Around and Around They Go

Where they will end up parking, nobody knows.

The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) is encouraging the reduction of parking availability. This is one way buildings in Australia can earn a “green” rating by the GBCA.

According to GBCA, “Credits reward the reduction of demand for individual cars by both discouraging car commuting and encouraging use of alternative transportation.”

As you can see, the wording is kept vague. Presumably the GBCA is attempting to reduce emissions, although they do not state that explicitly. The theory is that if there is not enough parking, people will choose public transportation. Or maybe they will ride a bike, change jobs or stay home?

Although I respect the overall efforts of the GBCA, I would suggest that the theory – reduced parking availability leads to reduced emissions – is not based on proven fact, however. The assumption is that the person who would have parked in the space will choose not to drive the vehicle to the destination once that particular space is no longer available. I challenge this assumption. Is it possible that reduced parking availability could actually increase emissions as people drive around and around looking for that elusive parking space?

Cristina Lynn of Parking Consultants, based near Sydney, Australia, says similar habits are already apparent, when it comes to the search for free parking.

“The issue of cruising to find available parking is a big problem on street, as often drivers would rather drive around the same block a few times looking for a free space on the street rather than paying for parking in a car park,” says Lynn.

We are talking about human nature. Even if spaces are limited, many drivers will still believe that they will be the one to find that last available parking space.

Cristina Lynn also agrees that availability of parking supply does not necessarily impact parking demand.

“I believe that the ratings relating to the minimization of parking supply are not actually addressing the issue of parking demand, which is affected, amongst other things, by what alternatives are available to people driving to work etc.,” Lynn points out.

The bottom line is that we need some concrete evidence that less available parking actually reduces the number of vehicles, with a resulting reduction in emissions, before we start asking urban areas or even particular buildings to reduce the number of available parking spaces.

The studies are there -- people cruise an average of five to seven minutes looking for a low cost or free parking space. It seems like that backs up the position that lowering the number of spaces doesn't really help.