Trip generation in parking lots: the case of downtown Niterói, Brazil

The aim of this article is to establish trip generation equations and rates based on usage of parking lots located in central city areas, based on the traditional method adopted by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), employing data gathered at 29 private parking facilities open to the public in downtown Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. The results found are consistent with the statistics found and the parameters established in the relevant literature. Besides this, we established relations between the trip generation rates and variable those influence them, such as percentage of rotating spaces, average parking time and parking facility size. These results contribute to the formulation of parking policies that are more adequate and compatible with transportation modalities that are less environmentally aggressive without impairing the vitality of the socioeconomic activities in downtown areas.