STUDY: New Yorkers Are More Likely to Drive Because of City Parking Requirement.

Planning and environmental groups urge mayor to adopt sustainable parking strategy.

October 15, 2008
Paul Steely White 212-629-8080

Lindsey Lusher 1 917-318-1488

Leading transportation, planning and environmental groups issued a study today which concludes that the kind of off-street parking required at new residential buildings by the Department of City Planning leads to more driving, contrary to the City's plans to reduce congestion.

The study, Guaranteed Parking, Guaranteed Driving, compares parking and commuting habits in Park Slope, Brooklyn and Jackson Heights, Queens. The study finds that despite having the same car ownership and very similar access to public transit to the Central Business District, Jackson Heights residents are 45% more likely to drive to work in the Central Business District and 28% more likely to drive to work in general. The study concludes that Jackson Heights car owners are more likely to drive to work because of guaranteed, off-street parking spots to return to at the end of the day. The findings further substantiate the groups' earlier study Suburbanizing the City, which found that current city parking requirements will result in one billion more miles of annual traffic by the year 2030. Even though predictors of driving (income, access to transit, car and home ownership, government employment) suggests that Park Slope commuters should drive more than Jackson Heights commuters, the report finds:

  • Jackson Heights residents are 45% more likely to drive to work in the CBD than Park Slope residents.
  • Jackson Heights car owners are six times more likely to have their own off-street parking spot at their home than Park Slope car owners (31% to 5%.)
  • More housing in Jackson Heights has been built since 1961 and complies with City Planning's parking rules: 16% of housing in Jackson Heights compared to 8% of housing in Park Slope.

"City Planning's parking requirements do more than encourage car ownership. They ensure that new New Yorkers will be much more likely to drive to work than today's New Yorkers. Bad planning is gradually transforming us from a transit and walking city into a driving city." says Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives.

In their August letter to Mayor Bloomberg, the groups recommended an environmentally sustainable parking policy which would:

  • Significantly reduce or eliminate required parking.
  • Fully assess the amount of existing and planned off-street parking.
  • Revise environmental laws so that parking impacts are fully accounted for.

The full study and letter to the mayor are available at:
transalt.org/files/newsroom/reports/guaranteed_parking.pdf

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