2013 Session: 715

• Parking Utilization for Neighborhood Shopping Centers AlongTransit Routes in San Jose, California: Are Minimum Parking Requirements Too High?
  Abstract: This paper examines the minimum parking requirements of shopping centers located at Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light rail station areas in San Jose, CA. VTA, the primary transit agency in Santa Clara County, CA has sought to reduce parking requirements for proposed transit oriented developments, but until recently, has been unable to provide locally-based research to back up this claim to decision makers. This paper seeks to provide evidence that will help bolster the argument that parking requirements are unnecessarily high, and can be reduced in San Jose. Two parking utilization surveys found that utilization of free surface parking is far lower than capacity during the holiday shopping season and during the off-season for thirteen shopping centers surveyed. The results suggest that minimum parking requirements for these neighborhood-oriented shopping centers are too high. Furthermore, the study finds that the seasonal shopping peak does not occur for shopping centers surveyed.
  Authors: Smith, Adam Lee
  Authors: Smith, Adam Lee
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Passenger Transportation
  Session: 715
  Paper Number: 13-5350
• Impact of Eliminating Minimum Parking Standard on Residential Parking Supply in London, 2004-2010
  Abstract: It is commonly believed that minimum parking requirements create an over-supply of off-street parking, and that removing these requirements this over-supply. However, supportive evidences remain limited. This research examined residential parking supply in London before and after the minimum off-street parking standard was replaced by a maximum one in 2004. Based on 11,428 residential developments (247,984 units) after 2004 and 216 developments (2666 units) before 2000, we found that such a policy change reduced the parking supply by approximately 40 percent, most of which (98 percent) was caused by the removal of the minimum standard, and only 2 percent was by the imposition of the maximum standard. However, due to the concern of parking spillover to streets, the maximum standard is set up higher in the urban center than the adjacent areas. The parking market actually provided more parking in areas with the highest density and best transit service than in the areas immediately outside. The market-oriented approach to parking regulation can reduce excessive parking, but it depends on the particular submarkets. Complementary policies such as strict parking maximums, on-street parking controls, or parking taxes are often necessary in form an efficient parking market.
  Authors: Guo, Zhan; Ren, Shuai
  Authors: Guo, Zhan; Ren, Shuai
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Passenger Transportation
  Session: 715
  Paper Number: 13-2904
  Practice-Ready: Yes
• Is the curb 80% full or 20% empty? Assessing the efficacy of San Francisco's parking experiment
  Abstract: The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has adopted a performance goal of 60% to 80% occupancy for their metered parking. The rule represents an heuristic performance measure intended to reduce double parking and cruising for parking, and improve the driver experience. In this paper, we study the data collected as part of the SFpark pilot and evaluate that rule against other possible measures. We confirm the finding of others indicating that the probability a driver finds available parking on the block where s/he is destined tracks with average occupancy until about 85%-90%, after which the system breaks down and the chances of finding a spot deteriorate rapidly. We also find that the relationship between occupancy and the probability of finding a space is sensitive to the duration of the averaging period, i.e. the hourly average occupancy is a better predictor of finding a spot than is occupancy averaged over a longer period such as a few weeks. In addition, using occupancy data for five minute time periods, we develop a lower bound on the arrival rate for each block. For blocks that are full, we develop a refill rate which measures the time from full to space available and back to full again. Using the refill rates and the arrival rate we run simulations to estimate the expected number of blocks a driver must cruise before finding a space, and some preliminary evidence for impacts of SFpark over one year.
  Authors: Millard-Ball, Adam; Weinberger, Rachel R.; Hampshire, Robert Cornelius
  Authors: Millard-Ball, Adam; Weinberger, Rachel R.; Hampshire, Robert Cornelius
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Passenger Transportation
  Session: 715
  Paper Number: 13-4824
  Practice-Ready: Yes
• Parking at Sporting Event Stadiums in Denver, Colorado
  Abstract: Millions of people in the United Stated (US) travel by personal automobile to attend professional sport matches played at various stadium facilities. Engineering and planning publications are lacking information on parking provisions for major sporting events, and the results from this paper on parking outcomes suggest that current parking provisions are not efficient. This case study examines parking supply, parking utilization, event auto occupancy, and event auto mode share at four different major professional sports venues in the Denver region. We calculated percentage of parking supply per parking demand for surveyed games with respect to average attendances and evaluate parking utilization during non-event activities. In general, the games surveyed indicate that more parking is provided than necessary, even when attendance is higher than typical. For an average attended event, parking utilization was as low as 65-percent with 2.2 persons per vehicle. In contrast when parking occupancy is high, auto occupancy increased to 2.8 persons per vehicle. With such different carpool rates, as well as evidence suggesting that spectators traveling to some facilities are willing to park and walk further than ½-mile, the results insinuate that parking supply and travel behavior are endogenous and should not be treated independently. This study also considered parking occupancy at non-event times and found whole-scale underutilization, even in downtown locations with great opportunity costs.
  Authors: Henao, Alejandro; Marshall, Wesley
  Authors: Henao, Alejandro; Marshall, Wesley
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Passenger Transportation
  Session: 715
  Paper Number: 13-5043
  Practice-Ready: Yes
• Impact of Eliminating Minimum Parking Standard on Residential Parking Supply in London, 2004-2010
  Authors: Guo, Zhan
  Authors: Guo, Zhan
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Passenger Transportation
  Session: 715
  Paper Number: 13-2904
• Is the curb 80% full or 20% empty? Assessing the efficacy of San Francisco's parking experiment
  Authors: Weinberger, Rachel
  Authors: Weinberger, Rachel
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Passenger Transportation
  Session: 715
  Paper Number: 13-4824
• Is the curb 80% full or 20% empty? Assessing the efficacy of San Francisco's parking experiment
  Authors: Millard-Ball, Adam
  Authors: Millard-Ball, Adam
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Passenger Transportation
  Session: 715
  Paper Number: 13-4824
• Parking Utilization for Neighborhood Shopping Centers Along Transit Routes in San Jose, California: Are Minimum Parking Requirements Too High?
  Authors: Smith, Adam
  Authors: Smith, Adam
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Passenger Transportation
  Session: 715
  Paper Number: 13-5350
• Is the curb 80% full or 20% empty? Assessing the efficacy of San Francisco's parking experiment
  Authors: Hampshire, Robert
  Authors: Hampshire, Robert
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Passenger Transportation
  Session: 715
  Paper Number: 13-4824