CHARACTERISTICS OF PARKING PROBLEMS IN URBAN CITIES - CASE STUDY OF THE CITY OF ŠIBENIK WITH PROPOSALS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEM

The increase in the level of population`s motorization of both the Republic of Croatia and the city of Šibenik has led to the problem of stationary traffic and the required number of parking spaces for cars. Due to the lack of free parking spaces in the city center or near the center, many drivers park their cars in the surrounding residential areas of the city, causing discontent among the domicile population and an additional congestion on the streets. City districts are often characterized by illegal parking in the form of occupying driving part of the streets, occupying and turning open public areas into parking spaces. The district Baldekin III in the city of Šibenik is one of the most populous city districts in Šibenik where, in addition to a large number of cars of the domicile population, non-domicile residents park their cars and go to the city center for private and business activities. The predominant mode of parking is the off-street mode of parking in car parks next to residential buildings, and the street mode of parking where owners leave their vehicles along the edge of city streets thus turning originally designed two-way streets into one-way streets. The goal of this paper is to propose a solution to mitigate and solve the problem of parking in the city district Baldekin III by introducing parking fees on street areas, converting some streets into one-way streets, building garages, using smart parking solutions, in order to increase parking capacity, introduce roundabouts and more fluid traffic regulation, relieve the streets, and meet the needs of the domicile population of the city district for free parking spaces. The purpose of this paper is to present the issue of parking in the city district, which in addition to parked domicile cars is congested with parked cars of non-domicile population, and solutions that could alleviate these problems in order to primarily satisfy domicile population.