Development traffic volume reduction caused by automatic parking barrier

Abstract

New developments, especially in urban areas are often considered as source of additional traffic volume. The paper is concerned with the extent of development traffic volume reduction resulting from the installation of automatic parking barriers at a shopping mall. Based on the hypotheses that, automatic parking barrier (APB) reduces peak hour development traffic volume significantly, a ‘before and after’ impact studies were carried out at a large shopping centre (Jusco) in Skudai town, Malaysia in 2007 and 2009 respectively. Jusco shopping mall has three gates (1, 2 and 3) in use for accessing and exiting the shopping premises. Proportional vehicle volumes emanating from the shopping premises at gates 1 and 3 connect directly to two collector roadways while those from gate 2 connect to an access one-way road. Gate 1 leads to a signalized 4 arm intersection. Gates 2 and 3 lead to highway links. Impact study shows that traffic flows at the gate 2 and 3 are small and negligible. Vehicle volume, speed, parking and traffic control mechanisms, parking and highway characteristics were surveyed and recorded. Studies were conducted at peak periods under daylight and dry weather conditions. Results show that indiscriminate vehicular discharge of about 12.67 vehicles per minute from gate 1 before the installation of automatic parking barrier was reduced significantly to 8.63 vehicles per minute after the installation of APB. Level of service along adjoining signalized roadway also improved significantly after the installation of automatic parking barrier installation. When natural traffic growths were factored into traffic flows, the level of service remained same. Consequently, the paper concludes that the extent of development traffic volume reduction resulting from automatic parking barrier installation is significant and useful.