Chapter 16: On-Street Parking

To overview the gamut of issues that on-street parking impacts in mixed-use centers including: parking demand, land use, vehicle speed, road safety, the pedestrian environment, and travel behaviors.

In addition to reviewing existing literature, the following two case studies are presented. The first study explores the impact in centers built before the advent of parking regulations as compared to more contemporary, conventional developments. The second study investigates how street design factors affected vehicle speeds and safety, based on a study of over 250 roads.

On-street parking typically: serves the highest demand; is efficient in terms of land use and cost; induces lower vehicle speeds; increases safety on low-speed streets; enhances walkability; and fosters less driving, more pedestrian activity, and increased vitality.

On-street parking is one piece of a larger puzzle of complementary factors that influence issues such as travel behavior and safety, and therefore, it is difficult to isolate. On-street parking plays a crucial role in helping create places that are walkable, require less parking, and have more vitality. On-street parking is not purely a device to be used in the right environment; rather, it is a tool to help create that right environment.

Prevailing thought on the subject of on-street parking has shifted back-and-forth for generations, in part because most studies focus on one or two impacts. This chapter takes a more comprehensive approach in order to increase our understanding of on-street parking in mixed-use, commercial centers.