Royal Parking Blog

Why Structured Parking Systems Matter More Than Ever

The growth of vehicles competing for limited available space in the same residential towers, commercial buildings or mixed-use developments create the basis for most parking challenges.

While some parking lots may be vacant at different times of the day, adjacent streets may be congested with parked vehicles. Urban planners refer to this as an imbalance in parking supply.

In this blog post, we will explain why parking inefficiency develops, how it contributes to traffic congestion, why local governments are increasing their restrictions on building additional parking, and how structured parking management solutions can improve the efficiency of using your current parking spaces.

Table of Contents

Parking Is Often Empty at the Wrong Time

As city density increases, the problem is typically not just finding space to park your car in an urban area.

The bigger challenge is how parking is allocated through-out the day.

As buildings create parking demands at various times of the day, i.e., residential, office, and retail, parking demand can be inconsistent. This creates instances where there are available parking spots but those spots are not being used when needed most.

Examples include:

• Residents of a building have a large amount of parking available when they leave their homes for work during the day
• At the same time, nearby office workers or retail customers will be looking for parking space for their employees or themselves during the day

Researchers identified examples of individual buildings having between 50-140 vacant parking spaces in the area; however, nearby streets were at capacity.

Planners refer to this condition as an urban “parking supply imbalance,” which means:

• Some parking lots are fully occupied
• Whereas other parking areas in the vicinity are not being utilized

While the issue may not be the amount of total parking, rather the issue is how parking supply is being managed and distributed among various users and at different times of the day.

Better parking management can solve the parking supply problem. Learn more, by clicking here.

The Recommended Solution from Urban Planning Research

Research into urban planning shows that there is a lot of opportunity to better utilize current parking spaces as long as they are shared with other people or used at different hours of the day.

There are two strategies to achieve this:

Alternate-Schedule Parking

Two nearby businesses share the same parking spots but at different times.

Example:

An office building has a lot of available parking spots in the evenings after all its employees leave for the day. Instead of creating additional parking, it can allow a restaurant or retail store located near the office to utilize these parking spots during the night.

Mixed-Use Buildings

Some buildings offer a combination of residential living and retail/office space.

Example:

A building with a mix of uses (such as retail on the bottom floor and apartments on the upper floors) has a number of empty parking spaces in the morning hours since retail customers are shopping and many of the parking spots are reserved for residents who are working.

Using these parking spots for retail shoppers in the daytime and then for apartment dwellers at night allows one group to utilize the parking spot and also allows the other group to utilize the parking spot; rather than the parking spots remaining unoccupied.

To learn how to create more efficient parking allocations through better parking allocation practices, click here.

How Royal Parking Applies This Recommended Solution

Royal Parking helps properties use all of their existing parking spaces more effectively through the combination of structured parking management and Appway Park’s digital parking platform.

Many buildings have parking spaces that remain empty due to difficulty in managing access and/or unclear communication about availability. The spaces may be reserved but the status is not clearly communicated, or the spaces are not made available to the right people (e.g., tenants/visitors) during the correct hours of the day.

Appway Park solves these types of issues by enabling the digital registration and management of parking spaces.

With Appway Park:

• Drivers can scan a QR code on a space and register their vehicle using their mobile device
• Property Managers can restrict and manage which individuals can park and at what times
• Parking spaces can be allocated to different users at different times of the day.

For example:

• A residential building may permit retail customers to register as a visitor to use residential parking spaces during daytime hours when most residential tenant spaces are vacant; in the evenings, the same spaces revert to being used by residents.

Rather than having parking spaces go unutilized and causing street congestion near the property, Royal Parking enables the property to utilize these previously underused parking spaces.

Using a combination of structured parking management and digital tools such as Appway Park, Royal Parking enables properties to improve parking utilization and provide better access to residents, customers, and visitors.

Find out how Royal Parking helps property owners maximize the potential of their parking spaces by clicking here.

Why Cities Are Limiting New Parking Construction

Cities are using capping as a second type of parking strategy.

Cities have an option to cap (limit) the number of parking spots that can be developed. As such, developers and property owners will now make better use of their existing parking instead of developing new parking facilities.

This is driven by economic factors.

Building new parking lots is very costly. For example, the cost of building one parking lot in most urban areas can range from $20,000 to $60,000 per space, especially in downtown areas where underground parking is needed.

There is also an opportunity cost when parking is not being utilized. These include:

• Land that was previously available for housing
• Space that could be used for businesses
• Capital that could be utilized elsewhere

These factors have caused urban planners to shift from building new parking facilities to utilizing existing parking spaces more effectively.

Find out how Royal Parking assists your property with adapting to cities that are limiting new parking development here.

Evaluating Capped Parking Through a Cost–Benefit Perspective

One option to analyze Capped Parking Policies is to do an Economic Cost-Benefit Analysis. This is where you look at the cost and the results of different alternatives, and compare them in order to see what is going to produce the greatest economic efficiency.

