Parking Policies for Avoiding Car Dependence
Paul Barter http://www.reinventingparking.org/
http://www.adb.org/publications/parking-policy-asian-cities Auckland, New Zealand
Summary
Failings of mainstream parking policy
The unglamorous secret to success
A “map” of reform options
A promising, responsive approach
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
Most parking policy is modelled on the USA’s conventional suburban approach:
Assumes parking should be on-site infrastructure (like the toilets with a building)
So every site needs “enough” parking for its own demand
Parking standards (minimums)
The median USA parking requirements for restaurants. Source Seth Goodman
http://graphingparking.wordpress.com/
Failings of mainstream parking policy
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
Failings of mainstream parking policy
Conventional suburban:
Fears on-street parking chaos (‘spillover’)
Any successful alternative must transcend this fear!
Assumes on-street parking management is too hard
Assumes private sector will not supply enough unless forced to (a self-fulfilling prophecy)
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
Failings of mainstream parking policy
Wasteful parking investments
Much off-street parking is under-used
even when nearby on-street parking is full and chaotic
Parking chaos often remains
Shenzhen, China
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
Failings of mainstream parking policy
Parking search traffic
Saturated on-street parking causes ‘cruising for parking’
Often 30% or more of traffic volume
Seoul, Korea
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
Failings of mainstream parking policy
Conventional parking policy is a ‘fertility drug for cars’ and generator of traffic
Locks us into or pushes us towards automobile dependence
Unjust subsidies and cross-subsidies
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
Auckland, New Zealand
A new, heavily
subsidized parking
structure in Delhi,
India, which remains
under-used despite
continued on-street
parking chaos nearby
Failings of mainstream parking policy
Harm to housing affordability
Obstacle to legalization of extra-legal settlements
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
Near Mexico
City
Failings of mainstream parking policy
Decline and blight of old urban districts
Parking regulations hinder re-use, redevelopment and infill
Promotes demolitions for parking
Near the center of Houston, USA (via Google Maps)
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
Failings of mainstream parking policy
Conventional approach in South and Southeast Asia
http://www.adb.org/publications/parking-policy-asian-cities
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
Failings of mainstream parking policy
Conventional approach in Latin America
Source: Guía Práctica Estacionamiento y Políticas de Reducción de Congestión en
América Latina (Practical guide to parking and policies to reduce congestion in Latin
America) p.84
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
Square metres of commercial space per required parking space
Cities in Brazil, Mexico and Chile have high parking requirements
Unglamorous secret to success: on-street management basics
Clear rules
Build enforcement capacity
Trustworthy time-based fees
Parking data collection capacities
Strengthen parking institutions
Good on-street management opens up other options and frees us from the trap of the conventional approach
Dhaka
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
Photo by Flickr user gregwake
Many cities lack trusted pricing and lack mechanism for time-based fees
But crucial for fairness (pay for what you use)
and as key tool of parking management
Makati, Metro Manila,
The Philippines
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
Unglamorous secret to success: on-street management basics
Parking inventories
Simple occupancy surveys
At least for problem districts
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
Unglamorous secret to success: on-street management basics
Unglamorous secret to success: on-street management basics
Enforcement needs to be ‘good enough’:
– Prioritize efforts
– Clear rules and signs
– Better as an administrative, not a law court matter
– Best NOT by the police!
– Better at local level
– Keep revenue very local
– Better outsourced to private contractors
Good models include: UK, Netherlands, Spain, Japan (since 2006)
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
Unglamorous secret to success: on-street management basics
Strong on-street parking management:
frees us from the trap of the conventional suburban approach
expands our parking policy options
But what are the options?
