Poll
Question:
which is better
Option 1: Angle
votes: 24
Option 2: Perpendicular
votes: 15
I've been a fan of angle parking lots in like Walmarts and malls and I think I like it that way.
For regular stores and businesses, like Target, Food Lion etc. I think perpendicular is better.
I'm not a fan of angled parking but Walmart usually does it the worst. I like to park in the back of a lot and not be near other drivers. Walmart puts concrete medians in which forces you to drive through a one-way row of angled spots which takes the advantage of not dealing with pedestrians away. Worse, Walmart makes their rows very narrow which I think is a lot capacity thing. It's hard to walk in those narrow lanes and it's a little nerve wracking worrying if someone will suddenly appear when attempting to back up. At least with stores like Target the perpendicular parking spaces generally avail more options for navigating the parking lot.
What does the store or business have to do with it? Why would that have anything to do with your preference?
I've read somewhere that, in general, angled parking is less efficient than perpendicular parking in terms of number of parking slots, although there are exceptions depending on the circumstances (shape of the parking lot, how entrances/exits in/out of the lot are located, etc.). But in terms of use, angled parking can have some advantages: It helps force one-way traffic up and down the aisles (obviously not a sure thing) and it can be easier to pull into and back out of (perhaps an advantage for the seemingly-increasing number of people driving gargantuan SUVs and trucks who are incapable of maneuvering them to stay between two painted lines, and also an advantage when space between aisles is narrow).
But it's safer to back in when parking than to back out when leaving, so I prefer perpendicular parking because that makes backing in easier.
As an engineer who has designed a couple of parking lots, typically the aisle width (at least in my Central Jersey neck of the woods) is set by the municipality's land use ordinance. Most of the time, I've pretty much only done perpendicular parking but the advantage that you appear to get with angled parking is reduced required minimum aisle width, mostly because it ends up having to be one-way.
Here's a sample ordinance on aisle width from one town in which I frequently do work:
(https://i.imgur.com/v2TUG3l.png)
Perpendicular. Because drivers often drive the wrong way down an angled aisle, then look at the correct-way driver as if they're the one causing the problem.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on January 01, 2020, 04:30:25 PM
I’m not a fan of angled parking but Walmart usually does it the worst. I like to park in the back of a lot and not be near other drivers. Walmart puts concrete medians in which forces you to drive through a one-way row of angled spots which takes the advantage of not dealing with pedestrians away. Worse, Walmart makes their rows very narrow which I think is a lot capacity thing. It’s hard to walk in those narrow lanes and it’s a little nerve wracking worrying if someone will suddenly appear when attempting to back up. At least with stores like Target the perpendicular parking spaces generally avail more options for navigating the parking lot.
Most of this is set via town/county/state ordinance, not the store. In some cases, Walmart doesn't even own the store or parking lot. Most of the Walmarts I'm familiar with have perpendicular parking, which further lends to the argument that Walmart isn't purposely designing angled parking lots and preventing cut-thrus.
Definitely angled. Easier to get in and out of. The Walmart in Jackson, Ky., switched from angled to perpendicular several years ago. I understand that the number of police reports for fender-benders went up afterwards. They re-striped a couple of years ago and went back to angled parking. I understand they lost only about 10 spaces because of that.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on January 01, 2020, 05:31:54 PM
Perpendicular. Because drivers often drive the wrong way down an angled aisle, then look at the correct-way driver as if they're the one causing the problem.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on January 01, 2020, 04:30:25 PM
I'm not a fan of angled parking but Walmart usually does it the worst. I like to park in the back of a lot and not be near other drivers. Walmart puts concrete medians in which forces you to drive through a one-way row of angled spots which takes the advantage of not dealing with pedestrians away. Worse, Walmart makes their rows very narrow which I think is a lot capacity thing. It's hard to walk in those narrow lanes and it's a little nerve wracking worrying if someone will suddenly appear when attempting to back up. At least with stores like Target the perpendicular parking spaces generally avail more options for navigating the parking lot.
