Parking Supply Research Articles

Repurposing the paving: The case of surplus residential parking in Davis, CA

The city of Davis, CA, has a rich history of high bicycling levels, and the city has ambitious transportation policies and goals. However, both the city of Davis and transportation scholars have overlooked the potential opportunities a surplus of on-street residential parking provides to cities. The existing literature on the influence of parking policy and provision has focused primarily on commercial districts and on large metropolises, neglecting parking in more purely residential areas. In this descriptive case study, we systematically observed the number of cars on a transect of residential streets in the early morning and late evening on weekdays to conservatively estimate the average peak parking demand by residents as a percentage of available parking spaces. On average, only 2 in 7 available parking spaces were occupied during peak hours. We note that the over-provision of on-street parking in residential neighborhoods could be a nexus for the city to achieve its sustainable transportation policy goals while addressing its fiscal and housing supply challenges. We discuss possible design solutions, including providing ecosystem services, implementing traffic calming measures, and creating accessory dwelling units.

ROAD Safety Enforcement and Transit Trucks Parks Incentivization in Nigeria

Truck traffic on Nigeria roads is perceived by all as a dangerous phenomenon that required urgent and immediate multi-faceted approaches from policy, technology and investment perspectives, so as to curtail the increasing trends of truck’s single and multiple road accidents in the country. One of the greatest challenges of truck accidents management as observed in the country is the prevalent operational hiccups among road safety law enforcement agents at enforcing and regulating transit truck drivers’ mandatory operational rest-hours in the country, with a view to countering driving fatigue related accidents among transit truck drivers. The aim of this paper is to identify incentives, based on the Nigeria road operating experience, that will engender compliance with mandatory operational rest-hours among trucks drivers after every unbroken eight hours stretch drive. The objectives are to investigate the transit trucks parks infrastructure gaps along the major freight corridors in the country; identify appropriate technology that will enabled compliance among drivers. The paper deployed the combination of desk-top and qualitative research methods to clearly present the depth of the problem. The findings revealed an unstructured (free entry, free exit) road freight movement administration in Nigeria, dearth of driving fatigue detection enabled technology; and noticeable investment gap in provision of conducive truck transit parks along major corridors. The introduction of technology enabled solution, investment in building attractive truck transit parks; and proper regulation of the road freight sectors are recommended as short and medium plans for minimizing truck fatigue induced accidents on Nigerian roads. The socio-economic implications of technological solutions will include reductions in numbers of fatal road crashes and improved service delivery.

Social inequalities of park accessibility in Shenzhen, China: The role of park quality, transport modes, and hierarchical socioeconomic characteristics

Identifying the geographic units with restricted access to intra-urban parks has become a hot issue in transport studies. Previous literature has examined the social inequalities of park accessibility under the Western context; however, the issue has seldomly investigated against the non-Western background, especially in China. Using a case of Shenzhen (China), this paper examines the accessibility to parks of three quality levels (official standard) under four transport modes (public transit, walking, bicycle, and private car). In particular, the daily travel time from each community (8117) to each park (625) was harvested from the Baidu Map during 18:30–20:30 in July 2016. We further, based on the travel time calculations, develop four baseline indicators (the weighted average, the minimum, the maximum, and the standard deviation travel time) and three tolerance indicators of park accessibility (weighted average travel time within visit tolerance thresholds, standard deviation travel time within visit tolerance thresholds, and number of parks within visit tolerance thresholds) to measure park accessibility for each community. Results show that the seven accessibility indicators generate different estimations and the quantified accessibility varies greatly with park quality levels and transport modes. Communities present greater variations in accessibility to the first quality level and second quality level parks via walking and public transit. In addition, hierarchical regression is utilized to quantify the relationships between park accessibility and sociodemographic characteristics at two geographic levels (community and district). It is found that the associations are subjected to park quality, transport modes, and geographic levels. In particular, we discover significant social inequalities in park accessibility under the mode of public transit, walking, and bicycle. Our study should provide some new insights into accessibility research and advance the understanding of unequal park provision in developing countries.