Option 1: Building More Parking

Costs:

• High construction costs per parking stall
• Long development timelines with required permitting
• Land and capital that could be used for other investments

Benefits:

• Additional parking supply

Option 2: Maximizing the Use of Existing Parking

Costs:

• Implementation of a parking management service

Benefits:

• More efficient utilization of existing parking capacity
• Less congestion caused by drivers looking for parking space
• Better access for customers and visitors
• Avoidance of expensive parking construction

Results:

In general, managing your existing parking supply will have less of a cost to implement and will make greater use of the resources available than building additional capacity.

How Royal Parking Helps Properties Adapt

Royal Parking can help property owners manage their current parking resources (as opposed to adding more) with its structured parking management and digital solutions such as AppWayPark.

The cost/benefit rationale is very simple:

• It is more cost effective to manage your current parking than it is to build additional parking.
• Royal Parking will provide this service through structured parking management and digital tools such as AppWayPark.

In practice, Royal Parking can assist property owners in the following ways:

• By providing clear, enforceable parking space management
• Making parking easy for those who should be able to utilize it
• Ensuring consistency in how parking spaces are utilized during a given time period

Through better organization and monitoring of parking access, Royal Parking can help property owners maximize the utilization of their current parking inventory while minimizing the need for costly new parking construction.

Find out how Royal Parking can help you better manage your parking here.

Searching for Parking Creates Congestion

Another issue with densely populated cities is the amount of time drivers have to spend searching for a parking spot.

Urban planners generally refer to this problem as “cruising for parking” behavior, in which drivers are circulating around city blocks searching for curbside parking spaces.

Studies show that as much as 30% of urban traffic may be due to drivers searching for parking spaces.

When curbside parking is scarce, drivers will commonly search from one block to another creating unnecessary traffic on congested streets.

This type of driving behavior contributes to:

• additional traffic
• extended travel times
• increased emissions
• risk of distracted driving

The effects of cruising for parking are particularly concerning when there is nearby off street parking, yet drivers are still circling the city block in search of a curb-side parking space.

See how organized parking systems can help alleviate the problems caused by cruising for parking and traffic congestion by visiting here.

How Royal Parking Helps Reduce Cruising for Parking

For Property Managers; “Cruising” for parking is a problem that can cause:

• Congestion around the property
• Frustrated visitors/customer
• Underutilized parking spaces inside the building

Royal Parking helps eliminate some of this frustration with its ability to make parking access clearer and easier to both manage and use.

With Structured Parking Management along with Digital Tools like Appway Park, parking availability is made clear for authorized users so that they do not have to go looking for a parking space on adjacent streets.

This eliminates much of the congestion and makes parking more efficient.

To learn more about how Royal Parking can help eliminate congestion and improve parking efficiency, click here.

Bottom Line

Many of the parking issues that exist in urban cities result from the way parking is organized and utilized.

Cities continue to put limits on the amount of new parking construction, so it is recommended for property managers to better utilize their current parking space through structured parking management technologies such as Appway Park, to improve parking usage and decrease congestion in front of their buildings.

For cities with high population densities, effective parking management tools are crucial to ensure optimal efficiency.

Glossary

Parking Supply Imbalance

A situation where parking spaces exist but are not used efficiently. Some parking areas may sit empty while nearby streets appear full.

Structured Parking Management

A system for organizing and managing parking through clear rules, enforcement, and digital tools so parking spaces are used more efficiently.

Alternate-Schedule Parking

A parking strategy where the same parking spaces are used by different groups at different times of the day. For example, office parking used during the day and restaurant parking used in the evening.

Mixed-Use Buildings

Buildings that combine different uses such as residential units, offices, and retail spaces. These buildings often generate parking demand at different times throughout the day.

Capped Parking

A policy used by some cities that limits the number of new parking spaces that can be built. This encourages properties to use existing parking more efficiently instead of building more parking infrastructure.

Cruising for Parking

When drivers circle streets searching for an available parking space. This behavior can increase traffic congestion and travel time.

Parking Utilization

A measure of how much a parking area is being used. Higher utilization means more parking spaces are actively in use.

Appway Park

A digital parking platform that allows drivers to register parking using their phone while enabling property managers to control and organize parking access.

References

Graham, Devon & Sarraf, Satish & Lundy, Taylor & MohammadMehr, Ali & Uppal, Sara & Lee, Tae & Zarkoob, Hedayat & Kominers, Scott & Leyton-Brown, Kevin. (2020). Smarter Parking: Using AI to Identify Parking Inefficiencies in Vancouver. 10.48550/arXiv.2003.09761.

Abbott, Neal & Bigazzi, Alexander. (2017). Utilizing Shared Parking to Mitigate Imbalanced Supply in a Dense Urban Neighborhood: Case Study in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. 2651. 92-100. 10.3141/2651-10.