How much traffic on the roads is searching for a parking space?

The commonly held view seems to be that 30% of traffic on urban streets is made up of vehicles looking for a parking space. But where did this figure come through and is it one that can trusted?

How much traffic on the roads is searching for a parking space?

I ask this question because in recent years I have seen various references to this subject in highways and parking literature. One quote that continually recurs runs along the lines of: “On average, 30% of traffic on urban roads is caused by people searching for a parking space.”

Most such statements are not qualified by relating them to the type of road under study. We are seldom told whether the figure relates to all...

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