Citation

Ratrout N. ITE J. 2009; 79(6): 40-44.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Institute of Transportation Engineers)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Friday prayers are offered at noon at Jahme'ahs (grand mosques) in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. This prayer time attracts a large number of trips and a high demand for parking. This paper highlights a study that was conducted to investigate the relationship between Jahme'ah characteristics and travel patterns of people attracted to them on Fridays, and to suggest a guideline for estimating parking needs. Data were collected from 29 Jahme'ahs in the Al-Khobar region. All vehicles within a 980 ft radius of each Jahme'ah were counted three times: before the noon prayer, at the beginning of the prayer, and after the prayer. The number of attracted vehicles was calculated by averaging the first and third counts, then subtracting this average from the second count. Findings showed that the number of vehicular trips attracted to a Jahme'ah on Fridays at noon is approximately equal to the parking demand during that time. This number was estimated in the study area as 10% of its gross floor area in square meters. A large percentage of the parking demand must be satisfied by off-street parking lots. Current recommendations of providing 2.2 off-street spaces for every 100 sq m of floor area appear to be inadequate. To estimate parking needs, it is suggested that the trip attraction be predicted using the 10 trips/100 sq m rate. The number of spaces that are available within a walking distance should then be determined. This number should be subtracted from the number of attracted trips, with the balance being the required capacity of the off-street parking lot attached to the Jahme'ah.