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ParkingStudies

ParkingStudies
Studiesmustbeconductedtocollecttherequiredinformation
aboutthecapacityanduseofexistingparkingfacilities.In
addition,informationaboutthedemandforparkingisneeded.
Parkingstudiesmayberestrictedtoaparticulartraffic
producerorattractor,suchasastore,ortheymayencompass
anentireregion,suchasacentralbusinessdistrict.
Beforeparkingstudiescanbeinitiated,thestudyareamustbe
defined.Acordonlineisdrawntodelineatethestudyarea.It
shouldincludetrafficgeneratorsandaperiphery,includingall
pointswithinanappropriatewalkingdistance.Thesurveyarea
shouldalsoincludeanyareathatmightbeimpactedbythe
parkingmodifications.Theboundaryshouldbedrawnto
facilitatecordoncountsbyminimizingthenumberofentrance
andexitpoints.
Oncethestudyareahasbeendefined,thereareseveral
differenttypesofparkingstudiesthatmayberequired.These
studytypesarelistedbelowanddiscussedindetailinthe
remainingparagraphs.
InventoryofParkingFacilities
AccumulationCounts
DurationandTurnoverSurveys
UserInformationSurveys
LandUseMethodofDeterminingDemand
InventoryofParkingFacilities:
Informationiscollectedonthecurrentconditionofparking
facilities.Thisincludes:
thelocation,condition,type,andnumberofparking
spaces.
parkingratesifappropriate.Theseareoftenrelatedto
tripgenerationorotherlanduseconsiderations.
timelimits,hoursofavailabilityandanyotherrestrictions.
layoutofspaces:geometryandotherfeaturessuchas
crosswalksandcityservices.
ownershipoftheoffstreetfacilities.
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AccumulationCounts:
Theseareconductedtoobtaindataonthenumberofvehicles
parkedinastudyareaduringaspecificperiodoftime.First,
thenumberofvehiclesalreadyinthatareaarecountedor
estimated.Thenthenumberofvehiclesenteringandexiting
duringthatspecifiedperiodarenoted,andaddedor
subtractedfromtheaccumulatednumberofvehicles.
Accumulationdataarenormallysummarizedbytimeperiodfor
theentirestudyarea.Theoccupancycanbecalculatedby
takingaccumulation/totalspaces.Peakingcharacteristicscan
bedeterminedbygraphingtheaccumulationdatabytimeof
day.Theaccumulationgraphusuallyincludescumulativearrival
andcumulativedeparturegraphsaswell.

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AboveFigurestakenfrom:
Khisty,C.andM.Kyte,LabandFieldManualfor
Transportation
Engineering,PrenticeHall,EnglewoodCliffs,NJ,1991.
DurationandTurnoverSurveys:
Theaccumulationstudydoesnotprovideinformationon
parkingduration,turnoverorparkingviolations.Thisinformation
requiresalicenseplatesurvey,whichisoftenveryexpensive.
Instead,modificationsareoftenmadetothefielddata
collectionprotocols.Notethatthereisusuallyatradeoff
betweendatacollectioncostsandstudyaccuracy.Spending
moretimeandmoneymayincreaseaccuracy,butatwhatpoint
doestheincrementalchangeinaccuracybecometoo
expensive?
Inplanningalicenseplatesurvey,assumethateachpatrolling
observercancheckaboutfourspacesperminute.Thefirst
observerwillbeslower,becauseallthelicenseplatenumbers
willhavetoberecorded,butsubsequentobserverswillbeable
toworkmuchfaster.Theformshownbelowcanbeusedfora
licenseplatesurvey.
Parkingturnoveristherateofuseofafacility.Itisdetermined
bydividingthenumberofavailableparkingspacesintothe
numberofvehiclesparkedinthosespacesinastatedtime
period.
Table1.TypicalLicensePlateSurveyFieldFormforCurbside
Survey
Street_______Side____StudyDate_________________
DataCollector_________From_____________________
To________________DirectionofTravel___________
Space Space
TimeatbeginningofPatrol
No
Desc. 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30

UserInformationSurveys:
Individualuserscanprovidevaluableinformationthatisnot
attainablewithlicenseplatesurveys.Thetwomajormethods
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forcollectingthesedataareparkinginterviewsandpostcard
studies.Fortheparkinginterviews,driversareinterviewedright
intheparkinglot.Theinterviewscangatherinformationabout
originanddestination,trippurpose,andtripfrequency.The
postagepaidpostcardsurveysrequeststhesameinformation
asintheparkinginterview.Returnratesaverageabout35%,
andmayincludebias.Thebiascantaketwoforms.Driverswill
sometimesoverestimatetheirparkingneedsinorderto
encouragethesurveyorstorecommendadditionalparking.Or,
theymayfilefalsereportsthattheyfeelaremoresocially
acceptable.
LandUseMethodofDeterminingDemand:
Parkinggenerationratescanbeusedtoestimatethedemand
forparking.
Tabulatethetypeandintensityoflandusesthroughoutthe
studyarea.
Basedonreportedparkinggenerationrates,estimatethe
numberofparkingspacesneededforeachunitofland
use.
Determinethedemandforparkingfromquestionnaires.
Aruleofthumbistooverestimatethedemandforparking
byabout10%.Iftheanalysissuggeststhattheparking
demandforaparticularfacilitywillbe500spaces,then
thedesignshouldbefor550spaces.

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