Parking at Sporting Event Stadiums in Denver, Colorado

Millions of people in the United States travel by personal automobile to attend professional sports matches played at various stadiums. Engineering and planning publications lack information on parking provisions for major sporting events. The results from this paper on parking outcomes suggest that the current parking provisions are not efficient. This case study examines parking supply, parking utilization, event auto occupancy, and event auto modal share at four major professional sports venues in the Denver, Colorado, region. The percentage of parking supply per parking demand was calculated for several surveyed games in terms of the average attendance, and parking utilization was evaluated during nonevent periods. In general, the surveys of the games indicated that more parking was provided than was necessary, even when attendance was higher than typical. For an event with average attendance, parking utilization was as low as 65%, with 2.2 persons per vehicle. In contrast, when parking occupancy was high, auto occupancy increased to 3.0 persons per vehicle. With such different carpool rates, as well as evidence suggesting that spectators who travel to some facilities are willing to park and walk farther than a half-mile, the results suggest that parking supply and travel behavior are endogenous and should not be treated independently. This study also considered parking occupancy at nonevent times and found whole-scale underutilization, even in downtown locations with great opportunity costs.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.3141/2359-03
• Summary URL:
  http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=Parking+at+Sporting+Event+Stadiums+in+Denver%2c+Colorado&author=A.+Henao&author=W.+Marshall&publication_year=2013
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://www.trb.org/main/blurbs/169697.aspx
• Authors:
  • Henao, Alejandro
  • Marshall, Wesley
• Publication Date: 2013

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 17–26
• Monograph Title: Carsharing; Demand Management; and Parking 2013
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board
  • Issue Number: 2359
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Case studies; Parking; Parking demand; Special events; Stadiums
• Geographic Terms: Denver (Colorado)
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Policy; Public Transportation; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01475765
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 9780309286770
• Report/Paper Numbers: 13-5043
• Files: PRP, TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 15 2013 9:48AM