Parking Studies

Parking studies are undertaken to assess existing parking demand and operating conditions, to project future parking requirements or to develop parking policies and regulations.

Parking surveys form a critical component of most parking studies and typically include both an inventory of parking supply and observing parking demand by time of day, otherwise known as parking accumulation surveys.

Additional parking studies may involve parking duration or turnover studies, which determine the frequency of turnover that a parking space has.

Parking studies also often examine the existing and projected parking demand with the use of land use specific parking rates. The objective of a parking rate is to ensure that an adequate amount of parking is provided to meet the needs of the users while not over providing parking, which represents a significant use of land and construction costs. The key objective of a parking study is often to find an appropriate balance in the parking supply while accommodating future requirements.