Symposium on Infrastructure Development and the Environment 2006

7-8 December 2006, SEAMEO-INNOTECH

University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, PHILIPPINES

A REVIEW OF TRIP AND PARKING GENERATION RATES

IN THE PHILIPPINES

Jose Regin F. REGIDOR

Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering

College of Engineering, University of the Philippines
Diliman, Quezon City, 1101 Philippines

Abstract: The practice of transportation engineering and planning has employed trip and
parking generation rates to determine the number of trips generated and attracted by
developments, as well as the required number of parking spaces for facilities. Trip
generation serves as an input to modeling transportation requirements and traffic flows
influenced by the development. For example, a residential condominium may directly
impact traffic within a 10 km radius. Meanwhile, a shopping mall can impact an area of
over 50 km in radius. Thus, it is expected that most trips generated or attracted by the
development would be captured within these influence areas. These trips generated and
attracted are represented by standard rates for trip and parking generation. This paper
reviews the trip and parking generation rates used in transportation practice and research in
the Philippines. The review includes the ascertaining of various rates used in traffic
analysis. An assessment of issues and concerns pertaining to local trip and parking rates are
discussed, and recommendations for future research directions are made based on
information derived for this review.

Keywords: trip generation, parking generation

1. BACKGROUND

The practice of transportation engineering and planning has employed trip and parking
generation rates to determine the number of trips generated and attracted by developments,
as well as the required number of parking spaces for facilities. Trip generation serves as an
input to modeling transportation requirements and traffic flows influenced by the
development. For example, a residential condominium will directly impact traffic within a
10 km radius. Meanwhile, a shopping mall can impact an area of over 50 km in radius.
Thus, it is expected that most trips generated or attracted by the development would be
captured within these influence areas. These trips generated and attracted are represented
by standard rates for trip and parking generation.

This paper reviewed the trip and parking generation rates used in transportation practice
and research in the Philippines. The review included the ascertaining of various rates used
in traffic analysis. Issues and concerns pertaining to local trip and parking rates are
discussed and recommendations for future research directions are made based on
information derived for this review.

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2. TRIP GENERATION

Trip generation rates used in traffic studies are the fundamental inputs to determine the
impacts of developments on the transportation and traffic along road network within their
influence/impact areas. The trip rates are dependent on the intensity of development, where
intensity is generally associated with density. As such, high-rise residential condominiums
are expected to generally produce and attract significantly different larger number of trips
as compared with a residential subdivision comprised of single-detached units.

The trip generation rates shown in Table 1 were derived from the ITE Trip Generation
Manual (1997). Trip rates are stated in vehicle trip ends and given for different land uses
for the peak periods including directional distributions and ranges. Peak hour trip rates are
identified for the morning, afternoon and typical Saturdays. The ITE manual also contains
trip rates stated in terms of typical weekdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. That is, trip
generation rate are also given in terms of “trips per day.”

Table 1. Peak period trip generation rates, in vehicle trips (ITE, 2000)
Peak Range Standard % %
Land Use Average Unit
Period Min Max Deviation In Out
Residential
AM 7.70 3.30 22.70 9.10 /Ha 25 75
Low Density PM 10.20 4.20 29.80 10.50 /Ha 64 36
Sat Peak 9.40 5.00 17.50 9.90 /Ha 54 46
AM 19.25 8.25 56.75 22.75 /Ha 25 75
Medium
PM 25.50 10.50 74.50 26.25 /Ha 64 36
Density
Sat Peak 23.50 12.50 43.75 24.75 /Ha 54 46
AM 38.50 16.50 113.50 45.50 /Ha 25 75
High Density PM 51.00 21.00 149.00 52.50 /Ha 64 36
Sat Peak 47.00 25.00 87.50 49.50 /Ha 54 46

