❮ Projects page Clean Air Council

Spatial Analysis Project:

Clean Air Council seeks to evaluate current parking policies and if they affect traffic, congestion, and mode choice. Currently, Philadelphia has parking minimums for new development projects, and residential permit parking only streets where permits cost minimal money. This incentivizes driving as a mode choice. In its commercial core, Philadelphia has a congestion problem partially caused by too few loading zones for passenger pick up/drop off, particularly with the rise of TNC’s, and too few delivery zones for trucks. Drivers also add to congestion while circling through dense, congested areas looking for parking. The project would conduct an analysis of current center city parking and traffic policy: additional loading zones, dynamic parking pricing, reducing parking minimums on new development and changing parking permit fees. The project should determine if these policies reduce mode choice or relieve congestion and if so by how much.

Data available:

The following datasets can be used to support this project:

• Census Transportation Planning Package which shows commuter’s origin, destination, and mode by census tract.
• Public transit locations to establish which census tracts are within a walk shed of a public transportation option.
• Existing loading zone locations.
• Parking violations issued by PPA.
• Existing parking availability and demand at different times of day.
• Center city congestion data.
• A number of other parking related data sets that may be helpful to this project are available through Parkadelphia.
• Multiple behavioral/economic studies, and results from other cities’ policies changes to understand changes in behavior based on pricing and policy changes.

Maps and Reports that will be created:

The report would analyze existing parking policies and quantify their effect on mode choice and congestion. The report should include maps and statistics that answer these questions and make the case to policymakers.

• Where are additional loading zones needed in center city and are there correlations with congestion? (based on congestion data and parking violations)
• How would reducing or eliminating the minimum parking policy for development near transit affect mode choice? (based on comparisons of commute data dependent on current off-street parking volume and proximity to transit)
• How would changing the fee structure for permit parking affect multiple vehicle ownership, is there a correlation between mode choice, vehicle ownership, and permit parking?

How the maps and reports will be used:

The report and the maps that go along with it will be used to build public support for parking policies, work with the city’s transportation office, and inform city council about the benefits the parking solutions will have by reducing pollution and congestion. This analysis will also be used to build local support of RCOs to support these policies in their neighborhoods. Data will illustrate an array of parking solutions enabling the Council to approach city representatives and lawmakers with specific parking reform policies that address parking issues specific to individual districts as well as Philadelphia as a whole. Maps and reports can also be used as a guideline for future city plans and as a catalyst for more in-depth review and analysis of a specific parking reform.