This paper presents the general development plan for Prague's traffic, and discusses its relationships to town planning and environmental protection. The plan was approved in 1978 and had the following principal aims: (1) developing an integrated traffic system, ensuring the transport of people and goods by all methods of public and private transport, including pedestrian travel; (2) ensuring the continuous development of the city's traffic system in stages, keeping pace with the corresponding course of development of all districts, especially residential zones; (3) promoting road safety and environmental quality, especially in the historic zones of the city; (4) providing free movement for visitors in residential zones and streets in the centre of Prague; (5) developing basic road networks, reserved for transport to and from the city centre. The fundamental role of Prague's integrated transport system is to ensure intense and concentrated flows of passengers commuting by public transport, especially the Underground and suburban railways, while respecting the modal distribution in time and space. The costs of collecting environmental data, on which planning decisions are based, can be high, but are likely to be small compared with the costs of road investment itself.
Abstract