Most of this is set via town/county/state ordinance, not the store. In some cases, Walmart doesn't even own the store or parking lot. Most of the Walmarts I'm familiar with have perpendicular parking, which further lends to the argument that Walmart isn't purposely designing angled parking lots and preventing cut-thrus.
Almost every city I've lived in doesn't have a local parking lot configuration on parking lot orientation but 9 out of 10 times a Walmart lot will still be laid out with angled. The hard median is definitely a Walmart angled lot trope, usually you only see those in office complexes. It wouldn't be so bad if there wasn't a commonality of hard medians. I want to say Scottsdale had an angled ordinance but stores like Target would build them without a concrete median. In those cases it wasn't so bad since I could still park in the back and pull a U-Turn through the spot ahead rather than be forced to the front of the store.
Angled is worlds better, You can get in and out way easier. With perpendicular, large vehicles have to do some odd maneuvers to even get in the spaces, and just because its way more difficult to get into an perpendicular space, the likelihood of side-scrape accidents is greatly increased
I have mixed feelings. In general, I think angled parking USUALLY seems to promote better driver behavior. It also reduces the number of times you encounter the back-in crowd who don't use blinkers and just expect you to know they'll randomly stop and throw it in reverse. But the most annoying thing is when you get someone who is determined to back into a space in an angled parking facility despite the much sharper angle involved.
Second most annoying may be when someone pulls through to face out in an angled facility that lacks the concrete blocker things and then drives the wrong way down the drive aisle to exit and expects everyone else to stay out of his way. I often like to pull through, except at the grocery store (because I want easy access to the trunk and I don't like pushing the cart between parked cars), so that's one strike against angled parking for me because I won't usually do it in angled lots if the drive aisles are marked for one-way traffic. (The grocery store is the #1 place where backing in makes no sense to me because it's by far the place where you're most likely to be putting a decent amount of stuff in the trunk.)
angled is best already enough knuckleheads to deal with you don't have to look two directions and hope someone is not tearing through at 30
I don't think I've ever seen an angled lot allow two-way traffic, though that doesn't stop people from doing so anyways.
I've actually pulled through in angled lots a couple times, when I'm confident that there's enough room to get out of the spot and still drive the correct way (though this can involve some backing up, but save a ton of distance on driving depending on how the lot is configured).
I think I've seen two-way angled lots (where the spaces look like slants instead of Vs).
I don't like angled aisles because of the wrong-way confusion they always generate (as mentioned upthread).
This is the worst of both worlds I think, angled with two-way aisles. https://www.google.com/maps/@35.1555059,-79.4168545,183m/data=!3m1!1e3 For whatever reason it's quite popular in this particular area. So you get the capacity reduction from angled spots, AND you still need wide aisles. Plus half the spots are going to require a greater than 90-degree turn to get into or pull out of. I GUESS maybe it gives a narrower aisle than 90-degree spots, and it gives an out for anyone who pulls through so they're not facing the wrong way down a one-way aisle, but I don't really buy it. The beauty of angled parking is you have one-way traffic in the aisles, and easy pull-in back-out maneuvers (though ruined by anyone who backs in or pulls through). I still don't think you can get as much capacity as 90-degree parking though, even with the narrower aisles. We're talking about <10% difference, but that adds up.
The Wal-Mart up the street does angled parking mostly right, but still does the wonky two-way thing on the last couple aisles on the north side.
https://www.google.com/maps/@35.1601568,-79.4235629,219m/data=!3m1!1e3
Most other large lots in the area that have angled parking do it the weird way.
https://www.google.com/maps/@35.1792311,-79.431101,258m/data=!3m1!1e3
https://www.google.com/maps/@35.1576427,-79.4119611,151m/data=!3m1!1e3
https://www.google.com/maps/@35.4849783,-79.2008596,207m/data=!3m1!1e3
Like why did the Jacksonville Mall in North Carolina changed from angle parking to perpendicular parking?
Perpendicular to discourage people from driving ridiculously large vehicles- why subsidize their inefficient choice with wasted asphalt?
