PARKING PROBLEMS

INTRODUCTION
1.1General
One of the problems created by road traffic is parking. Not only do vehicles require street space to move about,
but also do they require space to park where the occupants can be loaded an unloaded. The period over which a
car is parked is very great compared with the time it is in motion. The size of average parking space is 14 m 2. It
is roughly estimated that out of 8760 hours in a year, the car runs on an average for only 400 hours, leaving
8360 hours when it is parked. Every car owner would wish to park the car as closely as possible to his
destination so as to minimize his walking. This results in a great demand for parking space in the CBD and
other areas where the activities are concentrated. With the growing population of motor vehicles, the problem
of parking has assumed serious proportions.

Parking control has become the chief means available to cities all over the world to limit congestion. It
is the enforcement of laws and regulations. Illegally parked cars are seen almost everywhere. Traffic
congestion is like a malignant disease and due to lack of car parking facilities in the centre of cities, land values
tend to fall. The ideal solution would be to rebuild our cities to the requirements of the motor car age. Such
proposals may be included in a long term plan. But motor vehicles must be accommodated urgently otherwise
the consequences may be very serious resulting in the loss of business and property values.

The provision and citing of car parks should be related to the future traffic flow of the roads that will be
carrying traffic to the city or town. The wise sitting of car parks can make it possible to increase the number of
cars that can be parked in a city centre, without causing congestion. When considering the adaptation of city
centers to accommodate the motor car, the pedestrians must also be considered. While cars are permitted to
circulate our city centers, there must be some regulation control which will give the maximum use of the space
available. This will be to the advantage of everyone concerned. Adequate planned and organize car parking is
essential to the life of our cities. The local authorities must be strong minded on this subject. Car parks are not
likely to make big profits as a business house. But adequate car parking is a necessary part of development in a
city centre and without it trade cannot prosper.

One of the problems created by road traffic is parking. Not only do vehicles require street space to move
about, but also do they require space to park where the occupants can be loaded and unloaded. A systematic
study of the parking characteristics and demand and regulatory measures that are possible for controlling

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parking is of great help to a traffic engineer as well as town planner.

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1.2 Effects of Parking

1.2.1 Congestion
One of the serious ill-effects of parking is the loss of street space and the resulting traffic congestions.
The capacity of the streets is reduced, the journey speed drops down and the journey time and delay increase.
The operational cost of vehicles is thereby increased, causing serious economic loss to the community.

Fig 1 – Traffic congestions

1.2.2 Accidents
The maneuvers associated with parking and unparking are known to cause road accidents. Careless opening of
the doors of parked vehicles, moving out of a parked position and bringing a car to he parking location from
the mainstream of traffic are some of the common causes of parking accidents.

Fig 2 – Road Accidents

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1.2.3 Obstruction to Fire Fighting Operations

Parked cars obstruct the movement of fire fighting vehicles and greatly impede their operations. They block
access to hydrants and access to buildings.

Fig 3 - Obstruction to Fire Fighting Operations

1.2.4 Effect on Environment

Parked vehicles degrade the environment of the town centre. Stopping and starting of vehicles result in
noise and fumes. Cars parked into every little available space debase the visual aesthetics and “buildings seems
to rise from a plinth of cars”.

In spite of the above ill-effects, parking has to be allowed on the streets or off the streets close to the
user’s destination. The well being of the community and the town centre demands that great thought should be
bestowed with the parking needs and how best to fulfill them.

Fig 4 – Air Pollution on Environment

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1.3 Need for the Study

Market area is one of the most congested locations in city. High volume of traffic consisting of both
fast and slow moving vehicles is plying through the road. The growth rates are reflected in the growth of
traffic

volume on the roads, thus leading to congestion and subsequent reduction in speed. So it has become necessary to
project the future traffic growth and thereby finding out the requirement of increase in carriage way widths required
to carry this traffic. The parking space provided is not sufficient to meet the parking demand. Hence it is necessary
to conduct a detailed analysis of the traffic characteristics and parking demand of the area.