Commercial
AM 110.87 10.76 974.13 150.69 /Ha GLA 61 39
Retail PM 402.57 73.19 3150.60 293.85 /Ha GLA 48 52
Sat Peak 534.97 157.15 1971.95 334.76 /Ha GLA 52 48
AM 349.83 107.64 837.43 334.76 /Ha GLA 50 50
Supermarket PM 1238.93 572.64 2184.00 480.07 /Ha GLA 51 49
Sat Peak 1318.58 579.10 2432.64 498.37 /Ha GLA 51 49

Office/BPO AM 167.92 64.58 643.68 150.69 /Ha GFA 88 12

PM 160.38 52.74 687.81 147.47 /Ha GFA 17 83
Sat Peak 44.13 17.22 168.99 73.19 /Ha GFA 54 46

Institutional
AM 0.21 0.15 0.26 0.21 /Student 80 20
College PM 0.21 0.20 0.46 0.21 /Student 30 70
Sat Peak 0.13 0.108 0.283 0 /Student 50 50
AM 346.60 54.90 1061.32 270.17 /Ha GFA 72 28
High School PM 109.79 29.06 230.35 122.71 /Ha GFA 0 0
Sat Peak 86.11 8.61 223.89 117.33 /Ha GFA 74 26
AM 77.50 8.61 711.49 202.36 /Ha GFA 54 46
Church PM 71.04 22.60 226.04 108.72 /Ha GFA 54 46
Sat Peak 349.83 43.06 2510.14 687.81 /Ha GFA 74 26
AM 142.08 116.25 240.04 0.00 /Ha GFA 66 34
Village Center PM 188.37 148.54 299.24 155.00 /Ha GFA 34 66
Sat Peak 134.55 106.56 234.65 0.00 /Ha GFA 49 51

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 (Table 1 continued…)
Recreational
AM 8 - - - /Ha 80 20
Park PM 30 - - - /Ha 41 59
Sat Peak 16 - - - /Ha 59 41
Golf Course AM 2.22 1.06 4.52 1.48 /Hole 79 21
PM 2.74 1.67 4.11 1.56 /Hole 44 56
Sat Peak 4.59 1.61 7.17 2.03 /Hole 49 51

Industrial Park

AM 88.26 12.92 245.42 110.87 /Ha 86 14

PM 92.57 13.99 317.54 117.33 /Ha 21 79
Sat Peak 37.67 33.37 64.58 64.58 /Ha 32 68

What are actually seen in the ITE Trip Generation manual are figures for different land use
types. The figures include ranges of values (minima and maxima), the applicable period for
the trip rate (weekday, AM peak hour, PM peak hour, etc.), the independent variable (e.g.,
GFA, number of students or employees, etc.) used, the number of specimens used to
establish the rates, and other pertinent information on the trip generation rates. An example
of trip generation rates and regression model for a typical land use is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Example of trip generation rates and equation (ITE, 1987)

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Trip generation rates used in local studies are expressed in person trips. These are
converted to equivalent vehicle trips using assumed vehicle occupancy rates. Person trips
are first classified into private and public trips. Trips expected to use public transport are
further distributed to the different public transport modes (e.g., bus, jeepneys, train) using
estimated mode splits. Examples of local trip generation rates are provided in Table 2.

Table 2. Example of local trip generation rates (in person trips)

Land Use Trip Production Trip Attraction Units
Office 0.0027 0.0176 Trips/m2 of GFA
Commercial 0.0576 0.0735 Trips/m2 of GFA
Hotel 2.00 2.55 Trips/hotel room
Residential 2.42 1.52 Trips/dwelling unit
Mixed Use 0.0172 0.0243 Trips/m2 of GFA
Source: Asiaworld Transportation Planning Study, 1997.

In case of some local traffic studies, the trip rates may not be provided in the reports.
Rather, only the estimated total trip production and attraction are given for the critical peak
periods (i.e., AM and PM peak). Table 3 shows typical information on trips produced and
attracted by a major traffic generator, in this case a large shopping mall.

