Parking: It's Not Just About the Ratios Anymore

For decades, parking requirements for retail-commercial developments have been driven primarily by two constituencies, both trying to estimate what the consumer actually wants and needs: government regulators, guided by public interests, and retailers seeking to maximize profit and convenience for customers. Unfortunately, both groups have tended to believe that those two goals are mutually exclusive when they are, in fact, totally congruent. Traditional parking ratios have generally been based on attempts to model the need for parking based on the assumption that it must always accommodate the highest or peak parking demand. Government agencies did not want traffic and on-street parking to become an issue on peak demand days and retailers did not want to turn away customers. Those ideas have evolved over time, and recently, in some cases, have been turned on their heads. Retailers particularly have begun to consider the marginal costs of providing each space versus the likelihood of turning away a customer due to lack of parking.

Those involved in the design of shopping centers have postulated for years that parking demands may be more “art” than “science,” but modern methods of studying parking use have greatly improved our ability to get it right.