensure the maximum synergy is achieved. To facilitate the inter-company contacts, while ensuring people do not resort to their car, an on-site integrated transit system is required (providing quick connections).
Automated People Mover Systems are an interesting alternative for these connections. As an additional advantage electronically guided systems can easily be integrated on site.
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