Beijing-parking-ITDP-China

Study scopeIncreased car ownership in Beijing has resultedin a higher demand for parking spaces. Ratherthan taking a restrictive approach to parking asa means to reduce car travel and ownership, thegovernment is trying to increase parking supplyin an effort to solve parking problems.Simply increasing parking supply is not asolution as it leads to more traffic and lost opportunitiesfor high-value uses like offices, retailand residences. Each parking space takes up 30m 2to 35m 2 and car drivers need between two to fivedifferent parking spaces every day. Therefore it iscrucial for the success of Beijing to start managingparking holistically and implement and enforceparking systems and policies that have proventheir success elsewhere. The parking problems arenot unique to Beijing and lessons can be learnedfrom other cities that have experienced increasedmotorization.This report studies Beijing’s existing parkingpolicies and systems and studies several parkinglocations, residential, commercial, office andmixed use areas, both on-street and off-street,documenting existing parking practices in Beijing.An analysis of problems identifies the mainparking issues and Chinese and international bestpractices described. Recommendations are givenfor on-street parking, including parking zones,price, policies, technology, enforcement, design,operation models, costing & financing. Foroff-street parking recommendations are presentedfor parking maximums, caps and parking sharing.Furthermore recommendations for communicationon parking reform are offered.The parking recommendations for Beijingas described in this report are based on deskresearch and surveys and analysis of the existingparking conditions and behavior in Beijing andsolutions follow international best practice. Theparking recommendations presented will helpBeijing:●●achieve more rational and efficient use ofon-street and off-street parking spaces●●provide drivers with available parking spaces,directions and multiple payment options●●reduce cruising, improve traffic flows andreduce congestion●●achieve organized and safe streets for walkingand cycling●●improve accessibility and livability for itsresidents, increase business revenues andimprove attractiveness to tourists●●gain a stable, long term revenue stream fromparking that can be used to fund sustainabletransport development●●reduce air and noise pollution and CO2reduction●●stimulate the use of public transport.ObjectiveThe objective of this study is to provide detailedinsights into Beijing’s parking issues and offerrecommendations to improve on-street andoff-street parking policies and systems. The studyis financed by the Asian Development Bank, withsome input provided by the Beijing TransportResearch Institute (BTRC).Personnel and time frameThe work was carried out between August andDecember 2014. A large team worked on the projectincluding Bram van Ooijen, Yang Li, ShaokunLiu, Xiaomei Duan, Zoltan Gyarmati, Yipeng Du,Judit Ponta, Yusen Wang, Zhitao Li, Chen Dan,Shuling Li and Karl Fjellstrom.DefinitionsOn-street, off-street and setback parking areas aredefined as follows:●●On-street parking: parking on the curb sidelanes of roads.●●Off-street parking: parking away from thepublic road in parking lots, buildings andgarages.●●Setback: space between building facade andproperty line, or between the building facadeand the edge of the public walkway.Beijing Parking, ITDP-China 51 March 2015