Nearly half the traffic in Park Slope is created by drivers cruising around for parking spots due to jam-packed curbs, according to a new study unveiled yesterday."What we have now is the equivalent of a Russian bread line," said Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, the advocacy group that conducted the study."Except instead of bread, it's parking, and instead of peasants standing in lines, we have cars circling the block," White said.The study - titled "No Vacancy" - found an average of 95% of the parking spots on the main commercial drag on Seventh Ave. between Union and 12th Sts. were occupied. It also found that one in six vehicles in the neighborhood was parked illegally."We need to apply market solutions to our streets, and this is where we start," said White, who rode away on a bicycle after yesterday's press conference to unveil the 21-page report.The group recommends a permit system that gives preference to residents, installing Muni-Meters that would charge higher prices according to the demand for spots, and creating a "parking improvement district" in which businesses, residents and the city would formulate and manage local parking policy."The government in this city has acted like traffic is like the weather - it's something people complain about, but you can't do anything about it," said Councilman David Yassky (D-Brooklyn Heights).Yassky said he hoped Park Slope could become a trailblazer for other neighborhoods.A spokeswoman for the city Department of Transportation said officials would review the study's findings, but she offered little encouragement for preferential parking."We believe that a residential parking program would be problematic because many neigborhoods are very dense and there are many more cars than there is available curb space," said the spokeswoman, Kay Sarlin.Transportation Alternatives visited the site four times during the last two months to count cars and conduct "driver intercept surveys," in which motorists at red lights were asked simple questions about their trip."A woman on Saturday said she had been looking for parking for an hour, and had been there the night before looking for an hour and a half," said Wiley Norvel, who wrote the study for the group."She was just trying to buy groceries. It's absurd."Sobering statisticsMajor findings of a new study on the lack of parking spaces in Park Slope by the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives.

• 45% of all traffic on Seventh Ave. is cruising for parking space.
• One in six cars in Park Slope is parked illegally.
• The vacancy rate for parking spots along Seventh Ave. between Union and 12th Sts. was 6% on average, and close to zero during peak business hours.