Parking and Accessibility

Key parking and accessibility concepts are described in the first part of this paper and then a brief discussion on policy environment follows in which parking and accessibility operate today, namely government regulation through local zoning ordinances. Travel demand and parking are compared and contrasted. Parking characteristics are discussed in more detail. A simple parking choice model is proposed, which explicitly addresses tradeoffs between walking distance and parking price. Parking policy is discussed in relation to activity scheduling, accessibility modeling, location and land use. A second model is introduced in the next section that explicitly addresses tradeoffs between maximum walking distance and minimum parking requirements measured in terms of maximum building size, serving as a measure of centrality, density of development, and revealed accessibility. Policy and research recommendations follow the exposition of these complex interrelationships between parking, travel, accessibility and the location of activities across time and space.