I selected angled on the poll. In reality, I have no strong preference. Angled parking is good for parking spaces that are located along one-way driveways. Usually, I associate retail parking with perpendicular spaces.
Is back in angle parking an option? That is the best in my opinion. Easier to get in and out.
Quote from: CardInLex on January 02, 2020, 07:19:11 PM
Is back in angle parking an option? That is the best in my opinion. Easier to get in and out.
Required on Erie Blvd in Syracuse, NY.
Quote from: CardInLex on January 02, 2020, 07:19:11 PM
Is back in angle parking an option? That is the best in my opinion. Easier to get in and out.
I was thinking about regular parking lots.
I voted for perpendicular. I don't want to have to skip a lane with an empty spot just because the angle is wrong.
However, realizing that angle parking may allow for a greater number of spots, I'm not opposed to it.
Can we mention on-street parking? South Bend is changing their parking on Michigan St. to angled parking:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic-30.sinclairstoryline.com%2Fresources%2Fmedia%2Fd7421e48-71f3-464c-89b9-dbd02ec95ea7-large16x9_michiganstreetsouthbendtribphoto.PNG%3F1556246023385&hash=48e2d04d171eb495a6cfdfbd6f5380ad63bb65ed)
https://wsbt.com/news/local/south-bend-to-add-angled-street-parking-four-way-stops-to-downtowns-michigan-st
Quote from: tradephoric on January 03, 2020, 11:19:05 AM
Can we mention on-street parking? South Bend is changing their parking on Michigan St. to angled parking:
[img
https://wsbt.com/news/local/south-bend-to-add-angled-street-parking-four-way-stops-to-downtowns-michigan-st
Not sure which would be more appropriate for that:
1. This thread, which is specifically about parking lots
2. The existing
thread (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=15488.msg2063049#msg2063049) specifically about back-in angle parking
3. Starting a new thread
Anything but parallel :bigass:
Between the two I prefer angled when it's along a street. Otherwise, Perpendicular. Because makes it easier to exit the space in any direction.
Quote from: ozarkman417 on January 03, 2020, 11:50:03 AM
Anything but parallel :bigass:
Between the two I prefer angled when it's along a street. Otherwise, Perpendicular. Because makes it easier to exit the space in any direction.
Angle parking on a street only when it's back-in parking. Backing out of an angle space onto an active street, especially when you're in a small sedan and there are 'road behemoth" sized SUVs or pickup trucks in the adjacent spaces, is not one of my favorite experiences.
Quote from: roadman on January 03, 2020, 12:47:20 PM
Angle parking on a street only when it's back-in parking. Backing out of an angle space onto an active street, especially when you're in a small sedan and there are 'road behemoth" sized SUVs or pickup trucks in the adjacent spaces, is not one of my favorite experiences.
How is backing out of an angled spot any worse than backing out of a perpendicular spot along the street (such as the
South Bend example (https://goo.gl/maps/5Zjrv8cV7pexxPoL6) posted by
tradephoric)?
Quote from: kphoger on January 03, 2020, 12:59:37 PM
Quote from: roadman on January 03, 2020, 12:47:20 PM
Angle parking on a street only when it's back-in parking. Backing out of an angle space onto an active street, especially when you're in a small sedan and there are 'road behemoth" sized SUVs or pickup trucks in the adjacent spaces, is not one of my favorite experiences.
How is backing out of an angled spot any worse than backing out of a perpendicular spot along the street (such as the South Bend example (https://goo.gl/maps/5Zjrv8cV7pexxPoL6) posted by tradephoric)?
First time I've seen perpendicular spots on a through street. And my advice is the same, back into the space instead of having to back out.
Quote from: roadman on January 03, 2020, 01:02:49 PM
Quote from: kphoger on January 03, 2020, 12:59:37 PM
Quote from: roadman on January 03, 2020, 12:47:20 PM
Angle parking on a street only when it's back-in parking. Backing out of an angle space onto an active street, especially when you're in a small sedan and there are 'road behemoth" sized SUVs or pickup trucks in the adjacent spaces, is not one of my favorite experiences.