Parks and young people: An environmental justice study of park proximity, acreage, and quality in Denver, Colorado

Young people − including children and teenagers − are spending less time playing outside in nature than previous generations. This decrease is problematic, as parks can provide young people with physical and mental health benefits. Also, growing health disparities exist between white and ethnic minority young people in the U.S. These concerns motivate an investigation into access to parks for young people of different ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Although several recent studies have focused on park quality, no previous inquiry has employed a youth-centered framework to measure access, nor has used an index of park quality describing young people’s park needs. To address these gaps, I investigated access to parks in Denver, Colorado through a comprehensive geospatial approach − including park proximity, acreage, and quality − that models park and walkability features supporting frequent park use for children and teenagers. My findings show a multifaceted pattern of environmental injustice. Ethnic minority and low-income people have better access than other groups in terms of park proximity. High-income and white people, however, have access to significantly more acres of parks per youth, to more parks with excellent levels of quality, and to safer parks than other groups. The dramatic disparities in park safety might strongly limit park use among Denver’s low-income young people of color. This analytical framework can help park planners identify specific gaps in park provision for youth and develop strategies to address quality and acreage disparities.

Optimal Location Choice of Neighborhood Parks within Walking Distance based on Park Provision Assessment Index and Service Utility Estimation

Optimal Location Choice of Neighborhood Parks within Walking Distance based on Park Provision Assessment Index and Service Utility Estimation

Downtown parking supply, work-trip mode choice and urban spatial structure

This paper examines the effects of changes in downtown parking supply on urban welfare, modal choice decisions and urban spatial structure using a spatial general equilibrium model of a closed monocentric city with two transport modes, endogenous residential parking and a form of bottleneck congestion at the CBD. Our analysis shows that parking reforms at the CBD that increase delay congestion costs in the short-run such as parking supply limits can be welfare improving if other commuting externalities such as air pollution can be reduced. In addition, because parking limits can also change location decisions such as where to live and invest they may complement anti-sprawl policies efforts by leading to a more compact urban spatial structure in the long run. We also show that changes in downtown parking supply can have different spatial impacts on the market supply of residential parking by affecting urban residents’ location decisions. Finally, we investigate whether the self-financing theorem of transportation economics holds within the context of our spatial urban model.

Walking accessibility of urban parks in a compact megacity

Good walking accessibility and an adequate supply of urban parks is critical for the physical and mental well-being of people living in cities, especially citizens residing in compact megacities. The service area from residences to urban parks in different areas were measured according to Accessible Natural Greenspace Standards by way of network analysis in the geographic information system. Multiple regression models were used to calculate the average weighted walking times from road junctions and community entrances to urban park entrances to assess the walking accessibility to urban parks in Shanghai. A statistical analysis of parks, communities and neighbourhood socio-economic status was conducted to analyse the uneven distribution and social inequity of urban park accessibility and supply. Park service area, walking accessibility and supply efficiency varied greatly in different districts for different categories of parks. The majority of areas with good park accessibility were located in old towns rather than in the new districts. The consistency between park access distribution and population distribution did not translate to equality in park supply. Positive actions are needed to redress the social inequity of access to this important public health resource.

‘A Fantasy to Get Employment Around the Area’: Long Commutes and Resident Health in an Outer Urban Master-Planned Estate

The Selandra Rise master-planned estate (MPE) in Melbourne’s south-east growth corridor was designed to create a “healthy and engaged community” through the provision of parks, physical activity opportunities and community facilities. A 5 year longitudinal study researched the impact on residents. Over one third of residents spent 2 to 3 h per day commuting and high levels of dissatisfaction with commutes were found. Longer commute times were associated with poor physical activity and weight outcomes. The paper concludes that provisions for health and wellbeing within an MPE are insufficient when opportunities for local employment are limited and broader locational, connectivity and transport disadvantages are not addressed.

