Downtown Providence Parking
This is a map of all the parking in Downtown Providence. For the purposes of this page, “Downtown” refers to this area, adapted from official sources.
You can open the above map in a new tab.
This page is generated from OpenStreetMap data, much of which was added by me. Therefore, these counts aren’t official, and are definitely prone to error. If you see a data error and feel up for fixing it on OSM, eventually the change will be reflected here. This page was last updated on 14 August 2022.
monospaced red text like this indicates a number or text that was computed programmatically.
☞ Recommended Reading: The High Cost of Free Parking by
Donald Shoup.
Please support local booksellers (Books on the Square | Riffraff | Symposium).
Findings
| Parking Type | Facility Count | Parking Spaces | Accessible Spaces | Area | % Downtown Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surface | 194 | 8,299 | 170 | 2,745,780.69 ft2 | 12.64% |
| Structured | 18 | 13,726 | 127* | 754,928.68 ft2 | 3.47% |
| Underground | 11 | 1,832* | 9* | -- | -- |
| On-Street | -- | 2,529 | -- | 386,937.0 ft2 | 1.78% |
| Combined | 223 | 26,386* | 306* | 0.1395 miles2 | 17.892% |
* Indicated figures are based on incomplete data and are low.
Street Parking
There are approximately 2,529 on-street parking spaces. Some are metered or otherwise restricted, others are not. In some areas, like on Eddy Street behind City Hall, people regularly park on sidewalks.
If we approximate the dimensions of the average on-street parking space as 9 feet by 17 feet, we find that on-street parking accounts for 386,937.0 ft2. The total area of the Downtown neighborhood is 0.78 miles2, so street parking accounts for approximately 1.78% of the Downtown land area.
Surface Parking
“Surface parking” refers to parking lots that are exclusively on ground level and are typically uncovered.
There are roughly 8,299 spaces in 194 surface lots. The average capacity of surface lots is 42.8, and the median capacity is 26.
Surface lots, combined, have a surface area of 2,745,780.69 ft2 (0.0985 mi2), which translates into roughly 12.64% of the Downtown land area. The average area of these is 14,153.51 ft2, and the median is 8,122.03 ft2.
Unlike on-street parking, which is typically parallel and relatively space-efficient, parking lots often have inner service roads or lanes, so that cars have space to turn around and maneuver. Given the total area and number of spaces, we can calculate that each individual parking space is responsible for an area of 350 ft2. If the average spot is assumed to be 9 feet × 17 feet = 153 ft2, each surface space accounts for an additional 197.3 ft2 (56.32%) for service roads, turn-around space, etc.
Note: some commuter lots have notably higher space efficiencies because they block cars in.
OpenStreetMap has a capacity:disabled tag to indicate the number of spaces which are considered (in the US), to be handicapped-accessible. I’ve done my best to catalogue these, but paint or signs indicating this in many lots is faded or out of date, so counts may be notably low. That said, the current data on OpenStreetMap suggests that there are 170 of these accessible spaces in 58 surface lots, approximately 2.05% of the total count of surface lots spaces. Lots with any disabled spaces have an average of 2.93 accessible spaces (median of 2.0 accessible spaces).
Structured Parking
“Structured parking” refers to multi-story, above-ground structures with a primary purpose of providing parking, indicated by the OpenStreetMap multi-storey tag.
There are roughly 13,726 spaces in 18 structured lots. The average capacity of structured lots is 762.556, and the median is 395.
Structured lots, combined, have a surface area of 754,928.68 ft2. The average structured lot area is 41,940.48 ft2, with a median of 28,560.41 ft2.
If we calculate the average area per space, we find that it is 95.83 ft2, 72.64% lower than the average space required for a surface space.
127 accessible spaces in structured garages have been indicated in the OpenStreetMap data. However, several garages do not publish this information and have not, as of yet, responded to my requests for it. Thus, there is low confidence in this figure… it is likely higher.
Underground Parking
Unsurprisingly, this refers to garages that are entirely underground.
There are roughly 1,832 spaces in 11 underground lots. The average capacity of underground lots is 166.545, and the median is 160.
While some area is used for entrance/exit ramps to these garages, it is negligible and will not be considered.
9 accessible underground spaces have been indicated in the OpenStreetMap data. As with structured parking, this figure has low confidence and is likely higher than reported here.
Data Download
Here are some (possibly) useful CSVs you can download. “area”s are in square meters, and “efficiency” is a measure of area per space in square meters. Indices are OSM IDs.
- stats.csv: contains a whole bunch of precalculated capacities, areas, means, medians, and more.
- fp_surface.csv: Contains calculations for individual surface lots.
- fp_structured.csv: Contains calculations for individual structured garages.
- fp_underground.csv: Contains calculations for individual underground garages.
- street_capacities.csv: Contains capacities for various street segments.
Credits
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