1.4 Objectives
The objectives of the study are:

1) To study the parking characteristics in Unit-1 market road and to assess whether the demand is met with.

2) Identification of the problems in traffic and parking in Unit-1 market r road.

3) To project the present traffic scenario in Unit-1 market road.

4) To improve the parking facilities utilizing the available infrastructure for meeting the parking demand of
various categories of vehicles.
5) To smoothen the vehicular traffic flow by conducting relevant traffic studies.

1.5 Scope of the study

The scope of the present study is limited to the prediction of traffic volume and parking demand for the
year 2007 for the major roads in Unit-1 market location.

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LITERATURE REVIEWS

2.1 Parking Facilities in General and Some Common Terms

First of all, it is desirable to understand clearly the meanings of certain terms associated with parking.

These terms and their meanings are given below.

1. Parking Accumulation-The total number of vehicles parked in an area at a specified moment. [Fig 5]

Figure 5 - Parking Accumulation Diagram

2. Parking volume - The number of vehicles parked in a particular area over a given period of time. It is
usually measured in vehicles per day.
3. Parking load - The area under the parking accumulation curve during a specified period.

4. Parking duration -The length of time spent in a parking space.

5. Parking index - Percentage of parking bays actually occupied by parked vehicles as compared to the
theoretical number available.

Number of bays occupied x 100

Parking index =
Theoretical number of bays available

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6. Parking turn-over - Rate of the usage of the available parking space. Thus if there were 10 parking
spaces used by 100 vehicles in a period of say 12 hours then the parking turnover would be
100 vehicles per space in a period of 12 hours
=
10

In shopping centers, public places and localities with offices, there may be shortage of parking facilities. Proper
design of parking facilities is essential in such cases. Parking facilities may be broadly divided into two types:

1. On – street or Kerb Parking

2. Off – street Parking

2.1.1 On-street or Kerb Parking

In this type of parking vehicles are parked on the kerb which may be designed for parking. Kerb parking is
quite convenient for those who could find a suitable space to park their vehicles near to the place they wish to
stop, but for others who could not find a parking space it is a problem and often they may have to park their
vehicles at a far off place you know and walk done to destination. Unless kerb parking facility has been
adequately designed in a dance, it might lead to a lot of inconvenience and congestion due to decreased road
capacity.

Angle parking or parallel parking may allowed in the kerb parking. Angle parking mat be at angles 30, 60
or 90 degrees. Angles parking accommodates more vehicles per unit lengh of kerb and maximum vehicles that
can be parked are with an angle of 90 degrees. The width of road required for parking and unparking maneuver
also is more with angle parking and it increase with the parking angle up to a maximum at 90 degree angle.
Angle parking is more convenient for the motorists than parallel parking, but it produces much mo re
obstruction to the through traffic resulting in more accidents than the parallel parking. Out of various angles
used in angle parking, 45 degree angle is considered as the best.

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1. Parallel Parking

Fig 6 - Parallel Parking

2. 30 degree Parking

Fig 7 – 30 degree Parking

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3. 45 degree Parking

Fig 8 – 45 degree Parking

4. 60 degree Parking

Fig 9 – 60 degree Parking

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5. 90 degree Parking

Fig 10 – 90 degree parking

1.1.2 Off-street Parking

On-street parking can only solve a part of the paring problem. For a satisfactory solution various types of
off-street parking facilities are also be considered. The types of off-street facilitates commonly considered are:

 Surface car parks

 Multistoried car parks

 Roof parks

 Mechanical parks

 Underground car parks

A. Surface Car Parks

Surface car parks properly located and developed on a piece of vacant land or surrounding an office
complex or super market is very popular with motorists. Great care is needed in their design and operation. The

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overall aesthetics of the area should receive due attention. A stall size of 2.5 x 5m is probably adequate for
Indian conditions, predominated by small size cars,where as for Amerian conditions 2.6 x 5.5m is
recommended. A variety of layouts is possible depending upon the area. If the surface park is to be operated
with a free charging

system, there should be arrangement for collecting the money. This can be done either manually by
stationing an attendant at the entrance who sells the parking tickets.