Table 3. Example of local generated peak person and car trip rates
Generated/ AM Peak PM Peak
Attracted Trips IN OUT IN OUT
Person Trips
Private Mode 2,099 1,042 2,352 2,952
Public Mode 4,898 2,431 5,488 6,887
Equivalent Private
1,050 521 1,176 1,476
Car Trips (pcu/hr)
Source: Traffic Impact Study for SM San Lazaro, 2003

3. PARKING GENERATION

There are a number of relevant laws pertaining to the provision of off-street parking for
different types of development. Among these are the following:

ƒ National Building Code (P.D. 1096) of the Republic of the Philippines

ƒ The Subdivision and Condominium Buyer’s Protective Decree (P.D. 957 and
amended by P.D. 1216)
ƒ The Condominium Act (R.A. 4726)

The National Building Code stipulate the minimum requirements in the number of parking
slots per type of development. Developments are classified into groups and divisions, and
examples of these are provided below:

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ƒ Group A
o Division A-1: Single family and multi-family dwelling units (single-
detached)
o Division A-1: Townhouse buildings regardless of number of storeys
o Division A-2: Multi-family dwelling units located in residential
condominium buildings regardless of number of storeys
ƒ Group B
o Division B-1: Hotels
o Division B-1: Residential hotels and apartels (i.e., apartment-hotels)
o Division B-1: Pension/boarding/lodging houses
ƒ Group C
o Division C-2: Churches and similar places of worship
o Division C-2: Public elementary, secondary, vocational and trade school
o Division C-2: Private elementary, secondary, vocational and trade school
o Division C-2: Public colleges and universities
o Division C-2: Private colleges and universities
ƒ Group D
o Division D-2: Public hospital
o Division D-2: Private hospital
o Division D-3: Nursing homes for ambulatory patients, school and home,
for children over kindergarten age, orphanages and the like
ƒ Group E
o Division E-1: Terminals, inter-modals or multi-modals, depots, and the
like
o Division E-1: Transit stations and the like
o Division E-2: Neighborhood shopping center/supermarket
o Division E-2: Public markets
o Division E-2: Restaurants, fast food centers, bars and beerhouses
o Division E-2: Units located in office, commercial or mixed use
condominium buildings/structures regardless of number of storeys
o Division E-3: Aircraft hangars, open carports and garages, etc.
ƒ Group F
o Division F-1: Industrial buildings, mills, breweries, etc.
ƒ Group G
o Division G-1: Industrial buildings, factories, manufacturing
establishments, mercantile buildings, warehouses, storage bins, power and
water generation/distribution facilities
ƒ Group H
o Division H-1: Public recreational assembly buildings such as auditoria,
theaters/cinemas, etc.
o Division H-4: Covered amusement parks, amusement and entertainment
complexes
ƒ Group I
o Division I-1: Recreational or similar public assembly buildings such as
stadiums, sports complexes, convention centers, etc.
ƒ Group J
o Division J-1: Agriculture-related uses or occupancies
o Division J-2: Other uses not classified in previous sections

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Aside from the minimum requirements under the National Building Code, stricter
regulations are implemented in urban areas. Examples of these are the guidelines for the
Ayala central business district (CBD) and the Ortigas CBD. Table 4 shows a comparison of
minimum parking requirements for the three guidelines in the case of residential
condominiums.

Table 4. Comparison of minimum parking space requirements

MACEA guidelines
National Building Code OCA guidelines (Ortigas):
(Makati):
ƒ 1 pooled slot per 6
living units (units
less than 50 m2
GFA)
ƒ 1 pooled slot per 4 1 slot per 100 m2 GFA 1 slot per 90 m2 GFA
units (units 50-100
m2 GFA)
ƒ 1 slot per unit (units
>100m2 GFA)

Orquina (2003) examined the parking characteristics of residential condominiums in Metro

Manila. The study identified several parameters for parking requirements for such
developments and these are shown in the Table 5. Similar parameters may be identified for
other land use types. The identified parameters will aid in the derivation of suitable parking
generation rates or models that would help in establishing the practical number parking
spaces for particular land uses.