On-Street Parking Demand Estimation in Urban CBD using FI and CF Model: A Case Study – Kolkata, India

Objectives:To estimate the on-street parking demand in the urban Central Business Districts (CBDs). Methods/Statistical Analysis: To achieve the goal, the study formulates two parking demand estimation models i.e., the fee index (FI) model and the cost factor (CF ) model, based on regression analysis using SPSSStatistical Package for the Social Science. FI Model estimates the on-street parking demand where the transit system is absent. On the other hand CF model estimates the demand by considering the mode shift from the private vehicle (PV) users to the public transit (PT ). Findings: Priority wise requirements for selecting PT are found out in this survey. The existing demand in the both selected CBDs of Kolkata, viz. Dalhousie and Gariahat is found to be much higher than the present parking supply. FI Model shows that, the demand will satisfy the existing supply if unit FI can be achieved. CF model explain that, the transit fare need to be increased by 52% and 26% for Dalhousie and Gariahat area respectively to meet the demand with the existing supply. It is also found out that, the on-street demand is less in transit oriented CBDs. The forecasted demand is reduced by 69% and 71% and by 63% and 59% than the present demand using CF model and the FI model respectively. In this study, it has been attempted to evaluate the on-street parking demand and such type of works has not been found out by the authors particularly in India which make it a pioneer study for others. Application/Improvements: The users need to be shifted from PV to PT immediately and the government must take necessary actions to introduce sufficient transit service to counter the on-street parking problem.

MDP: Minimum delay hot-spot parking

Hot-spot parking is becoming the Achilles' heel of the tourism industry. The more tourists that are attracted to the scenic site, the more often they will encounter a hassle of congestion to find a parking place; while those existing facilities for daily traffic are not supposed to support the excessive volume outburst. In this paper, we present a new parking guidance information system (PGI). By taking advantage of the technical advances of today in wireless communication of vehicular ad-hoc network, each vehicle will request and obtain a relatively fair opportunity to park. The competition and the corresponding allocation on the available slots emerging along the time scale are considered, in order to ensure that no vehicle enters a state of starvation. This is the first attempt to solve the spatiotemporal problem of resource assignment based on our extensive work on the Hungarian algorithm. The contribution as one part of the sustainable development of big historic cities is to minimize the idle driving and waiting, without increasing the parking supply, which could be costly and unnecessary to build in those urban areas. Both analytical and experimental results demonstrate the success of our effort, in terms of the average cruising/waiting time in each individual parking case and its upper bound. The data is compared with the best results known to date and shows a new direction to improve the resource assignment.

Smarter Travel, car restriction and reticence: Understanding the process in Ireland’s active travel towns

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the factors that precluded the introduction of car restrictive policies in two towns participating in Ireland’s Smarter Travel programme to promote sustainable travel. A total of 14 semi-structured interviews were conducted with the project co-ordinators, community advocates for active travel and retail traders (shops and small businesses).The results indicated that the Smarter Travel co-ordinators were inexperienced in using a full range of pricing, programming and policy measures specific to active travel. A more significant factor was the power of the trader lobby. In the town with the lower population density, car accessibility in the urban centre was perceived by retail traders to be directly associated with retail turnover. In the town with the higher population density, retail traders stated that car accessibility created an illusion of vibrancy that provided security to the retail sector. The retail traders disliked the local authority’s didactic approach to consultation and this dissonance manifested itself in displays of power against the local authority and not necessarily against Smarter Travel per se. Both local authorities struggled to sell the business case for car restrictive policies to the retail traders. They also failed to engage the silent majority in the wider community to act as advocates for active travel.The wider implications for the implementation of Smarter Travel policy are presented. It is important to create community support for active travel interventions by forming ‘town user’ forums and active travel lobby groups and making the local media partners in the project. Training and support should be provided to local authorities to deliver a more comprehensive suite of measures. A toolkit should be developed for local authorities to create a business case for introducing car restrictive measures. Incentives such as improvements to the public realm and accessibility for cyclists should be introduced before car restrictive measures. Car restrictive measures should be introduced incrementally such as introducing temporary pedestrianization or gradually reducing parking supply thereby demonstrating the benefits of the measure to stakeholders.

