THE IMPACT ON COMMUTERS OF A RESIDENTIAL PARKING PERMIT PROGRAM. A CASE STUDY

This report is the first empirical assessment of the impact of a residential parking permit program. The case study describes a parking permit program in Alexandria, Virginia, a small central business area and a close suburb of Washington, D.C. More than forty communities in the U.S. have adopted such programs intended to grant residents of certain neighborhoods special on-street parking privileges, and to limit on-steet parking by all others. Neighborhoods where such parking policies have been adopted typically have suffered from parking shortages or other traffic-related problems. Designers of these programs hope to reduce congestion, improve air quality, encourage transit usage, expand the parking supply for residents, and maintain the residential quality of life in a neighborhood. Based on the initial response in Alexandria, Olsson and Miller suggest a number of hypotheses which should be tested: (1) Residential parking restrictions alone will encourage few single- occupant auto drivers to use transit or carpools. (2) Significant numbers of autos will be moved to off-street facilities. (3) Significant numbers of auto drivers will continue to park in the area and move their cars from one space to another to conform to the time limits. (4) Residents will increase their use of cars. (Urban Institute)

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This abstract appeared in the Urban Institute Publications in Urban Affairs.
• Corporate Authors:

  Urban Institute

  2100 M Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20037
• Authors:
  • Olsson, M L
  • Miller, G K
• Publication Date: 1979

Media Info

• Pagination: 27 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air pollution; Business districts; Carpools; Central business districts; Incentives; Licenses; Parking regulations; Public transit; Residential areas; Suburbs; Traffic congestion; Utilization
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Research; Safety and Human Factors; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00324481
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: URI No. 27900
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 21 1981 12:00AM