Studio Davis developed a prototype parking data dashboard using Seattle’s public paid parking occupancy data to show how cities can turn raw curb data into practical management insight. The dashboard connects hourly paid parking records to blockface inventory, making it possible to explore parking conditions by day, hour, subarea, and time period rather than relying on static tables or one-time snapshots.
The project is part data tool and part planning argument. Paid parking data can reveal useful patterns, but it also has limits: payment activity is not always the same thing as actual occupancy. By making those patterns and limitations visible, the dashboard helps focus the real management questions: where is parking consistently full, where is it underused, where does the system need better information, and where could pricing, signage, enforcement, curb allocation, or redevelopment policy do more useful work?
For Studio Davis, the Seattle dashboard is a working example of how parking data, GIS, and planning judgment can fit together. The goal is not just to make a better map. It is to help cities understand what their parking system is doing and identify the next practical move.