Traffic Study Solve Insufficient Parking Spaces EXE Summary

Traffic and Transport Committee, Central and Western District Council To explore ways to solve the problem of insufficient parking spaces Executive Summary September 2019

Traffic and Transport Committee Central and Western District Council

To explore ways to solve the problem of insufficient parking spaces

Executive Summary

September 2019

TABLE OF CONTENT

1. Introduction............................................................................... 1

2. Objectives of the Assignment ......................................................... 1

3. Study Area................................................................................. 1

4. Parking Demand Survey ................................................................ 2

5. Parking Conditions....................................................................... 3

6. Behaviour of Motorist ................................................................... 4

7. Ways to Address Parking Problem .................................................... 4

8. Measures to Increase Parking Supply in Central & Western District ........... 5

9. Way Forward.............................................................................. 5

LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 – Study Area and Boundary of Traffic Zones Figure 2 – Locations of Proposed Parking Space

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1. Introduction

1.1 The problem of insufficient parking spaces in the Central and Western (C&W) District were discussed several times at The Traffic and Transport Committee (T&TC) meetings of Central and Western District Council. In the T&TC on 9 November 2017, C&W District Council decided to commission a consultant to explore ways to solve the problem of insufficient parking spaces in the C&W District.

1.2 On 9 November 2018, HWSPB was commissioned by the C&W District Council under a traffic study to explore ways to solve the problem of insufficient parking spaces (hereinafter called this Assignment).

1.3 This Assignment investigated the parking demand in C&W District for various types of vehicles including commercial vehicle and to collate relevant parking demand and supply data for the analysis and assessment of 2018 base year and 2026 design year parking supply and demand.

2. Objectives of the Assignment

2.1 The objectives of the Assignment are to:

a. review the utilisation rate of parking spaces for different types of vehicles during different time slots within the Study Area;

b. assess the 2018 base year and 2026 design year parking supply and demand during different time slots within the Study Area in the C&W District;

c. explore and propose practical solutions to the problem of insufficient parking spaces in the C&W District.

3. Study Area

3.1 The Study Area covers the C&W District with Central Business District (CBD), Non-CBD and The Peak area. Since there are major differences in the parking demand characteristics of CBD / Non-CBD and The Peak areas, the targeted survey period and analysis approach are tailor made for each area contains smaller traffic zones within the C&W District, these traffic zonings are disaggregated based on the zoning systems used by Planning Department. The Study Area and traffic zonings are shown in Figure 1.

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4. Parking Demand Survey

4.1 The parking demand survey are well planned to collect data for analysing the parking conditions and for the validation and building of parking demand model. The parking surveys are conducted at most of the parking facilities and road network in the C&W District under day-/night-time for different types of parked vehicles.

4.2 Basically, two main types of parking characteristics are studied in this Assignment: day-time and night-time parking demand to reflect the usage-related parking activity and ownership-related parking activity respectively. The usage-related parking demand generally refers to day-time trips at non-home end while ownership-related parking demand refers to the essentiality of the car owners to park their cars when not in use.

4.3 The parking demand survey covered four main categories of vehicles including private cars (i.e. private cars, taxis and van-type goods vehicle), goods vehicles, non-franchised bus and motorcycles.

4.4 According to Transport Planning and Demand Manual (TPDM) published by Transport Department (TD), a vehicle performing any of the following activities are not considered as parking:

◆ the vehicles form part of a traffic stream waiting to move, or

◆ the vehicle is waiting standing temporarily for the purpose of engaging in loading or unloading or picking up or setting down passenger activities, or

◆ the vehicle is involved in an accident or stopped by a law enforcement officer, or

◆ the vehicle is an emergency service vehicle on duty (e.g. fire service appliance, ambulance etc.).

4.5 Observation surveys have been conducted for this Assignment using moving (patrol) observers or in-vehicle patrol survey, undertaking surveys along pre-determined survey routes to capture the parking level, location and type of vehicles.



4.6 The weekday survey periods are in accordance with TPDM while the Sunday survey for The Peak area has been agreed throughout this Assignment:

Survey Period (between)

0930~1230 1100~1300 1430~1630 0000~0500

Central Business District

✓ Weekday [Usage-related]

-✓ Weekday

[Usage-related] -

Non-Central Business District

- -✓ Weekday

[Usage-related] ✓ Weekday

[Ownership-related]

The Peak -✓ Sunday

[Usage-related] - -

4.6.1 In addition to the parking level survey, questionnaire surveys have also been conducted to capture the behaviour of motorists including:

◆ Distance between car park and the destination;

◆ Behaviour of using latest information technology; and,

◆ Preference on Park-and-Ride.