How is backing out of an angled spot any worse than backing out of a perpendicular spot along the street (such as the South Bend example (https://goo.gl/maps/5Zjrv8cV7pexxPoL6) posted by tradephoric)?
First time I've seen perpendicular spots on a through street. And my advice is the same, back into the space instead of having to back out.
So you were comparing angled street parking to parallel parking? but I was reading it as a comparison of angled street parking and perpendicular street parking.
Quote from: roadman on January 03, 2020, 01:02:49 PM
Quote from: kphoger on January 03, 2020, 12:59:37 PM
Quote from: roadman on January 03, 2020, 12:47:20 PM
Angle parking on a street only when it's back-in parking. Backing out of an angle space onto an active street, especially when you're in a small sedan and there are 'road behemoth" sized SUVs or pickup trucks in the adjacent spaces, is not one of my favorite experiences.
How is backing out of an angled spot any worse than backing out of a perpendicular spot along the street (such as the South Bend example (https://goo.gl/maps/5Zjrv8cV7pexxPoL6) posted by tradephoric)?
First time I've seen perpendicular spots on a through street. And my advice is the same, back into the space instead of having to back out.
Heh. The reason why a lot of drivers do not is because they're afraid of damaging other cars.
That said, it is done frequently in snowier areas because it's easier to drive out over the inevitable banks.
In Wichita, it is illegal to back into a public parking space (not enforceable on private lots) because we don't have rear license plates.
Quote from: Rothman on January 03, 2020, 02:57:58 PM
Quote from: roadman on January 03, 2020, 01:02:49 PM
Quote from: kphoger on January 03, 2020, 12:59:37 PM
Quote from: roadman on January 03, 2020, 12:47:20 PM
Angle parking on a street only when it's back-in parking. Backing out of an angle space onto an active street, especially when you're in a small sedan and there are 'road behemoth" sized SUVs or pickup trucks in the adjacent spaces, is not one of my favorite experiences.
How is backing out of an angled spot any worse than backing out of a perpendicular spot along the street (such as the South Bend example (https://goo.gl/maps/5Zjrv8cV7pexxPoL6) posted by tradephoric)?
First time I've seen perpendicular spots on a through street. And my advice is the same, back into the space instead of having to back out.
Heh. The reason why a lot of drivers do not is because they're afraid of damaging other cars.
That said, it is done frequently in snowier areas because it's easier to drive out over the inevitable banks.
I do it because it's easier to see other traffic (including pedestrians) if you pull out rather than back out. And, the risk of me hitting another car while backing in to a space is less than the risk of somebody hitting me as I'm backing out, especially if my view is blocked by vehicles in the adjacent spaces.
Quote from: kphoger on January 03, 2020, 03:00:51 PM
In Wichita, it is illegal to back into a public parking space (not enforceable on private lots) because we don't have rear license plates.
Just a wild guess, but I assume you mean "because we don't have
front license plates"?
That said, I would not want having - or not having - a front license plate be the deciding factor for whether I park head in or head out.
Quote from: kphoger on January 03, 2020, 12:59:37 PM
Quote from: roadman on January 03, 2020, 12:47:20 PM
Angle parking on a street only when it's back-in parking. Backing out of an angle space onto an active street, especially when you're in a small sedan and there are 'road behemoth" sized SUVs or pickup trucks in the adjacent spaces, is not one of my favorite experiences.
How is backing out of an angled spot any worse than backing out of a perpendicular spot along the street (such as the South Bend example (https://goo.gl/maps/5Zjrv8cV7pexxPoL6) posted by tradephoric)?
With perpendicular parking, you only have to turn your head 90° to each side; while backing out at an angle you have to turn your body more awkwardly, and the rear pillar may obstruct your view.
A year and a half ago, I was backing out of an angled space on Main St in Hornell NY. I got so twisted around trying to see past the rear pillar and the SUV in the next space, that I got my feet tangled up and stepped on the gas instead of the brake. Of course, the car I hit had to be a
Ferrari. X-(
Then there is Seattle parking. They use diagonal striping but in reverse, making it necessary to back into the the parking spot.
