Parking and Curbside Management

Parking demand far exceeds supply in city centers and commercial streets. Unregulated parking tends to push into inappropriate spaces, blocking sidewalks, cycle lanes, and through-traffic lanes. By providing designated space for critical

curbside uses, such as freight loading, and by placing a value on general vehicle parking, cities create a regulated market for parking. A combination of purpose-based zones, time limits, and pricing can make parking and loading

significantly less timeconsuming, improving safety for all users and reducing lane blockages while freeing large portions of the streetscape for valuable public space uses.

Pricing

Metered Parking
Allow a price to be assigned for the use of curbside space by vehicles.

Multispace Parking Meters or Pay-by-Phone Parking
Increase the capacity of the curb compared to designating fixed curbside spaces.

Time-of-Day Parking Pricing
Reduce the number of vehicles cruising for parking, and the time spent by drivers doing so, by charging higher rates during the highest-demand periods of the day or week.

Zones and Designated Spaces

Transit Stops
Construct boarding bulbs or boarding islands to reduce dwell time and permit the use of longer buses on small streets. They also allow the construction of higher-floor stations. See the NACTO Transit Street Design Guide.

Long-distance buses dwell for longer periods and require more curbside space. Design to provide more sidewalk space for passengers waiting and boarding.

Loading Zones
Allow taxis, freight, and other private vehicles to load or unload in designated spaces without blocking through motor vehicle, cycle, and transit traffic. Loading zones are especially important near large stores and markets, as well as on streets with commercial activity such as neighborhood main streets and central city streets, and streets with transit routes. Freight loading zones are exclusive to trucks and other delivery vehicles. Truck layover zones, usually in industrial districts, allow curbside use for several hours or overnight.

Taxi Stands
Provide curb space for taxis to queue while waiting to pick up passengers. These can be valuable near major destinations and transit stations to organize taxi hailing.

Vending Zones
Permit vendors using food truck or retail stalls at designated spaces and times of the day. These can be implemented as single stalls, or in long corridors to create a market street.

Car Share Zones
Encourage the use of car sharing to help discourage car ownership.

District-Wide Initiatives

Downtown No-Parking Districts
Reduce vehicle travel to central civic and employment areas that are well-served by transit, walking, and cycling facilities by completely eliminating parking within the district.

Permit Parking
Provide residents of blocks or districts with parking permits, capping parking demand on neighborhood streets, making it easier for residents to find parking spaces, and reducing the use of vehicles for neighborhood-to-neighborhood travel.