ASSESSMENT OF ON-STREET PARKING IN LOKOJA, NIGERIA

Abstract

Parking is an important component of transportation needs of the city to ensure safety and easy flowing of traffic. Inadequate of parking space increases the searching time for a parking space and induces traffic congestion. The lack of well-organized and authorized off-street parking facility causes illegal parking on the carriageway and result in traffic chaos, congestion delay and accidents. To this end, this research work was carried out to study the effects of on-street parking on traffic movement in Lokoja. The research was conducted using questionnaires and field observation to collect the required data for the purpose of fulfilling the objectives of the study. Structured questionnaires were administered specifically at the locations/corridors in the study area where on-street parking were prominent. Four hundred and fifty one (451) questionnaires were administered to the shop-owners and one hundred seventy four (174) to the parked vehicle owners. A total of six hundred and twenty five questionnaires were administered in the research. Meanwhile, Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to test the nature of on-street parking and traffic congestion. The findings revealed that inadequate parking spaces and increase in commercial activities in the study area coupled with inadequate parking enforcement result into on-street parking in Lokoja. To reduce the menace, policy measures are recommended based on the research findings. These include: reduction of parking demand through introduction of parking price, enforcement of parking regulation, improvement of the existing parking spaces/ facilities and provision of off-street parking.