The Parking Challenge
National Trends
Parking is an ever-growing challenge in cities and towns across the U.S. Increasingly, availability of parking is one of the more significant issues that town and city staffs face.
- In some communities, ample public parking is available, but travelers are unaware of where the parking facilities are, the hours the facilities are open, or the costs of these facilities.
- In others, public parking is in short supply, and privately owned parking is available and underutilized.
- In others, there is a shortage of parking facilities, and travelers are unaware of this fact until they arrive at their destination.
In all three cases, travelers lack credible, timely information. The absence of information causes travelers to make bad decisions, including not making the trip, exhibiting poor driving habits due to frustration in not locating a parking place, missing the beginning of an event, and parking illegally.
Site-Specific Challenges
Parking demand is routinely high at airports, in downtown areas, and around transit park-and-ride facilities due to several factors, including record level air travel, large interest in attending downtown events, and the desire for commuters to avoid delays by switching to transit at opportune points along their route during the trip. While serving different traveler needs, each situation has one thing in common – people in a hurry want to know the answers to three main questions: "Where are parking facilities close to my destination?", "Is there an open spot in the facility I choose?", and "How much is this going to cost me in time and parking fees?"
Airports
At airports, the challenge is to provide an efficient transition for the traveler from the roadway transportation system to the airport transportation system. Many travelers run on tight agendas and are under pressure to make a scheduled flight. These travelers do not have time to search for parking. Because many BWI passengers are not frequent air travelers, they are unfamiliar with the airport parking facilities. As a result, they often depart their homes or workplaces excessively early rather than risk missing check-in times. As they circle from floor to floor in a parking garage looking for an empty space, frustration begins to mount. In desperation, some travelers are tempted to park illegally in fire lanes or other restricted areas.
Central Business Districts
In central business districts (CBDs), visitors may not be familiar with the downtown street layout and get lost as they search for difficult-to-find parking facilities. Excessive circulation results in more traffic congestion on the street system, which overwhelms the traffic signals in the vicinity of the downtown attractions. Traffic congestion can become gridlock, leading to drivers' heightened frustration levels. In Seattle, traffic congestion is so bad near the Seattle Center that locals have nicknamed it, the "Mercer Mess," as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. The "Mercer Mess" in Downtown Seattle
Park-and-Ride Lots
At transit park-and-ride facilities, the problem is three-fold:
- Frustration associated with a commuter hunting for a parking spot while trying to meet a train or bus departure schedule may result in the vehicle being parked in nearby neighborhoods.
- A commuter who cannot find a parking spot and does not elect to abandon his or her vehicle in a neighborhood due to tight ticketing or towing policies will return to the freeway or arterial roadway, having lost valuable time.
- Commuters who habitually have problems finding parking at the park-and-ride facility ultimately may elect not to ride transit. As a consequence, these additional vehicles contribute to already excessive freeway and arterial roadway congestion and traffic-related emissions.
Public Sentiment
The risks of traveling in areas with inadequate parking information vary with the type of trip. For those going to the airport, difficulty finding a parking spot can lead to a missed flight. For travelers going to a central business district, the risk is evident in a late arrival at a show or sporting event for which expensive tickets were purchased. For commuters seeking to transfer to transit, the risk is a missed transit departure.
Following is a sampling of public sentiment regarding the risks of traveling in areas with inadequate parking:
- A 2003 intercept survey of off-airport parking users at Detroit's Wayne County International Airport indicated that many travelers opted for off-airport parking because of the level of confidence they had in the time it would take to find a parking space and to take a shuttle to the terminal. Over 50 percent felt that the lack of parking availability signage on the freeways approaching the airport was a significant factor in their decision.[2]
- A 2002 Metropolitan Planning Organization survey of the Seattle-Tacoma region found that a majority of respondents said that they plan to travel to the downtown area at least eight times in a given year. These people also indicated that parking in the downtown Seattle area is a major problem. In a separate 2003 survey developed to gain specific insight into perceptions of Seattle Center parking, visitors to the center on a major event evening were asked about their satisfaction with the parking situation: 37 percent of the respondents indicated they were "Dissatisfied" or "Very Dissatisfied" with the parking situation.[3]
- A Chicago Metra transit rider survey conducted in 2000 measured the parking needs of the customers and their preferences regarding parking information. Over 300 commuters were interviewed at various Metra rail stations during and immediately following the morning rush hour. At least 62 percent of total transit riders believed that parking signage indicating where to park could be improved. The survey found that 80 percent of the Metra riders who felt signage around stations could be improved were regular rush hour travelers.[4]
These statistics indicate that the ease of finding a parking space can influence the decisions people make about traveling. Better information reduces the uncertainty that leads to early departures, recirculation trips, and late arrivals resulting in missed connections or missed events.
- A survey of travelers that chose off-airport parking was conducted at Detroit's Wayne County International Airport twice in the fall of 2003. The first survey was conducted in mid-October on a Wednesday, during which 34 travelers were surveyed during the AM peak departure period. The second survey was conducted on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, during which 40 travelers were surveyed during the peak AM departure period.
- In addition, a survey of over 200 Seattle Center patrons attending simultaneous evening events in three different venues was conducted in November 2003 in support of this study. Visitors were surveyed as they made their way from the parking facility to the event itself.
- Wilbur Smith Associates (1999). Parking Management Systems: Needs Assessment Report.