Double parking in New York city: a comparison between commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles

Commercial vehicles are more likely to park close to their destinations than passenger vehicles even though sometimes parking violations are inevitable for their freight or service activities. Although clear distinctions between commercial and passenger vehicles lead to different illegal parking behaviors, little is known about the difference in double parking behaviors between the two types. To better utilize limited curb spaces, a better understanding of differences and similarities is required so that corresponding policies can be established accordingly. Therefore, this research aims to quantify the difference in double parking behavior between commercial and passenger vehicles using count models from two different perspectives: (a) an individual vehicle level count model to investigate vehicle attributes influencing the number of double parking violations per vehicle and (b) a ZIP Code level count model to investigate economic and built environment factors affecting double parking behaviors. The results showed that double parking is a ‘one-time event’ for a passenger vehicle and a ‘recurring event’ for a commercial vehicle. With respect to economic factors, different types of establishments had different levels of impact on double parking for commercial and passenger vehicles in an area. This research discusses how parking policies and strategies can be established based on the similarities and differences between commercial and passenger vehicles’ parking violation behavior.