A spatial study of parking policy and usage in Melbourne, Australia

• A review of metropolitan wide parking policy.
• Greater parking usage per activity level with distance from the city centre.
• A relationship between activity levels (jobs) and parking in suburban areas.
• Highlights the view that parking policy focuses on the central city.
• A call for further research in other cities to confirm the spatial character of parking.

Few cities have a metropolitan wide parking policy. More often than not the planning of parking is undertaken by decentralised urban local governments with broad central guideline on parking supply rates. The provision of parking is thus generally opportunistic, aimed at facilitating and encouraging the decentralisation of travel and urban development. This paper documents the spatial distribution of policy and usage of parking in Melbourne, Australia, in order to obtain an indication of the spatial variations in parking policy and usage. It briefly reviews parking policy literature. It then reviews the spatial pattern of existing parking policy in Melbourne showing the increase in quality (more space and lower price) with distance from the central city. Parking usage is then studied, again showing a tendency towards greater parking usage per activity level as one moves away from the city centre and the relationship to activity levels (jobs) in suburban areas. The paper reinforces the view that the focus on central city parking policy and the lack of a co-ordinated parking policy for outer suburbs encourages travel and urban development in outer suburbs. The paper calls for further research in other cities to confirm these trends.