Fig 11- Surface car park

B. Multistoreyed Car Parks

Multistoreyed parking garages [Fig. 2.3.2] are restored to when the floor space available for the parking
garage is less and is very costly. It is possible to construct multistorey garages to park a large number of cars at a
time. It is necessary to provide the inter floor travel facility for the vehicles, such as elevators, ramps, etc.

Multistoreyed car parks are designed for a capacity of about 400 to 500 cars. It involves larger capacity
lands to increase the time for unparking a car. Some of the desirable standards for designing of the multistorey
car parks are:

1) Gradient of the ramp: 1 in 10 generally and 1 in 8 for very short ramps

2) Parking stall dimensions: 2.5m x 5m

3) Clear height between floors: 2.1m

4) Inside radius of curves: 7m

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5) Width of traffic lane on ramps and entrances: 3.75m

6) Gradient of slopping floors: not steeper than 1 in 20

7) Loading standards: 400 kg/m2

The arrangement of floors and the access ramps needs careful design. Ramps are preferably made on way. In
case of planning a ‘two way’ system, they should be suitably level floors and direct floor to floor ramps. Another
arrangement is with parking floors themselves continuously sloping to gain access from the level toother
horizontal floors with separate helical entrance and exit ramps have been found to be efficient. The car parking
floors, the ramps, the entrance and the exit should be well illuminated.

Fig 12 - Multistoreyed Car Parking

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C. Roof of Parks

A very popular method of solving the parking problems adopted in many cities is to park the vehicles on
roof tops. Access ramps or mechanical lifts provide the necessary access to roofs. To economies, many roofs
may be linked together served by a single access ramp. In addition to the ramp, extra cost is involved in
designing the roof tops and the structural elements for the parking lots. An extensive system of linked car parks
at roof level, integrated with multi level, integrated with multistore y parking garages is in use.

Fig 13 – Roof car park

D.Underground Car Parks

The great advantage of underground car parks [Fig 2.3.4] is the least intrusion they cause to the
aesthetics of a place. These parks can be built in the basement of any multistorey building or below open
spaces. Since the work involves large quantities of excavation, construction of retaining walls, ventilation and
lighting such car parks tend to be very costly.

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Fig 14 - Underground Parking

1.2 Peripheral Parking Schemes

Since the center of the town is the worst hit by the parking problem, it is natural to think in terms of providing
parking facilities at the periphery of the town and induce the motorists to park there and travel to the busy town
center by some other mode. There are a number of schemes which have be devised to secure the desired
objectives. They are

1. Park and walk

2. Park and ride

1.2.1 Park and Walk

Under this scheme the motorists are included to park at the outskirts of the town and walk down to the town
Centre. The inducement is in the form of lower parking charges at the periphery than at the town cent er or no
parking charges at all. The inducement should be rally attractive if the scheme has to succeed.

1.2.2 Park and Ride

This scheme provide for periphera l parking facilities and public transport side to the destinations in the town
centre. This is an attractive scheme and has been tried with success in many towns. Since the motorist
voluntarily parks his car at the fringe under these schemes, the scheme should be really appealing to him. For
success, the total travel time including parking time, waiting time at the bus stop and travel time by bus should
not be excessively high to make him look at it with disfavor and decide to bring the car to the town Centre in
spite of the high parking charges there. Also, the cost of peripheral parking plus the charges for to and journey
by bus should be less than the cost of travel by his car plus the charges for parking at the town Centre.

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PARKING STUDIES
3.1 General
Parking studies usually are prerequisite to developing new or expanded parking programs. The studies should
be designed to:

1) Inventory of existing parking space supply and measure current levels of space usage (accumulation
and space turn over).
2) Identify salient parking characteristics (duration, purpose, trip destination and walking distances to
destination).
3) Qualify demands and needs.

