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PROJECT DETAILS

Project Type
UTRC Research Initiative
Project Dates
04/01/2011 - 11/30/2013
Principal Investigators
Institution
Project Status
Complete

Research of urban parking policies has tended to center on the impact of policy interventions in central business districts and commercial areas, overlooking parking policies that affect a resident’s home, where most journeys begin. In particular, research has overlooked the relationships between residential parking policies, development and travel behavior. This research proposes to study the impact of residential parking policies, and explores developer behavior with respect to parking requirements and residence-based auto ownership and travel behavior in New York City. Residential parking policies can generally be broken into two types: off-street parking regulation, which requires developers of new construction to provide a minimum number of off-street parking spaces as a ratio of units constructed, and curbside parking regulations, which include residential permit parking, restrictions for street cleaning and parking supply levels up to the spatial limit of the curb. In New York City, the Department of City Planning (DCP) determines off-street regulation and defines these minimums while also specifying certain waivers for some smaller developments. Curbside regulations, in contrast, are determined by the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT), although enabling legislation is required by the New York State legislature for residential parking permits. The proposed research evaluates these policies from two perspectives: 1. How developers respond to the off-street minimum parking requirements in terms of the quantity and type of parking provided, and 2. How residents respond to off-street parking supplies in terms of their car ownership, mode choice, and vehicle miles traveled. The goal is to understand the performance of current residential parking policies, and, if warranted, suggest improvements with the objective of reducing auto dependence, road congestion, carbon emissions and other externalities of urban auto travel. The research methodology is qualitative and quantitative involving focus groups and a survey of developers and a household survey of residents. The developer focus groups and survey will explore the nuances of parking decisions in the development process and how developers respond to parking minimum and maximum requirements. The resident survey focuses on individual and household travel decisions controlling for availability of parking as the main object of study.

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