Parking Spaces Outnumber Cars 3 to 1, Cause Environmental Problems
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA 
on 09.13.07
Photo credit: sunshinecity
No doubt about it, Americans like their cars—so it shouldn't come as a shock that a ton of space is being devoted to parking spaces, whether they're suburban driveways or sprawling lots around big retailers. But a recent study by Purdue University in Indiana indicates that this growing land-use trend plays a role in heating up urban areas and trapping water pollution.
The researchers surveyed the total area dedicated to parking in a midsize Midwestern county; they found that parking spaces outnumbered resident drivers 3-to-1 and resident families 11-to-1. The total parking area was larger than 1,000 football fields, covering more than two square miles.
"Even I was surprised by these numbers," says Bryan Pijanowski, the associate professor of forestry and natural resources who led the study in Purdue's home county of Tippecanoe. "I can't help but wonder: Do we need this much parking space?"
The results are cause for concern, says Pijanowski, in part because parking lots are a major source of water pollution, while presenting a host of other environmental and economic problems.
In Tippecanoe County alone, parking lots turn out about 1,000 pounds of heavy-metal runoff per year, says Purdue professor Bernard Engel, who used a computer model to estimate changes in water-borne runoff caused by land-use changes. Pollutants collect on the lots' non-absorbent surfaces and then are easily washed away by rain.
"The problem with parking lots is that they accumulate a lot of pollutants—oil, grease, heavy metals and sediment—that cannot be absorbed by the impervious surface," Engel says. "Rain then flushes these contaminants into rivers and lakes."
And we haven't even begun discussing the "urban heat island" effect that parking lots contribute to, which can raise temperatures by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius, according to Indiana state climatologist Dev Niyogi.
Tippecanoe County is part of nationwide trend, says Pijanowski, of Americans paving an increasing percentage of land each year for their cars and trucks. He says that businesses could get more creative about using combined-use or shared parking lots, which would save construction and property costs, while minimizing land use.
Or we could take a different approach to development planning and mitigate the monetary and environmental costs associated with parking areas in the first place, he says. "In many areas of the world, particularly Europe, cities were planned prior to automobiles, and many locations are typically within walking distance," Pijanowski says. "This is just one different way to plan that has certain advantages." ::Newswise
See also: ::How to Green Your Car, ::Turning Parking Spaces into Parks, and ::Parking Costs Linked to Emissions
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
Tip of the iceberg.
Think of all the unused parking at malls, offices and schools at off peak and unscheduled hours.
Look at the suburbs that don't allow the use of parking on residential streets but at the same time require wide profiles for city streets and development plans.
Think about how many homes have garages for 2 or 3 cars, drives ways to park another 6 or 9 and have unused curbs and right of way areas.
Moscow did not have a parking or traffic problem until Russia opened up and became democratic. China is also starting to have unprecedented traffic congestion with it's accompanied parking scarcity, where under totalitarian government, only the top echelon in society drove cars. North Korea has absolutely no traffic on its streets. Of course no problem finding a parking space. Except for, of course, the vehicles of the leaders. It seems, on the surface, that the problem is exacerbated by freedom, especially Democracy. What to do? Totalitarianism seems to be the easy answer. ..NOT!
Totalitarianism seems to be the easy answer. ..NOT!
You're so talented - making flimsy strawmen and lighting them on fire.
So, what's your solution, genius?
The obvious solution is Green Roofs, of different kinds.
The places where the problem is at it's worst is south of the snow line.
What if Wal-Mart roofed it's parking lots with voltaics?
Reflection + energy.
The cars underneath, much cooler in the shade, won't require as much air conditioning when their patrons enter their big SUV's.
Around Montreal, many outdoor shopping centres have multi-decked parking, meaning out of 5 floors, 4 are in the shade, free from sun exposure, and at winter, ice & snow.
You should see up here in the winter how people (mostly women) will use their remote control TWICE to warm up their car from inside the shopping mall by the door, just to avoid scraping and entering a cozy car.
So covered parking lots, and green roofs for the industrial / shopping malls, would be a cost efficient solution.
Perhaps Wal-Mart will lead the way in this regard, now that they've hired a prominent eco-centric analyst full time.
Ya, I too hate posts that non-constructive criticism and that hide behind an alias.
More than 70% of most cities' outdoor space is dedicated to the private vehicle, while only a small fraction of the urban outdoors is allocated to open space for people. Around the nation, inexpensive curbside parking results in increased traffic, wasted fuel, and more pollution. For one day a year, PARK(ing) Day helps us re-visualize our streets and recognize the value parks provide in cities.
www.parkingday.org
America needs to discover car sharing. One car per 3-10 people (average for different car share companies in this country) would allow us to trim the number of parking spots per car closer to 1:1---a much more sustainable level in terms of urban land use.
I had an interesting encounter yesterday, while asking for directions, which points up this American mania for more and more parking:
http://hudson.typepad.com/us/2007/09/dont-walk.html
(Includes a link to this Treehuggers story...)
Mark Ryan is correct. Carsharing is the major strategy for getting rid of the parking scourge. Hart/Spivak (There's an Elephant in the Bedroom) that there were 8 parking spots per registered car.
Carsharing, though, will not have much of an impact unless it grows to become the major form of car-access. OPOCO (one-person, one-car orientation) should not be seen as a right, but as an obligation. Share the cost of shared roads, but you have to go out and provide your own car, which sits idle 95% of the time. Why private ownership for a product that is only used on shared rights-of-way and takes so much space when not in use?
By merging carsharing, taxi, car-rental, and ridesharing the automobile can become truly efficiently used and available to all _when_ and _where_ it is needed. I call the combination of these alternatives to the car, MASC, or metered access to shared cars. MASC could greatly complement transit at peak hour, taking the load off transit (that is the major cause of high subsidies).
Contact me for my paper, "How Car-Sharing Can Reduce the 'Drive to Drive' and Improve Walkability."
Chris Bradshaw,
hearth@ties.ottawa.on.ca