Overestimating Traffic Generation

Angie Schmidt compiles a number of sources calling into question the traffic generation predictions relied on by local governments.  Link to: http://streetsblog.net/2014/12/12/whoops-how-planners-and-engineers-badly-overestimate-car-traffic/

Declining Brick and Mortar Retail Sales on Black Friday a Reason to Revisit Parking Regulations

Brick and mortar retail sales were down 7 percent on Black Friday last week, as shoppers continue the move to online purchases. Story at: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/11/30/367564827/black-friday-sales-down-at-stores-surge-online.  Foot traffic last year was half of what retailers experienced in 2000, even as the economy recovered. Link to: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremybogaisky/2014/02/12/retail-in-crisis-these-are-the-changes-brick-and-mortar-stores-must-make/. 

Parking regulations for retail are based on parking demand on Black Friday and the weekends before Christmas.  As retail continues its shift to the internet, the Instititute for Transportation Engineers--whose parking demand standards are adopted by local governments nationwide--ought to revisit its demand data.  Some are even making a pastime of photographing mostly empty parking lots on Black Friday.  https://mobile.twitter.com/hashtag/BlackFridayParking?src=hash