Parking Management
The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) supports Parking Management through plans, studies, and data collection that can help North Texas achieve a more efficient transportation system and a more sustainable region.
Is North Texas building too much parking? The current parking supply decision process often lacks adequate information and can highly overestimate demand, resulting in parking oversupply. More observed data on parking use could help our region build more efficiently. NCTCOG has developed a Regional Parking Demand Database from local parking counts and studies. You can contribute to this data with NCTCOG and explore the database and best practice strategies in the Parking Toolbox.
Why manage parking?
See the video below to learn why managing parking is critical to regional sustainability.
NCTCOG has collected examples of local parking studies and other resources to assist local governments in best practices in parking management (see drop-down panels below).
NCTCOG's Parking Events and Symposiums provide a forum for sharing local parking management best practices and strategies addressing future development.
NCTCOG's Summary of North Texas Local Parking Studies provides an understanding of shared parking issues and insights from walkable places in the North Texas region.
| Study [PDF] | City | Context | Topics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deep Ellum Parking Study (2023) | Dallas | Historic entertainment District, 5,700 parking spaces, on-street and off-street lots | Supply and demand study, on-street/off street utilization, parking user survey, district-wide management strategies |
| Cedar Hill Parking Management Study (2022) | Cedar Hill | Cedar Hill historic downtown, 587 spaces, on-street and off-street lots | Supply and demand study, wayfinding and management strategies, code amendment recommending a 40% reduction |
| Mansfield Downtown Development Strategies (2020) - Parking Content Excerpted | Mansfield | Historic downtown, 1,140 spaces, on-street, off-street lots | Supply and demand study, management strategies supporting walkable downtown development |
| Downtown Wylie Parking Review and Recommendations (2019) | Wylie | 209 on-street and 593 off-street parking spaces within about 7 blocks of historic downtown Wylie | On-street/off-street utilization, wayfinding, district-wide parking needs and strategies |
| Dallas Midtown Autonomous Transportation System and Shared Parking Feasibility Study - Section 2 (2019) | Dallas | Plan recommending district wide mobility solutions including shared parking for new dense walkable development | Shared parking, demand analysis and forecast |
| Dallas Road Transit District Parking Study (2019) | Grapevine | Main Street and Dallas Road Transit District. 279 on-street spaces and 2,240 off-street spaces | On-street/off-street utilization, transit coordination, wayfinding, and phased implementation of multiple parking strategies |
| Downtown Decatur Parking Inventory and Analysis (2019) | Decatur | 12 blocks of town square area. 674 on- and off-street spaces |
On-street/off-street utilization, time limits, way-finding, shared parking opportunities |
| Arlington Parking Needs Analysis Technical Memorandum (2019) | Arlington | one-half square mile historic downtown | High-level needs assessment, shared parking model, conceptual cost of parking facilities, automated vehicles impact |
| TOD Parking Study (2019) | Dallas, Plano, Richardson, Garland |
16 transit-oriented developments, 15, 201 off-street spaces |
TOD Parking Study (2019) |
| Historic Town Center Parking Study Update (2019) | McKinney | 50+ block of historic town center. 2,989 spaces off and on-street |
On-Street/off-street utilization, Valet parking pilot, wayfinding recommendations |
| Granite Properties - Office Parking (2019) |
Dallas, Plano, Addison | 10 office properties 8,515 off-street spaces Suburban and urban locations |
Class A office parking utilization, recommended ratio 2.05 spaces per 1,000 square feet in DFW |
| Magnolia Village Parking Circulation Study (2019) |
Fort Worth | Corridor (27 blocks) 999 on-street spaces Historic urban mixed use |
On-street utilization, assessment of paid parking implementation, residential permit program |
| Preston Center Parking Study Memo (2016) |
Dallas | District (10 blocks) 1440 garage spaces 76 surface lot spaces 406 on-street spaces Urban mixed use office/retail |
Utilization by facility, duration/turnover for street parking, district wide parking needs and strategies |
| Downtown Parking Study (2016) | Plano | District (18 blocks) 388 on-street spaces 3,571 off-street spaces Historic suburban downtown, mixed use retail and residential |
Utilization for all downtown parking, future parking supply, comprehensive parking strategy recommendations |
Please contact NCTCOG staff listed at the bottom of this web page to add a local study to this table.
- ULI's Research Report on Parking Policy in the US provides a searchable database of recent examples of parking policy reforms.
- A study of residential parking adjacent to station areas by Metro Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) is a good example of how to conduct a regional parking study.
- The Perfect Fit Parking database is a resource for context-sensitive parking utilization for Metro Boston.
- The Victoria Transport Policy Institute contains a good source of compiled lists of data and studies relating to Parking topics.
- The Metropolitan Transportation Commission in California has a parking policy to support smart growth and developed a parking model.
Competition for curbside space continues to increase and change with the evolution of competing modes of transportation and new technologies. The Curb Management Regional Planning Guide was developed to provide cities with the knowledge and tools to plan for and attain enhanced curbside management that most effectively balances the curb’s many potential uses.
Local governments are invited to participate in Charging Smart, a new technical assistance and designation program that recognizes communities for electric vehicle (EV) readiness. The program helps local governments streamline planning, permitting, and inspections for EV charging infrastructure, making the deployment of EV chargers faster, easier, and more affordable for residents and businesses to drive electric. The program framework includes several parking-related actions a local government can take to incorporate charging infrastructure in building or zoning codes. These actions include allowing EV charging spaces to count toward minimum parking requirements when applicable and requiring a certain percentage of EV charging spaces at multifamily properties or commercial buildings. Please contact cleancities@nctcog.org to learn more about the program and a cohort for local governments to progress through the program together.
NCTCOG's Travel Demand Management (TDM) program can help to reduce parking demand by addressing the demand side of travel behavior.
Staff: Travis Liska