Guide includes recommendations and requirements to create safer, more accessible parking facilities for all users
WHEATON, Md.: The Montgomery County Planning Department, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), presented the Montgomery County Parking Facility Design Guide to the Montgomery County Planning Board, also part of the Commission, during the Board’s meeting today. The guide provides a comprehensive framework for designing and retrofitting privately and county-owned parking lots and parking garages to improve safety, accessibility, mobility, and sustainability across Montgomery County. The project was supported by a $120,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation that Montgomery Planning won in 2023.
Following its review of the guide at today’s meeting, the Planning Board provided comments that will be incorporated into the final version of the guide, which will be posted on Montgomery Planning’s website.
“The way we design parking facilities has a direct impact on how comfortably and confidently people navigate these facilities and access nearby amenities,” said Montgomery Planning Director Jason K. Sartori. “This guide provides practical, data-driven solutions that will help create parking facilities that are safer for everyone, support the county’s environmental goals, and better connect people to where they live, work, and visit.”
Parking facilities are a critical link between transportation networks and the destinations people visit every day. Despite the relatively low travel speeds within them, parking facilities present significant safety risks. On average, approximately 125 people a year were struck by vehicles in parking lots and parking garages between 2016 and 2024 (excluding 2020 and 2021) in Montgomery County. During that period, there were five fatalities (all pedestrians) and 1,532 reported injuries from crashes in parking facilities. (Data source: Montgomery County Police Department).
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Vehicle crashes involving pedestrians in parking facilities were more common than bicycle crashes, with 977 pedestrian crashes compared with 93 bicyclist crashes between 2016 and 2024.
A resource for safer, more accessible design
The Montgomery County Parking Facility Design Guide is intended to serve as a resource for developers, engineers, planners, transportation professionals, and policymakers as they design and retrofit parking lots across the county. The guide highlights requirements and identifies recommendations for both surface parking lots and structured parking garages, informing decisionmakers about site design, the movement of vehicles and people (circulation), accessibility, amenities, green infrastructure, and more.
Supporting Vision Zero and county goals
The guide supports Montgomery County’s Vision Zero commitment with parking-facility designs that reduce the risk of serious and fatal crashes. It also advances county goals related to accessibility, climate action, clean water, and creating human-scaled places that foster community connections.
Recommendations are grounded in the Safe System Approach that recognizes that people make mistakes and are vulnerable to injury, and that transportation facilities should be designed to minimize conflicts and reduce harm when crashes occur.
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Key design principles include:
- Minimizing conflict points between vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists.
- Reducing vehicle speeds in areas with high pedestrian activity.
- Prioritizing pedestrian and bicycle access.
- Creating connected networks of walkways and bikeways.
- Improving visibility and wayfinding.
- Designing for older adults, children, and people with disabilities.
Preparing the guide
Montgomery Planning, working in collaboration with project consultant Toole Design, reviewed county crash data, national parking-facility safety research, industry best practices, and existing county requirements. The effort involved regular meetings with an interagency stakeholder group, including representatives from various divisions of the Montgomery County Department of Transportation, Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services, Montgomery Parks, and Montgomery County Public Schools. The guide was also informed by outreach to the Montgomery County Commission on People with Disabilities to better understand safety and accessibility challenges experienced by people with disabilities.
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