Transit Oriented Development projects around the country are still facing suburban-style parking requirements.
Reporting from the Rail-Volution Conference in Dallas, Brandon Formby of The Dallas Morning News looks at how parking requirements for projects around mass transit stations have failed to keep pace with actual needs. Formby cites a study led by University of Utah city planning professor Reid Ewing, which looked at actual parking needs and trip counts for a site in Seattle.
Ewing said the development spurred about 37 percent of the vehicle trips per day that the Institute of Transportation Engineers estimated would occur. He said the guidelines estimated that residential parking demand would require 441 spaces during peak periods. [Ewing] said only 278 spaces would satisfy actual demand.
As has been noted in other studies and articles, the end result of providing more parking than needed is an increase in costs for new housing units in TOD projects. "Those costs are, of course, passed on to renters and buyers — even those without vehicles," said Minneapolis land-use manager Jason Wittenberg.
FULL STORY: Are parking requirements and regulations out of touch with today’s world?
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
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Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie