PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF THE MANAGEMENT AND PERFORMANCE OF ON-STREET PARKING WITHIN THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT OF SUNYANI

ABSTRACT
Parking plays a significant role in any transportation system. Sunyani due to its rapid urbanization and increased vehicle usage has had its fair share of parking challenges. This study sought to evaluate the performance of on-street vehicle parking which is currently under franchise management by M/s. Day and Night Towing service. The study was conducted on on-street parking bays or stalls on selected roads, namely; Atoase Road (Market Street), Twene Amanfour Street, SY Barnie Link, Blantyne Avenue and Starlet 91 Street within the Central Business District of the Sunyani Municipality. Field data were collected to determine parking accumulation, parking occupancy, parking volume and average parking duration. The study revealed that, almost all the parking facilities operated at less than full capacity. Land use was also identified as influencing parking duration. In terms of user perception, indicators such as proximity to destination, security for parked vehicles and pedestrians, congestion and rates charged were the main factors affecting parking. Respondents were satisfied with the services except with the state of congestion which was found not to have improved. Management challenges identified included lack of adequate enforcement, lack of scientific basis in the setting of revenue targets and the absence of appropriate technology to monitor daily collection and increase revenue. The Sunyani District Assembly, the owners of the scheme should be more proactive in ensuring that enforcement of parking regulation are strictly adhered to, use a more scientific approach to forecast revenue targets and employ technology-based methods for monitoring and evaluation of revenue generation.


CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND STUDY
Parking is an important aspect of any transportation system as a vehicle at the end of an auto-based travel requires a space to park. The two main forms of parking are on-street and off street parking. Parking also can be described as inter- immediate good as it forms part of the cycle of travel to satisfy a need or want. The facilities of on-street or off street parking when treated as a common good can be subjected to abuse. Additionally, parking if also underpriced comes with its own repercussions as a poorly managed facility can create intense traffic congestion and also compromise on motorist safety.

Central Business Districts (CBDs) of developing cities are areas of intense socio-economic and commercial activities. Sunyani, like any emerging developing city is confronted with huge demand for road transport infrastructure in its commercial enclave. Therefore providing adequate parking space to meet the demand for parking has become a huge challenge. Thus, a number of on-street facilities have been put under franchise management.

For the past three years, since the management of on-street parking facilities in the municipality were put under franchise, there has not been an assessment of the performances of the various management entities. This study therefore assesses the performance of the management of on-street parking facilities in the Central Business District (CBD) of the Sunyani Municipality.

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT
On street parking is normally provided in Central Business Districts so that people can have easy access to their businesses, generate revenue for the Local Authority as well as act as a restraint to control congestion. On street parking occupies roadway resources.

Sunyani, like Kumasi and Accra, due to its high economic activities has a number on street parking facilities under franchise management within its commercial enclave. However on-street parking facilities are confronted with the challenges of street hawking unauthorized parking by three wheelers at designated parking lots, inefficient use of parking space and pricing among others. It appears the Sunyani Municipal Assembly is comfortable with the present situation as no attempt has been made to assess performance and also on potential loss in revenue due to the current franchise management arrangement.

1.3 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY
The study is being conducted to appraise the performance of the present franchise management arrangement and to advice on possible revenue generation through changes in faint setting approaches. This will stimulate improvement in the traffic management situation within the Central Business District of the municipality since traffic congestion will reduce and also encourage related environmental benefits. For the past three years, no assessment has been conducted on the existing arrangement and this service especially its findings will provide a basis of informing appropriate management for use in future engagements.

1.4 OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the research are presented as follows:-

To determine the usage characteristics of on-street parking facilities (parking duration, parking accumulation, parking turnover and volume) in the study area;

To investigate user perception on the quality of parking service delivery;

To examine the revenue prospects and the willingness to pay for time limited parking; and

To identify management challenges and to inform policy direction regarding the management of on-street parking facilities.

1.5 STRUCTURE OF REPORT
The report will mainly consist of five (5) chapters which are indicated below:

Chapter 1 –The contents of chapter 1 consists basically of the background study which gives information about the baseline conditions at the project site and what this research seeks to accomplish. It also outlines the present challenges with the system, the justification for the study and the objectives of the research. Chapter 2 –gives the Literature Review, this chapter consisted basically of the review of similar works or publications by other authors on the topic. The literatures that were reviewed consisted of book publications and relevant journals. The research methodology is presented in various methods used in the research and also included the collection of various data and conducting of inventory for analytical purposes. The Chapter 4 - Analysis and Interpretation of Results, the results obtained were also discussed and some conclusions arrived at. It uses charts and tables to present the results. Chapter 5 – summarizes the main Conclusions and Recommendations of the study. Here conclusions are drawn out of the results obtained which were then used to make appropriate recommendations.

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Item Type: Ghanaian Topic  |  Size: 61 pages  |  Chapters: 1-5
Format: MS Word  |  Delivery: Within 30Mins.
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