5. Parking Conditions

5.1 For day-time usage-related parking, the parking supply considers public parking spaces. Majority of public car parking spaces is provided at the Central and Admiralty districts because of its CBD nature. At the time of conducting parking demand survey, The Peak Galleria was under addition and alternation works so the parking levels were suppressed when comparing with the normal without renovation conditions.

5.2 In general, day-time private car, motorcycle and goods vehicle parking supply can cater for the overall demand. Due to the limited supply, the number of non-franchised bus parking space is insufficient to cater for parking. In consideration of individual zones within C&W District, the shortage of parking supply in Western District is observed.

5.3 Since the night-time parking demand refers to the ownership-related demand, the parking supply considers all parking spaces. A shortage of night-time parking supply is identified at Sai Ying Pun area.

5.4 In addition to parking-related problem, the existing roadside activity in the Central District are to be blamed for generating traffic impact to existing congestion. These roadside activities include waiting, loading/unloading of goods and pick-up/drop-off for passengers.



6. Behaviour of Motorist

6.1 According to TPDM, the walking distance between the car park and the destination is about 500m for commuter or long-term parking in urban areas. The questionnaire survey results show that the walking distance of about 90% of respondents is within 500m. About 10% of respondents access the destination beyond 500m from the car park.

6.2 Regarding the latest information technology and the big data era, about 70% of respondents do not know the parking level for Rumsey Street Car Park and Star Ferry Car Park is available for public to access.

6.3 About 71.7% of respondents stated that they will not travel by private car to access the CBD if parking space is not available. While about 52.4% of respondents are willing to pre-book parking space at the destination car park, there are about 47.6% unwilling to pre-book a parking space and their main reasons can be due to the lack of flexibility, difficulties on time control, as well as the driver is only using a company car and pre-pay requirements, etc.

6.4 For the Park-and-Ride preference, respondents are putting heavier weight on travel time.

7. Ways to Address Parking Problem

7.1 Parking problems mainly about the deficiency between parking space supply and demand. The various ways to address the parking problem include increasing parking space supply and managing demand. The major ways to address parking problem include:

◆ Use of adjacent vacant/spare parking spaces through providing signage and enhancing walkability;

◆ Manage roadside parking space with a view to balance between need for provision of parking demand and kerbside activity demand;

◆ Use flexible parking approach and to address different types of vehicles, such as dual-parking space;

◆ Provide mechanical parking spaces or develop intelligent car park to increase the parking density;

◆ Use of underground spaces to provide car park;

◆ Use of land beneath flyovers and footbridges;

◆ Follow the “single site, multiple uses” principle;



◆ Determine public parking space requirements for new developments;

◆ Disseminate car park information to enhance the awareness of motorists;

◆ Prosecute illegally parking vehicles to discourage roadside parking;

◆ Regulate ownership-related parking problem through parking permit; and,

◆ Enhance public transport service by integrating the parking problem into overall transport plan to reduce the use of private vehicle.

8. Measures to Increase Parking Supply in Central & Western District

8.1 The measures to solve the insufficient parking spaces in the C&W District are focusing on increasing the parking supply. The proposed parking space locations are shown in Figure 2. The core measures include:

◆ Use of adjacent parking spaces through providing signage and enhancing walkability;

◆ Provide roadside parking space when situation permits;

◆ Prosecute illegally parking vehicles to discourage roadside parking;

◆ Use of parking space for different types of vehicles in a flexible way; and,

◆ Use of underground spaces to provide car park;

8.2 By implementing the above parking supply measure, mainly on the use of underground space to provide car park, about 300 car park spaces could be provided in the C&W District.

9. Way Forward

9.1 The findings of this Assignment were presented to Traffic and Transport Committee of Central and Western District Council on 6 September 2019. This Assignment proposed various measures to increase parking supply in the C&W District. By increasing parking supply, it may inevitably attract more vehicles entering into C&W District and introduce more traffic impact.

9.2 Providing additional parking spaces for commercial vehicles with prosecution to the illegal parked vehicle can reduce the problem of kerbside parking activity.

9.3 In the long-run, enhancing public transport service can help to reduce the use of private vehicle so as to minimise the problem of parking space shortage.



FIGURES

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Traffic Study Solve Insufficient Parking Spaces EXE Summary