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
A “map” of reform options
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
Every site should have its own
parking
Parking facilities serve whole
neighbourhoods
Parking is “infrastructure”
1. conventional 2. parking management
Parking is a “real-estate based service”
3. Responsive
With sub-types distinguished by parking policy goals (especially regarding parking supply)
A “map” of reform options
1. Moderate the conventional suburban approach
Same assumptions but a moderated goal: Avoid excessive wasteful parking supply, not just shortage
For example, King County, Washington, USA: “Right-sizing” of parking requirements to better match local conditions and actual demand
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
http://www.rightsizeparking.org/
A “map” of reform options
2. “Parking management”
Parking is still ‘infrastructure’ but now for whole area
Active management (prices,
eligibility, time-limits, sharing, supply, etc.)
Various goals
Management often favours residents and retailers
Many cities limit parking supply in city centres
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
A “map” of reform options
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
3. Responsive
Parking is a real-estate based service (like meeting rooms) serving each area
Make on-street prices responsive (occupancy target)
Make off-street supply choices responsive to context
Involve very local stakeholders
Source: Shoup, D. The High Cost of Free Parking
A “map” of reform options
Responsive: Donald Shoup’s proposals
i. Price on-street parking for 85% occupancy
ii. Use revenue as desired by local stakeholders
iii. Abolish minimum parking requirements
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
A “map” of reform options
Responsive (de facto) in Japan
Almost no on-street parking
Parking minimums are low and exempt small buildings
Proof of parking law
In inner areas of Japanese cities, most parking is commercial and supply and prices depend primarily on market conditions in each area
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
Adaptive Parking A variation on, and extension of, Donald Shoup’s proposals
Nudge policies along these five reform directions to make your parking system more responsive to local context
Share! (make most parking
shared or open to the public)
Price! (price to prevent queues
and cruising for parking)
Sweeten! (make
stakeholders happy)
Relax! (about supply)
Choice! (improve options
and ensure competition in parking)
For more information see www.reinventingparking.org
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
A promising responsive approach
Adaptive Parking
Share! (make most parking shared or open to the public)
Foster ‘park-once districts’ Discourage
this
Australia
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
A promising responsive approach
Various cities have incentives for parking with buildings to be open to the public
Shared parking, like shared seating
at food courts, is much more efficient
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
A promising responsive approach
San Francisco has an ambitious version (SFPark) but many cities do this to some extent. This is Central Seattle for example.
Adaptive Parking
Price! (price with the aim of preventing queues and cruising for parking) For example, have an on-street OCCUPANCY TARGET
If >>85% full THEN ↑ price
If <<85% full THEN ↓ price
Otherwise no change
See http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/parking/paidparking.htm
Adaptive Parking Sweeten! (make stakeholders happy)
For example, spend local parking revenue very locally
Parking Benefit Districts are one possible mechanism
Singapore
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
A promising responsive approach
Adaptive Parking Despite high car ownership, Japan has very low parking requirements and exempts small buildings
Relax! (about supply)
Many jurisdictions have abolished parking requirements, with little evidence of ill-effects:
For example, England, Berlin, central parts of San Francisco, New York, Boston, Portland and Seattle and city centres in Australia.
http://beta.adb.org/publications/parking-policy-asian-cities
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
A promising responsive approach
Adaptive Parking
Parking options
Alternatives to driving a private car
Counter “my car is necessary” pleas
Choice! (improve options and ensure competition in parking)
Tokyo
Ahmedabad
Sydney
Vienna
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
A promising responsive approach
Adaptive Parking The five reforms directions WORK TOGETHER to make parking systems more responsive
Share! (make most parking
shared or open to the public)
Price! (price to prevent queues
and cruising for parking)
Sweeten! (make
stakeholders happy)
Relax! (about supply)
Choice! (improve options
and ensure competition)
For more information see www.reinventingparking.org
A promising responsive approach Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
A promising responsive approach
1. Build/improve on-street management basics (necessary for all parking policy progress!)
2. Adaptive Parking: make parking prices, supply and
demand more responsive to local context and to each other
3. Then many places can also use parking policy for demand management (where relevant and politically possible,
primarily by constraining supply in transit-rich city centers and sub-centers)
Paul Barter, Reinventing Parking
For more on my parking views see www.reinventingparking.org
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