Studying the Vehicle Parking and its Impact on Traffic in City Centers Case Study: Damascus City

Abstract

The aim of the research is to study the parking spaces and their impact on traffic movement in the streets located in the center of  Damascus it is the place where most government departments and service buildings are concentrated. Therefore improving the traffic situation on these streets will have a significant impact on raising the level of service, increasing speed ,reducing delay time and reducing traffic congestion .               

The study was conducted on three streets in the center of Damascus city by conducting field surveys of parking lots, conducting a questionnaire for a number of car owners, studying traffic congestion during peak periods, and determining the level of service on the studied roads.                                                                                                                

The streets were divided into a number of sectors and the field method was used by Highway Capacity Manual (HCM2000) to determine the level of service and finally compare the results.                                                                                                            

This study showed low values of parking utilization index and parking turnover on streets with random parking it also showed a low rate of traffic congestion and service levels in most sectors while they are high in the street where parking is paid ,this study emphasized the need to prevent unnecessary use for parking or long periods of use it without any purpose and prevent the random parking.