Good parks – bad parks: the influence of perceptions of location on WTP and preference motives for urban parks

ABSTRACTUrban parks generate substantial public benefits, yet explicit economic assessments of such values remain relatively rare. Surveys of willingness to pay (WTP) were undertaken to assess such values for proposed new parks. The analysis assessed how preference motives and values varied according to the location of parks. Results revealed greater altruistic motivation and higher overall values for the creation of inner city as opposed to suburban parks. Spatial decomposition revealed that, after controlling for other determinants such as incomes, values generally increase for households closer to proposed parks, but that a significant downturn in values is evident for households located very close to a proposed inner city park; a finding which echoes concerns regarding the potential for such sites to provide a focus for antisocial behaviour. While these findings provide strong overall support for provision of public parks they highlight, the importance of perceptions of location and the potential for localised dis-benefits.

Multimodal Trip Generation Model to Assess Travel Impacts of Urban Developments in the District of Columbia

The research effort described in this paper aims to develop a state-of-the-practice methodology for estimating urban trip generation from mixed-use developments. The District Department of Transportation’s initiative focused on ( a) developing and testing a data collection methodology, ( b) collecting local data to complement the ITE’s national data in trip rate estimation, and ( c) developing a model–tool that incorporates contextual factors identified as affecting overall trip rate as well as trip rate by mode. The final model accurately predicts total person trips and mode choice. The full set of models achieves better statistical performance in relation to average model error and goodness of fit than either ITE rates alone or other existing research. The model includes sensitivity to local environment and on-site components. The model advances site-level trip generation research in two major ways: first, it calculates total person trips independent of mode choice; second, it calculates mode choice with sensitivity to the amount of parking provided on site—a major finding in the connection between parking provision and travel behavior at a local-site level. The methodology allows agencies to improve their assessment of expected trips from proposed buildings and therefore the level of impact a planned building may have on the transportation system.

Modelling the Effects of Parking Charge and Supply Policy Using System Dynamics Method

Reasonable parking charge and supply policy are essential for the regular operation of the traffic in city center. This paper develops an evaluation model for parking policies using system dynamics. A quantitative study is conducted to examine the effects of parking charge and supply policy on traffic speed. The model, which is composed of three interrelated subsystems, first summarizes the travel cost of each travel mode and then calibrates the travel choice model through the travel mode subsystem. Finally, the subsystem that evaluates the state of traffic forecasts future car speed based on bureau of public roads (BPR) function and generates new travel cost until the entire model reaches a steady state. The accuracy of the model is verified in Hangzhou Wulin business district. The related error of predicted speed is only 2.2%. The results indicate that the regular pattern of traffic speed and parking charge can be illustrated using the proposed model based on system dynamics, and the model infers that reducing the parking supply in core area will increase its congestion level and, under certain parking supply conditions, there exists an interval of possible pricing at which the service reaches a level that is fairly stable.

Utilizing Shared Parking to Mitigate Imbalanced Supply in a Dense Urban Neighborhood: Case Study in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Excess off-street parking can have a range of impacts, including undesirable effects on housing costs, urban form, mode choice, and overall density. In urban residential areas, excess off-street parking can coexist with on-street parking congestion because of restrictions in parking access, nonmarket pricing, and other factors. This paper examines the potential for shared parking to address such an imbalance in parking supply by using a case study of the West End, a high-density residential neighborhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The West End’s residential parking permit (RPP) program has faced parking shortages and congestion, with on-street parking consistently reaching 90% occupancy. At the same time, off-street residential parking facilities in the neighborhood have occupancy rates consistently less than 50%. This analysis uses the inventory and occupancy data for off- and on-street parking stalls to investigate the impacts of making off-street stalls available to RPP users in a shared-parking program. Results showed that on-street parking congestion could be greatly reduced by introducing a relatively small number of off-street stalls from select residential buildings to the RPP program. Methods to unlock currently underutilized off-street parking supply are also discussed.