4) Estimate facility capital and operating costs, usage and revenues.

Cost and revenue estimates can then be compared to assess the financial feasibility of an overall parking
improvement program. The feasibility study should determine:

1) How many spaces are needed under present conditions?

2) How many spaces will be needed under future conditions?

3) Where should additional spaces be located?

4) What type of patrons will they serve (short or long term) and what are their characteristics?

5) What parking rates are realistic?

3.2 Types of Parking Studies

A parking study may be concerned with an individual trip generator or facility, such as a hospital or office
building, or with the entire CBD. It should determine not only where motorists can and do park, but also where

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they would like to park and how there parking practices affect other transportation facilities. Parking studies
provide the data essential to develop programs to meet parking needs.

Full scale, comprehensive parking studies involving extensive data collection through parker interviews and
other means, and detailed analysis provide a sound basis for estimating parking usage and determining
appropriate actions. Comprehensive study generally considered requisite for estimating parking usage and needs
on a block by block basis in large cities. However, parking study costs and complexity can be reduced in
smaller cities where a familiarity with the area and its principal parking generators will often permit reliable
judgments by using a more limited type of study without parking interviews. A limited parking study may rely
on measuring parking usage by hourly accumulation counts of parked vehicles or facility occupancy checks.

3.3 Types of Parking Surveys

The types of parking surveys are usually conducted as follows:

1. Parking Space in inventory

2. Parking Usage Survey by Patrol
3. Questionnaire Type Parking Usage Survey
4. Cordon Count

3.3.1 Parking Space Inventory

The first step in a parking survey is to collect data and amount, type and location of space actually or potentially
available for parking in an area. The area to be surveyed should first delineate. The Central Business District
[CBD] is usually the area where the parking survey is needed. The area surrounding the CBD where the parking
spills over should be included in the survey. The survey area is then subdivided on a street by street basis and
the sub-divisions marked on the map. Sketch plans of the streets are then prepared in advance. The data on
parking facilities should be recorded on the sketch using suitable symbols. The items to be recorded include the
following:

Frequency of patrol: A frequency of half an hour is considered to be satisfactory for On Street Parking
while a frequency of 1 hour could be used Off Street Parking.

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Method of Observation: Usually patrols are by foot, but where vehicles are not parked, too close to one
another a moving car may be also used. As an aid a tape recorded may also be used to record the registration
numbers of vehicles.

Timing of the survey: The survey should be done on a typical weekday free from factors likely to result
in non representative characteristics.

Equipment and form of recording: Each observer will be equipped with a watch, pencil, supply of
forms, a map of the street and a form.

3.3.2 Questionnaire Type Parking Usage Survey

The questionnaire Type Parking usage survey involves interviews with the drivers who use the parking
facilities. As a result it is possible to collect information on the extend to which existing facilities are being
used, the parking requirements at the process existing at the time of survey, the distribution of demand over the
area and time and journey purposes of car parkers. In this interview of actual parkers, the information collected
should include:

1. Address of origin of trip

2. Address of destination of trip

3. Trip purpose

4. Time of arrival at the parking place

5. Time of departure from the parking place

6. Type of parking space used

7. Type of vehicle us

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3.3.3 Cordon Count

In this method, the area to be surveyed is demarcated by a cordon line, which is crossed by the road
emanating from the area. Counting Stations are established at the crossing points and a count is made for all
vehicles entering and leaving the area. The difference between the top traffic gives the number of vehicles
parked and in motion in the area.

3.4 Comprehensive Parking Studies

A comprehensive parking study usually includes interviews to parkers in addition to measurement of

facility usage. The interviews are designed to obtain information on:

 Location where parked

 Trip purpose and frequency

 Primary trip destination

 Length of time parked

 Parking fees paid and

 Distance walked from primary space to primary destination

Determining where parkers desire to park requires interviewing parkers at parking facilities or major trip
generators. The location and extent of the interview sample is prime factor in how comprehensive and
expensive the study will be, and the usefulness of the findings. Postcard questionnaires, trip origin destination
studies and license type surveys are sometime used to collect information, although direct parker interviewing is
the most common and reliable method.

