Bigger vehicles have impact on design of parking lots

A significant increase in consumers' use of light trucks, vans and sport/utility vehicles is putting the "squeeze" on compact-car spaces in parking facilities nationwide, making small-car-only spaces no longer viable, according to a new publication from the Urban Land Institute and the National Parking Association.

"The Dimensions of Parking" states that the percentage of all vehicles sold that are categorized as small in terms of square footage occupied by the vehicle dropped from nearly 50 percent in 1987 to slightly more than 30 percent in 1998, according to a release from the Urban Land Institute.

"In the 1990s, and now into 2000, the pendulum has begun to swing back toward larger vehicles causing many (parking facility designers) to revisit the question of appropriate parking space dimensions," the publication states.

Standard parking space widths increased from 8 feet, 4 inches in the late 1950s to as wide as 10 feet in the late 1960s, before falling back to 8 feet, 6 inches in the early 1970s. As vehicle downsizing became more common in the 1980s, many parking facilities were designed with as many as half of their spaces designated as compact stalls measuring only 7 feet, 6 inches wide.

Now, with larger vehicles dominating the parking lots, many municipalities are dropping provisions to encourage small spaces in new facilities, the publication states.

"The practicality of small-vehicle-only parking spaces was short-lived. Since manufacturers started downsizing larger passenger cars, much debate has raged over what is and is not a small vehicle. Confusion has increased as the dimensions of smaller-sized vehicles and larger-sized vehicles began to blur, and, more recently, as certain models were upsized," the publication says.

The "Dimensions of Parking" recommends that parking space sizes be tailored to the turnover of cars using the facility.

Based on recommendations from the Parking Consultants Council, spaces for low-turnover facilities should be 8 feet, 6 inches wide; for high-turnover facilities, spaces should be as wide as 9 feet. This is a substantial increase from the compact spaces built in the 1980s and could prove challenging to facility owners seeking to provide larger spaces without incurring an unacceptable loss of spaces overall, the study says.

Over the years, the design of downtown parking facilities has tended to be much more efficient than those in the suburbs, mainly due to tighter building codes and more expensive land in downtown areas, according to the study. Conversely, many suburban parking facilities, built in a less efficient manner, are oversized and underused. In some cases, parking shortages in downtown areas have driven businesses to the suburbs to take advantage of ample parking space.

"Public policies that limit parking below market demand can stifle development, particularly given that a downtown is typically the area with the highest level of transit use, car pooling, multiple trips and thus automobile use within a metropolitan region," the study says.