Quote from: GenExpwy on January 04, 2020, 03:25:02 AM
Quote from: kphoger on January 03, 2020, 12:59:37 PM
Quote from: roadman on January 03, 2020, 12:47:20 PM
Angle parking on a street only when it's back-in parking. Backing out of an angle space onto an active street, especially when you're in a small sedan and there are 'road behemoth" sized SUVs or pickup trucks in the adjacent spaces, is not one of my favorite experiences.
How is backing out of an angled spot any worse than backing out of a perpendicular spot along the street (such as the South Bend example (https://goo.gl/maps/5Zjrv8cV7pexxPoL6) posted by tradephoric)?
With perpendicular parking, you only have to turn your head 90° to each side; while backing out at an angle you have to turn your body more awkwardly, and the rear pillar may obstruct your view.
A year and a half ago, I was backing out of an angled space on Main St in Hornell NY. I got so twisted around trying to see past the rear pillar and the SUV in the next space, that I got my feet tangled up and stepped on the gas instead of the brake. Of course, the car I hit had to be a Ferrari. X-(
A Ferrari in Hornell?
I've never especially liked on-street angled parking, but then I'm very good at parallel parking (taught myself how to do it because it's not required to get a license in Virginia).
There are a few places in DC where they allow angled "back-in, pull-out" parking (those are the words the signs use) on Sunday mornings in areas otherwise designated for parallel parking; the reason for the different rule on Sunday is to squeeze in more cars near churches. People do a horrible job of parking when that rule is in effect. You often see varied angles, cars sticking out too far, other cars backed in so far that they protrude across the sidewalk, etc. People also routinely get tickets for overstaying–the diagonal parking ends at 2 PM, but people don't always move by then. Tomorrow will be a good example: G Street across from Verizon Center allows the back-in diagonal parking until 2:00 on Sundays, and tomorrow there's a hockey game beginning at 12:30. Invariably when that happens, some people going to the game park diagonally and get ticketed because the game doesn't end until closer to 3:00. I view that as user error, not reading the signs–suck it up and walk a longer distance or just pay to park in a garage, though I do understand why people want to take advantage of the lack of meter fees on Sunday. (You can also get a ticket if you don't back in when this rule is in effect and if your car is parallel parked, even if it were parallel parked before the diagonal parking kicks in.)
San Jose parking lots are all over the map; even the regional Walmarts differ (Almaden: perpendicular, Milpitas: angled -- but the latter is shared space with the McCarthy Ranch shopping complex). Almost all parking places in industrial parks are perpendicular, including the one where my business is located (and when the spaces fill up before I get there, it's back to parallel parking in front of my rollup door!). Even then, when parking in the supplied spaces there, I back in -- it's upslope to the buildings (my aisle is also the park drainage!), so it's easier getting out after dark. But, all in all, when it comes to shopping areas, I'll always take the angled approach -- easier to back out, particularly when my little old Camry is sandwiched in between a couple of Expeditions with, of course, the resultant loss of visuals regarding traffic in the aisle. Almost gotten hit a couple of times in local complexes since, at least in this area, drivers are loath to yield to those backing out of spaces (a "side" problem that may warrant discussion!).
Quote from: dlsterner on January 03, 2020, 11:00:42 PM
Quote from: kphoger on January 03, 2020, 03:00:51 PM
In Wichita, it is illegal to back into a public parking space (not enforceable on private lots) because we don't have rear license plates.
Just a wild guess, but I assume you mean "because we don't have front license plates"?
That said, I would not want having - or not having - a front license plate be the deciding factor for whether I park head in or head out.
Yes, that's definitely what I meant. Thank you. But maybe you misinterpreted: having a front license plate or not is not the determining factor. Being in Wichita is the determining factor. It's a city ordinance. But the reason for the ordinance is that Kansas doesn't use front license plates.
