Comparative Analysis of Residential Parking Questions in National Travel Surveys: A Cross-Country Study

Availability and utilization of residential parking locations remain a crucial yet often overlooked aspect of urban planning and policy making. Thus, this study investigates questions about residential parking within National Travel Surveys (NTS) across 49 OECD-affiliated countries. The study used a layered framework, differentiating parking locations by on/off-street, public/private access, proximity to dwellings, and infrastructure type to analyze questions and response options. A document review revealed significant variability in the inclusion of residential parking questions, with only 24 of 49 evaluated countries conducting NTS and only 15 explicitly addressing residential parking locations, often via one question. While questions are often similar, the response options are often ambiguous, sometimes misleading, and vary significantly. Based on the results, we identified the following recommendations: (1) adopt and rephrase parking-related questions in new and existing NTS, (2) provide guidance to users on how certain response options are defined, (3) for a more comprehensive understanding of residential parking dynamics, include a question on availability and actual usage, (4) add “National Travel Survey” as a keyword in applicable surveys, and (5) provide easy access to documentation to facilitate data retrieval and international comparison.