2. More <strong>parking</strong> supply leads to more <strong>parking</strong>demandThe government for too long has not addressedon-street and illegal <strong>parking</strong>, allowed theconstruction of abundant <strong>parking</strong> in off-streetbuildings and even built off-street <strong>parking</strong> itself.This makes <strong>parking</strong>, and therefore driving a car,convenient and is only incentivizing increased caruse, further exacerbating traffic congestion problems.<strong>Beijing</strong> needs to break out of this viciouscircle.More <strong>parking</strong>demandCar-orientedtransportplanningDegradation ofalternative traveloptionsIncreased carownershipDisperseddevelopmentpatternsCar-oriented landuse planningIncreased <strong>parking</strong>supplyGreen-fielddevelopment andsuburbanizationIncreasedcar trafficNew <strong>parking</strong>supplyReducedtraveloptionsFast, convenientand cheap<strong>parking</strong>Supplying more <strong>parking</strong> cannot solve <strong>parking</strong> demandBuilding more off-street <strong>parking</strong> is not a solution;it may solve the problem for a short while,while at the cost of more traffic and resources(land & financial), but the <strong>parking</strong> problem willinevitably come back, only as a bigger problem.Moreover, building more <strong>parking</strong> and more andSolving perceived <strong>parking</strong> shortages on some streetswith building more <strong>parking</strong> will inevitably lead to moretraffic, more congestion, suburbanization and cardependency. Instead, a more restrictive approach to<strong>parking</strong> is needed where existing supply is used moreefficiently and pricing controls demand for <strong>parking</strong>.Off-street <strong>parking</strong> in residential area in Guang’anmenled to scattered urban development, degrading thequality of life<strong>Beijing</strong> Parking, <strong>ITDP</strong>-<strong>China</strong> 921 March 2015
wider roads leads to dispersed developmentpatterns and reduced travel options that lead toincreased car ownership and car use.In an effort to balance supply and demand for<strong>parking</strong> spaces, the government has only workedon the providing more supply, whereas reducingdemand is the preferred solution. Reducingdemand is done by setting high prices, enforceillegal <strong>parking</strong> and reduce, or at least cap, thenumber of off-street <strong>parking</strong> spaces.3. Managing on-street and illegal <strong>parking</strong> areignoredSurveys show chaotic streets with high <strong>parking</strong>occupancies and frequent illegal <strong>parking</strong>, whileadjacent off-street <strong>parking</strong> lots show high vacancies.This is not surprising, since few streets havepaid <strong>parking</strong> operation and illegal <strong>parking</strong> is notproperly enforced, resulting in drivers <strong>parking</strong>on-street for free. <strong>Beijing</strong>’s strategy of buildingmore off-street <strong>parking</strong> is therefore ineffective anda waste of government’s budgets, without organizingpaid on-street <strong>parking</strong>, with formal prices,and enforcement of illegal <strong>parking</strong> first. On-streetDrivers parkon-street insteadHigh vacancies in<strong>parking</strong> buildings,due to poor on-streetenforcement andhigher <strong>parking</strong> priceChaoticstreets“We needmore off-street<strong>parking</strong>!”Constructionof new <strong>parking</strong>buildingsHigh investment& operation costsfor governmentor privateinvestorPaid on-street <strong>parking</strong> and increased <strong>parking</strong> enforcementis needed in <strong>Beijing</strong> before new off-street <strong>parking</strong>is necessary<strong>parking</strong> management is also expected to stimulateprivate investment in the provision of off-street<strong>parking</strong>, especially for all-day <strong>parking</strong> demand.4.2 On-street <strong>parking</strong>As mentioned in the previous section, somestreets have paid <strong>parking</strong> where others are free.This leads to high occupancies and low turnoverin streets without a <strong>parking</strong> fee and low occupanciesin streets with a <strong>parking</strong> fee. Also the <strong>parking</strong>zones are far too large, with the entire third ringroad as the most expensive zone, which does notsteer <strong>parking</strong> demand away from the most importantareas within the third ring road. Driverscircle the blocks, looking for vacant <strong>parking</strong> spaceat low speeds and stop-and-go behavior, slowingdown other traffic and adding to pollution, noiseand danger to people.Furthermore, on many of <strong>Beijing</strong>’s streets theallocation of <strong>parking</strong> spaces is unclear. Parkingspaces are illegally drawn by operators on streets,some on bike lanes and some not even drawn atall, and <strong>parking</strong> fees charged.The use of primitive on-street <strong>parking</strong> systemsresult in large leakage of <strong>parking</strong> revenue intoprivate pockets. CCTV did a recent researchinto <strong>parking</strong> revenues and found that contractsbetween city governments and city-wide <strong>parking</strong>operators jointly secure 300 million RMB annuallyfor the right to operate on-street <strong>parking</strong>, butonly pay 20-30 million RMB. Moreover, the currenton-street <strong>parking</strong> system provides no serviceto drivers and no insights into <strong>parking</strong> demand,occupancies and turnover to the government, onwhich proper <strong>parking</strong> policies should be based.4.3 Parking enforcementIllegal <strong>parking</strong> is abundant in <strong>Beijing</strong> due to poorenforcement. Illegal <strong>parking</strong> on setbacks andsidewalks cause problems for pedestrians who areforced to squeeze through parked cars, and businesses(shops & restaurants) who are less visibleand access become more difficult. Bike lanes areoften blocked by parked cars, leaving cyclists toshare to street with mixed traffic. Given the largenumbers of illegally parked cars without fines,it can be concluded that <strong>parking</strong> enforcement ispoorly executed, which was confirmed by <strong>parking</strong><strong>Beijing</strong> Parking, <strong>ITDP</strong>-<strong>China</strong> 931 March 2015
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