Planning and design for parking

Parking has an important role to play in providing road transport services, since without appropriate parking, drivers cannot store their vehicles before participating. The historical development of traffic systems was such that parking was initially provided on the roadway, which contained spare capacity. This type of parking is referred to as on street parking. Once parking is taken from the street, and a parking area is used for storing vehicles, this is referred to as off street parking. Private off street parking ranges in size from a house owner's garage to large industrial, commercial or residential parking structures. Public off street parking facilities can provide an interface with specialised activities, such as district shopping centres, or satisfy more general purposes. This section covers aspects of both on street and off street parking, including: parking demand; supply of parking; parking policy; on street parking design; off street parking design; rural parking; parking and the environment; advisory signs; and assistance by models (A).