Vehicle Parking and Sustainability

Dear Colleagues,

Parking is an understudied dimension of the built environment that helps to determine development patterns, mode choices, housing costs, and the price of retail goods. It is a critical element of Travel Demand Management, along with Density, Diversity, Design, Destination accessibility, and Distance to transit. Yet, due to a lack of comprehensive data on parking supplies and prices and parking demands, the effects of parking are not nearly as well-understood as those of the other D variables. Recent research has shown that parking is often oversupplied (relative to peak demand) and parking supplies themselves affect automobile ownership and thereby create their own demands. On the other hand, there is evidence that parking demands can be dramatically reduced by increasing the other Ds (except for distance to parking, which has the reverse effect). Mixed-use development typically requires less parking than the same developments as single, segregated uses due to the ability of mixed uses to share parking at different times of day. Transit-oriented development also requires less parking due to mode shifts away from the automobile. Pricing can also reduce demand, such as when parking fees are unbundled from rents in multifamily developments or when commercial establishments begin charging employees and patrons for parking. An estimated 95 percent of commercial parking in the United States is free. Let it suffice to say that the main source of current parking supply and demand data, the Institute of Transportation Engineers’ Parking Generation manual, is woefully inadequate for dealing with anything other than free suburban parking. There are many interesting design decisions regarding parking supplies, most notably whether parking occurs in surface lots or parking structures, whether parking lots are attractively landscaped and have pervious surfaces, and how parking structures are designed to have active frontages. There are also parking issues regarding on-street parking, as illustrated in the best-selling book The High Costs of Free Parking. Current and future parking demands are being affected by technological changes. There is some preliminary evidence that car-sharing and ride-hailing services (transportation network companies (TNCs), such as Uber and Lyft) are reducing the need for parking in downtowns, at airports, and in multifamily development projects. However, they may also be adding to parking demands if they induce TNC drivers to purchase vehicles for their businesses. The advent of autonomous vehicle technology could have significant effects on parking demands. It depends on whether they are owned individually or collectively, and how they are deployed between pickups. This special issue is interested in all things parking-related, and all parking issues and innovations around the world. We have suggested a few potential topics above, but are receptive to other subjects regarding parking. Interested parties are asked to submit abstracts to the lead editor by August 1, 2019. Authors of selected abstracts will be notified by August 31, 2019 and asked to prepare full papers for peer review by November 1, 2019. Final decisions on the Special Issue’s content will be made by December 31, 2019. Any questions should be directed to the lead editor. 

Prof. Reid Ewing
Mr. Torrey Lyons
Mr. Sadegh Sabouri
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• Parking Generation
• Parking Supplies
• Parking Demands
• Parking Demand Management
• Impervious Surfaces
• Shared and Autonomous Vehicles
• Ride-Hailing Services