Factors Affecting Residential Parking Occupancy in Madison, Wisconsin

Policy makers in urban areas throughout the United States are interested in managing parking provision and minimizing the negative impacts of excess parking, yet those policy makers often lack an understanding of how much the existing parking is used and how different factors affect its use. This paper presents a study of multifamily residential parking use and related factors at 80 sites in Madison, Wisconsin. Twenty-two factors, including neighborhood and building characteristics, are considered. During the evening peak, parking use ranges from 0 to 1.4 spaces per residential unit, and the existing supply is 67% occupied. This paper presents three simple models of parking occupancy that require only two neighborhood characteristics and three building characteristics. These models explain roughly two-thirds of the variation in occupancy. Neighborhood characteristics are highly collinear and explain roughly 40% of the variation. Building characteristics explain more than 50% of the variation. This work validates similar findings from prior studies of larger cities and also offers important guidance for practitioners in other cities to understand factors affecting parking demand and to develop models of their own. Given the vast amount of unused parking observed in this study, this work reinforces the notion that cities should implement policies to manage their supply better.

Calculating the Impacts of Alternative Parking Pricing and Enforcement Policies in Urban Areas with Traffic Problems

Called to seek fresh thinking in mobility management, European cities present strong interest in parking management. In contrast with traditional approaches where parking problem was treated as a problem of inadequate supply whose solution lies on abundant, free and on a first-come basis parking provision, the rational of parking management is conscripted so as to combat traffic and environmental problems. At the new parking approach, parking policy should respect particular needs of each area and should apply in a flexible way so as to serve an integrated development plan. At this framework, the current paper examines Thessaloniki’s case, Greece, that presents severe traffic problems. The paper tries to evaluate the impacts on traffic and environmental indicators of the implementation of a controlled parking system. The results verify that when a parking system becomes controlled and a strong enforcement mechanism applies, the modal split changes in favor of public transport.

A Day in the Life of a Parking Space: Testing a Parking Hour Utilization Metric

The peak period utilization metric is the basis for most parking studies. This long-held practice frames the problem as being a limited number of peak occupancy periods. This practice became established when few parking management tools were available and the cost of parking was ignored. Although the effectiveness of parking management varies across context, many more tools are now available. For most land uses, basing supply decisions on peak period utilization leads to grossly oversupplying parking on a parking hour basis. “Parking hour utilization” is the percentage of total hours that a parking space is occupied per year. This paper demonstrates the parking hour utilization metric by using three suburban land uses in Southern California. The methodology employs field counts, air photo interpretation, and Urban Land Institute data to compare peak period and parking hour utilization. The results show low parking hour utilization in these freestanding suburban land uses that ranges from 20.3% for an office complex to 30.1% for a shopping mall and 60.1% for a multifamily residential development. The paper argues that this metric should be employed in parking studies so that parking supply decisions can be made with better information on the efficiency with which parking resources are used. Adopting this metric will lead to strategies, such as shared parking and peak period management, that better use parking resources.

Simulating parking for establishing parking prices

Urban parking prices do not reflect spatially heterogeneous parking supply and demand. We present an agent-based algorithm for establishing on-and off-street parking prices in a heterogeneous urban space that guarantee a predetermined uniform level of occupation.

Trip and parking generation at transit-oriented developments: Five US case studies

Guidelines for trip and parking generation in the United States come mainly from the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE). However, their trip and parking manuals focus on suburban locations with limited transit and pedestrian access. This study aims to determine how many fewer vehicle trips are generated at transit-oriented developments (TODs), and how much less parking is required at TODs, than ITE guidelines would suggest.Our sample of TODs is small, which limits our ability to generalize. However, the five cases selected for this study are more or less exemplary of the D variables, at least in comparison with US norms. They are characterized by land-use diversity and pedestrian-friendly designs. They minimize distance to transit, literally abutting transit stations. They have varying measures of destination accessibility to the rest of the region via transit. Three have progressive parking policies, which fall under the heading of demand management. Two have high residential densities, and one has a high intensity of commercial development.Simply put, our case study TODs create significantly less demand for parking and driving than do conventional suburban developments. With one exception, peak parking demand in these TODs is less than one half the parking supply guideline in the ITE Parking Generation manual. Also, with one exception, vehicle trip generation rates are about half or less of what is predicted in the ITE Trip Generation Manual. Automobile mode shares are as low as one quarter of all trips, with the remainder being mostly transit and walk trips.