Table 5. Parameters for parking (Orquina, 2003)

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The ITE publishes Parking Generation, a manual similar to Trip Generation. This manual
contains figures specifying ranges of values, applicable periods, number of specimens, and
the appropriate independent variable for estimating parking generation. As in the case of
trip generation, the fitted curve equation is provided together with the correlation
coefficient. Low r2 values elicit a note of caution for the use of the parking rates.

Figure 2. Example of parking generation rates and equation (ITE, 1987)

Parking indices have also been developed by other entities but in cooperation with the ITE.
Table 6 lists parking rates developed by the Urban Land Institute with data from the ITE
and the Traffic Institute of Northwestern University. Such rates are ready to use for parking
studies associated with traffic impact assessments. The indices are simply multiplied to the
estimated magnitude of the independent variable to determine the recommended number of
parking slots.

Table 6. Example of parking indices (converted from original English units)

Land Use Parking generation
Office 32.3 spaces per 1,000 m2 Gross Leasable Area
2 *
53.8 spaces per 1,000 m Gross Leasable Area
2 **
48.4 spaces per 1,000 m Gross Leasable Area
Retail
43.1 spaces per 1,000 m2 Gross Leasable Area***
32.3 spaces per 1,000 m2 Gross Leasable Area****

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 Industrial 0.6 spaces per employee
2.0 spaces per single family dwelling unit
2.0 spaces per multi-family dwelling unit with 3 or more bedrooms
Residential
1.5 spaces per multi-family dwelling unit with 1 or 2 bedrooms
1.0 space per multi-family efficiency dwelling unit
Restaurants 215.3 spaces per 1,000 m2 Gross Leasable Area
Cinemas 0.30 spaces per seat
Hotels 1.25 spaces per room
* 2
Shopping centers over 55,742 m (600,000 square feet)
**
Shopping centers of 37,161 to 55,742 m2 (400,000 to 600,000 square feet)
***
Shopping centers of 2,323 to 37,161 m2 (25,000 to 400,000 square feet)
****
Convenience grocery stores
(Source: Institute of Transportation Engineers, Transportation and Land Development, 1988)

4. OBSERVATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

4.1 Issues and Concerns

The rates shown in this report are representative and illustrative of the trip and parking
generation parameters employed by local transportation engineers and planners. These
were culled from established references (i.e., ITE manuals) and consultants’ study reports.
In the former case, ITE publications are commercially available but not locally (in the
Philippines). As such, ITE manuals are usually expensive to acquire, often only availed by
the larger firms and university libraries. Few firms would have the latest edition; with some
relying on editions published in the 1980’s. It should be noted that newer editions have
been heavily updated and would contain trip and parking rates that are significantly
different from those in the old versions. The revisions were made following trends in the
field of transportation as well as progress in design and analytical concepts and tools.

In the latter case of consultants’ study reports, an observation of particular concern is the
lack of proper referencing for parameters used in trip and parking generation. For parking,
studies would usually point to the minimum requirements stipulated in the National
Building Code and, if applicable, the guidelines of associations like MACEA. While
following the code is only logical and may not be easily disputed, it has been established
that minimum requirements are usually insufficient, especially for large trip generators
(Shoup, 1999). Then there are also other situations that may be taken into consideration.
Among these are instances of residential condominiums where although there are enough
parking spaces provided (minimum or more), they are not occupied due to prohibitive cost
of a slot.

Few reports refer to the ITE trip generation rates. Often, trip rates used in analysis are
claimed to be locally developed values. Yet, there is no mention of their origin or basis.
The client, reviewer or researcher is left in the dark as to who or what institution developed
the rates. Again, such practice is problematic since there is no way to ascertain the validity
of “local” parameters.

A comparison of local rates used in local traffic studies would be futile if the origins of
these rates are not established. Note the tendencies of local consultants of borrowing or
copying rates used by other consultants in their projects. Such practice perpetuates the
possibility of using inappropriate trip generation rates as even clients including reputable

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firms or developers would even insist that the consultants they engaged use rates found in
their archive of projects.