Interviews of employees and visitors at major trip generators can provide ancillary information relative
to household characteristics, travel modes and attitudes, and pedestrian flows. They also allow parking and trip
generation to be correlated with particular type of land uses.
The comprehensive parking study is designed to appraise trends in parking space used, identifying any special parking
problems and provide a sound basis for planned actions and feasibility analysis. It normally provides information on the

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capacity and use of existing parking facilities, characteristics of parking, location and extends of parking demand, the influence
of major traffic and parking generators, future parking needs, adequacy of existing laws and ordinances, limitations of
administrative responsibility and financial capabil

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4. Land Use Survey

4.1General
Parking mainly depends upon the land-use pattern. According to the land uses, the parking accumulation
may vary. So, in order to obtain the parking demand model, different land use variables should be considered.
But, these variables vary from place to place.

Shopping centers attract more people towards them than most other land-uses. But, the parking
requirements of different Commercial centers are not the same. They vary from one to one. Some Commercial
Centre attracts more customers to it. Subdivision of Commercial center and offices were taken for the analysis.
Commercial centers are classified into two. They are Customer attractive Commercial centers and Non-
customer attractive Commercial centers.

The nature of the Commercial Centre was decided by making observations at the particular site for 1
hour. Commercial Centre in which more than 5 customers visited within 1 hour was taken as Customer
attractive Commercial Centre; otherwise it was taken as Non-customer attractive Commercial Centre. Shops
like textiles attracted more customers whereas in Beauty Parlous, Printing shops etc. customers were less. The
table 4.1 shows the types of shops considered for this study.

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SUMMARY

Our focus should be the solution of parking problem, strong economy and healthy environment of the city. In

Kota, special authority called as Traffic and Transportation authority is required at city level Kota. There are

lots of solutions, some are short term and some are long term basis but we need to work on the basis of long

term plan and at the same time take care of discomforts or problems. We need the authority that can look after

the construction and development of roads, flyovers, intersections, pedestrian facilities etc. The authority should

make master plans for inner, middle and outer roads which will help us in reducing the traffic congestion and

accidents in the central areas. Promoting the use of bicycles in the city, we can comfortably use the bicycle in

travelling. So this mode needs to be promoted in the city among the coaching students. We need to improve our

road maps, zebra crossings, Parking lots, directions, road markings etc.

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LITERATURE SURVEY

1. Donald Shoup(2005) The matter of parking is largely taken for granted, until you’re circling the block
looking for that elusive space. Even for many transportation professionals and urban planners, parking tends
to be little more than an afterthought. But a major new treatise by UCLA professor Donald Shoup makes a
strong case for more attention to parking
2. Todd Litman(2011) Parking management refers to various policies and programs that result in more efficient
use of parking resources.
3. Susan Shaheen , Adam Cohen , Ismail Zohdy (2014) This primer provides an introduction and background
to shared mobility; discusses the government’s role; reviews success stories; examines challenges, lessons
learned, and proposed solutions; and concludes with guiding principles for public agencies.
4. Dimitris Milakis, Bart van Arem & Bert van Wee(2017) In this paper, the potential effects of automated
driving that are relevant to policy and society are explored, findings discussed in literature about those effects
are reviewed and areas for future research are identified.

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REFERENCES
1. Shoup, D. (2005). The high cost of free parking. American planning association.

2. Litman, T. (2011). Parking management best practices. Victoria Transport Policy Institute.

3. Benenson, I., & Martens, K. (2012). Parking policies and their effects on urban transport. Transport
Reviews, 32(1), 89-108.

4. Milakis, D., van Arem, B., & van Wee, B. (2017). Policy implications of autonomous vehicles for cities: A
review. Journal of Transport and Land Use, 10(1), 1-23.

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