Roadway Capacity Related to Curb-Parking Maneuver

Of all the factors that hinder the flow of traffic on the roadway, parking is perhaps the most important. In addition to the reduction of roadway width due to providing the parking lane, the most obvious effect of parking is that of the parking maneuver. Accordingly, the objectives of this study were to determine the total vehicle delay and subsequent roadway capacity reductions due to a single curb-parking maneuver. In approaching the objectives, the movements of traffic reacting to a parking maneuver were identified, and procedures were established for determining the delay encountered during a parking movement. The effects of the maneuver on the approaching vehicles were determined in time delay and were applied to the capacity of the roadway, depending upon where the parking maneuver occurred. A computer program was developed and used in example application. The study result indicated that the parking maneuver has a significant effect on the capacity of a section of roadway.