Quote from: GenExpwy on January 04, 2020, 03:25:02 AM
while backing out at an angle you have to turn your body more awkwardly
Depends which way you turn your head, doesn't it?
Quote from: Rothman on January 04, 2020, 10:58:55 AM
Quote from: GenExpwy on January 04, 2020, 03:25:02 AM
Quote from: kphoger on January 03, 2020, 12:59:37 PM
Quote from: roadman on January 03, 2020, 12:47:20 PM
Angle parking on a street only when it's back-in parking. Backing out of an angle space onto an active street, especially when you're in a small sedan and there are 'road behemoth" sized SUVs or pickup trucks in the adjacent spaces, is not one of my favorite experiences.
How is backing out of an angled spot any worse than backing out of a perpendicular spot along the street (such as the South Bend example (https://goo.gl/maps/5Zjrv8cV7pexxPoL6) posted by tradephoric)?
With perpendicular parking, you only have to turn your head 90° to each side; while backing out at an angle you have to turn your body more awkwardly, and the rear pillar may obstruct your view.
A year and a half ago, I was backing out of an angled space on Main St in Hornell NY. I got so twisted around trying to see past the rear pillar and the SUV in the next space, that I got my feet tangled up and stepped on the gas instead of the brake. Of course, the car I hit had to be a Ferrari. X-(
A Ferrari in Hornell?
Yep, a 2012 owned by a guy in Hornell. I'm not enough of a car guy to say what model, but I recognized that yellow shield in a tenth of a second. I've also seen a Rolls-Royce at the Corning Wegmans.
Rarely see angled parking. But, I did find one small one in downtown Edmonton last summer. It was a hassle trying to figure out which way to go to match the angle.
Perpendicular parking is easy and, if you hate backing up, find one that has both stalls empty, Then drive through to the far stall and park, do your business, and drive ahead out. BTW, plates are only at the rear in Alberta and no law requiring plates to be facing out.
Pretty much seen it all in Tacoma:
Pull-in angle parking and reverse angle parking? Check and check (https://goo.gl/maps/3nHxnaAFr6ugjhsW9)
Perpendicular parking along a four-lane arterial? Check (https://goo.gl/maps/BHcWaRBU5TAVBpUh6).
My general preference is for perpendicular parking because I can back in. But I usually design angle parking because you can cram in more stalls (usually), which is necessary to meet local zoning requirements.
Ever since we were babies, every time we go out, whether it be as drivers or riders, the destination usually involves parking. Reading some of the posts on this thread, I can only shake my head at how difficult it is for some road enthusiasts, who cringe at signage not using the proper font or everyday signage not being up to proper standards, can't figure out how to park in a parking lot.
I voted for perpendicular, but I would also be happy with reverse-only angled parking. I remember my Dad had to back out of an on-street angled parking in Paris, ON (street view (https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.1942174,-80.3845502,3a,75y,350.91h,86.56t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sT2_gSwOjsv3tI-1mUI6O-w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656)) and it was pretty dangerous since it's hard to see when you're reversing onto a busy street, especially if you're parked beside a truck.
Quote from: Terry on January 05, 2020, 03:09:59 AM
BTW, plates are only at the rear in Alberta and no law requiring plates to be facing out.
It's not a Kansas law. It's a Wichita law, and it only applies to public lots.
That is to say, it would be the equivalent of Red Deer having a municipal ordinance dictating which way you have to park.
Don't really care as long as the spaces are wide enough. Too often, local ordinances regarding lines have exceptions from grandfather clauses and zoning exemptions, or enforcement is lax-to-nonexistent. There may not even be ordinances/ enforcement for unincorporated or rural areas.
I've driven mostly smaller cars my entire life. So I usually back into perpendicular slots so I can see better when I leave between the SUVs, oversized pickups, and minivans at Costco.
It's really funny, but Smoke Tree Village here in Palm Springs has both. It's perp along the west side near Sunrise except for spaces around the closed bank on the corner. Then there's angle in front of the smaller shops/restaurants area in the middle before going back to perp in front of Ralph's and hardware store and finally angle again around the Bank of America and the little bit directly in front of the hardware store. The BoA may be a separate property, but the rest is all Smoke Tree Village.
