Parking Facility Layout: Level-of-Service Approach

The primary function of a parking facility is to serve its users in an efficient and convenient manner. The basic objective of this study is to establish a method of measuring parking efficiency of individual facilities, based on the level-of-service concept. It is felt that the approach in this study will standardize the facility service satisfaction to the parker and thus furnish general guidance for the preliminary design and evaluation of parking facilities. In approaching this objective the study identifies and evaluates a group of principal variables which exert significance on parking service provided by parking facilities. The variable investigation indicated that availability and flow/capacity ratio are the most prominent parameters, and therefore, are included in the derived method for designating the level of service of parking facilities. Finally, a feedback analysis is made to balance the design of parking layout considering both quantitative and qualitative factors. This study identifies a group of principal variables influencing the service level provided by a typical parking facility.