4.2 Availability of Trip and Parking Generation Data for Analysis

Government agencies like the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) do not have
copies of the traffic studies undertaken for major traffic generators. As such, they generally
do not have information on trip rates, making it impossible for them to assess the validity
of input parameters to traffic analysis undertaken to establish traffic management schemes
for the traffic generators. The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) may not
necessarily be equipped with the capacity to evaluate trip rates although it is under the EIA
that they require major developments that traffic impact studies are undertaken. Reports
submitted to the EMB for evaluation are not generally made available to the public though
they are technically for public consumption due to the nature of the reports (e.g., public
interest).

Research on trip and parking generation would have to rely on the generosity and
cooperation of consultants and similar entities for information on trip and parking
generation parameters. This given, it is generally difficult to solicit such information
especially if the trip and parking rates are to be derived from sensitive projects (e.g., large
traffic generators).

5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Local trip and parking rates may be too general for specific development projects. In the
previous Table 2, general land uses are mentioned and disregard possible variations in
development density. Residential developments for example would have varying trip and
parking generation characteristics that cannot be addressed by the rates in Table 2. The
inappropriateness of general trip generation rates is very evident from the perspective of
undertaking traffic impact assessment (TIA) and where such trip rates fail to consider
freight trip generation, as in the case of industrial and commercial land uses.

The ITE manuals and similar materials present more realistic and practical trip and parking
generation rates for use in traffic analysis. These were developed with the thinking that the
established rates might be expanded to take into consideration variations due to local traffic
characteristics and conditions. More importantly, the ITE formulated the methodology for
deriving and establishing local trip rates that would be consistent as well as supplementary
to those that are already published. The methodology was developed in recognition of the
fact that local traffic characteristics and conditions need to be factored in the formulation
of suitable trip and parking generation rates for local use. It is obvious from the findings of
this study that the next step would be to apply the established methodology to local
conditions using local data and then compare and combine derived rates to established
values. Such is a necessary step to confirm a valid set of trip and parking generation rates
for Philippine use. However, it is also necessary to point out that trip generation field
methodology must incorporate public transport trips and not be limited to “vehicle trips”
that are interpreted as private trips. In retrospect, trip generation should be expressed in
terms of person trips rather than vehicle trips.

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 REFERENCES

Institute of Transportation Engineers (1991) Traffic Access and Impact Studies for Site
Development, A Recommended Practice, Prepared by the Transportation Planners
Council Task Force on Traffic Access/Impact Studies, Brian S. Bochner, Chairperson,
Washington, D.C.

Institute of Transportation Engineers (1999) Transportation Planning Handbook, 2nd

Edition, John D. Edwards, Ed., Washington, D.C.

International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences (2001) Traffic Assessment

Study, Tokyo. (Original version in Japanese translated into English)

Institute of Transportation Engineers (1997) Trip Generation, 6th Edition, Washington,

D.C.

Institute of Transportation Engineers (2004) Trip Generation Handbook, Second Edition,

Washington, D.C.

National Center for Transportation Studies Foundation, Inc. (2001) Formulation of

Guidelines for the Traffic Impact Assessment of Urban and Regional Development
Projects in the Philippines, Research funded by the Japan International Cooperation
Agency.

Orquina, C. A., Lidasan, H. S., and Regidor, J. R. F. (2003) “Developing a Parking Supply
Model to Explain Residential Condominium Parking in Metro Manila, Philippines,”
Journal of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol. 5, pp. 1049-1064.

Shoup, D.C. (1999) “The Trouble With Minimum Parking Requirements,”

Transportation Research, Part A, Vol. 33, pp. 549-574.

SMDI Consultants, Inc. (2003) Traffic Impact Study for SM City Dasmariñas, Final
Report.

SMDI Consultants, Inc. (2003) Traffic Impact Study for SM City San Lazaro, Final
Report.

Stover, V.G. and Koepke, F.J. (1988) Transportation and Land Development, Institute
of Transportation Engineers, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Transportation Systems Research, Inc. (1997) Asiaworld Transportation Planning

Study, Final Report.

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