Downtown Paso Robles, California is a good example of parallel parking along main streets and angled parking along the side-streets:
(https://i.imgur.com/3bUmIzv.png)
https://www.google.com/maps?ll=35.62804,-120.69043&z=18&t=h
Quote from: hbelkins on January 01, 2020, 05:34:33 PM
Definitely angled. Easier to get in and out of. The Walmart in Jackson, Ky., switched from angled to perpendicular several years ago. I understand that the number of police reports for fender-benders went up afterwards. They re-striped a couple of years ago and went back to angled parking. I understand they lost only about 10 spaces because of that.
I keep thinking back to this post.
When they switched from angled to perpendicular, did they change the width of the aisles or length of the stalls? Mr. Matte in Reply #3 posted the perfect guideline to parking lot measurements. If they went from angled to perp but kept it in the same footprint, there would've been a loss of at least 4 feet of aisle space for vehicles to back up, which is significant in a small space. The parking stalls may be smaller lengthwise as well, so vehicles, especially longer ones, would have a tendency to stick out, further reducing available aisle space.
Using this site, it gives a great image of how many vehicles would fit in a similar area. https://my-scalecloud.tumblr.com/post/86359102192/via-36310080-parking-design-standards . If you look at the perp row, there's 10 parking spots in that row. However, in the angled parking aisle next to it, only 7.5 spots fit in the same area. Since you mentioned they only lost about 10 spots in total across what is normally a large parking lot, that would also indicate they didn't account for the wider width necessary for an angled parking stall. Depending on the angle, a 10' wide angled spot could become an 8.5' perp spot. Less room in a spot; less room between cars, less area to turn and more door dings as a bonus.
So, to put it bluntly, they fucked up when they converted from angled to perpendicular spaces. And I don't blame Walmart for this necessarily - I blame whoever owns that parking lot, and the municipality it's located in. There are very basic, standard ways to lay out a parking lot, but you have to account for a significant spacing modification as well.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on January 07, 2020, 11:26:30 AM
Quote from: hbelkins on January 01, 2020, 05:34:33 PM
Definitely angled. Easier to get in and out of. The Walmart in Jackson, Ky., switched from angled to perpendicular several years ago. I understand that the number of police reports for fender-benders went up afterwards. They re-striped a couple of years ago and went back to angled parking. I understand they lost only about 10 spaces because of that.
I keep thinking back to this post.
When they switched from angled to perpendicular, did they change the width of the aisles or length of the stalls? Mr. Matte in Reply #3 posted the perfect guideline to parking lot measurements. If they went from angled to perp but kept it in the same footprint, there would've been a loss of at least 4 feet of aisle space for vehicles to back up, which is significant in a small space. The parking stalls may be smaller lengthwise as well, so vehicles, especially longer ones, would have a tendency to stick out, further reducing available aisle space.
Width of the aisles. When they were angled, they were one-way. When they switched to perpendicular parking, the aisles became wider and two-way. When they switched back to angled, they became narrower but one-way.
The aerial view (link) (https://goo.gl/maps/d23WjF6NY3Xp6Whn9) shows the old perpendicular parking, before it was re-sealed and re-striped for angled parking.
Note that the spaces at right, which are in front of a grocery store, are still perpendicular even after the main aisles were changed to angled.
The second half of this video examines the efficiency of various parking angles.
Quote from: kphoger on January 06, 2020, 11:36:58 AM
Quote from: Terry on January 05, 2020, 03:09:59 AM
BTW, plates are only at the rear in Alberta and no law requiring plates to be facing out.
It's not a Kansas law. It's a Wichita law, and it only applies to public lots.
That is to say, it would be the equivalent of Red Deer having a municipal ordinance dictating which way you have to park.
Thanks. Unfortunately, reading the various rules in each state or municipality, it's hard to tell who would have a law like Wichita.