Strategies for More Efficient Use of Parking Resources

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Updated September 4, 2007

This chapter describes various management strategies that result in more efficient use of parking resources, including sharing, regulating and pricing of parking facilities, more accurate requirements, use of off-site parking facilities, improved user information, and incentives to use alternative modes. For more information see Parking Management: Strategies, Evaluation and Planning.

Description. 2

Share Parking. 2

Regulate Parking Use. 2

More Accurate and Flexible Parking Standards. 3

Parking Maximums. 4

Remote Parking and Park & Ride. 4

Improve User Information and Marketing. 5

Smart Growth and Location Efficient Development 5

Improve Walkability. 5

Transportation Management Associations and Parking Brokerage. 6

Increase Capacity of Existing Parking Facilities. 6

Implement TDM Programs. 7

Price Parking. 7

Commuter Financial Incentives (Parking Cash Out and Transit Benefits) 8

Unbundle Parking. 9

Tax Parking Facilities or Their Use. 9

Control Parking Passes. 10

Bicycle Parking. 10

Develop Overflow Parking Plans. 10

Address Spillover Problems. 10

Parking Facility Design. 11

How It Is Implemented. 12

Travel Impacts. 13

Benefits And Costs. 14

Equity Impacts. 16

Applications. 17

Category. 17

Relationships With Other TDM Strategies. 17

Stakeholders. 18

Barriers To Implementation. 18

Best Practices. 18

Examples and Case Studies. 19

References And Resources For More Information. 23

Description

Parking Management includes a variety of strategies that encourage more efficient use of existing parking facilities, improve the quality of service provided to parking facility users and improve parking facility design. Parking Management can help address a wide range of transportation problems (see Parking Evaluation and Parking Solutions), and help achieve a variety of transportation, land use development, economic, environmental objectives. Specific Parking Management strategies are described below.

Specific parking management strategies are described below.

Share Parking

Sharing parking spaces typically allows 20-40% more users compared with assigning each space to an individual motorist, since some potential users are usually away at any particular time. For example, 100 employees can typically share 60-80 parking spaces, since at any particular time some employees are on leave, away on business, or using an alternative commute mode. Even greater reductions are possible with mixed land uses, since different activities have different peak demand times. For example, a restaurant can share parking with an office complex, since restaurant parking demand peaks in the evening while office parking demand peaks during the middle of the day. Public parking facilities, including on-street parking spaces, can usually be shared efficiently among many destinations.

In lieu fees allow developers to pay into a fund for off-site municipal parking facilities instead of providing their own on-site parking (Shoup, 1999a). This results in more efficient Shared Parking facilities, and allows parking facilities to be located where they most optimal for urban design.

The appropriate number of motorists that can be assigned to a particular number of parking spaces depends on several factors. In general, the more diverse the users and the larger the facility, the more parking spaces can be shared.

Regulate Parking Use

Parking facilities can be managed and regulated to encourage more efficient use of parking resources and more efficient travel. This often involves making the most convenient parking spaces available to certain higher-value uses. Below are typical strategies.

· Regulate based on the type of vehicles or users. For example, during peak periods dedicate the most convenient spaces for service vehicles, customers, Rideshare vehicles, and vehicles used by Disabled People.

· Limit parking duration (5-minute loading zones, 30-minutes adjacent to shop entrances, 1- or 2-hour limits for on-street parking in commercial areas), to encourage turnover and favor shorter-term users (since higher priority trips, such as deliveries and shopping, tend to park for shorter duration than lower priority trips).

· Encouraged employees to use less convenient parking spaces (such as parking lots at the urban fringe) during peak periods, in order to leave the most convenient spaces for customers. Develop a system to monitor use of parking facilities and send reminders to employees who violate these guidelines.

· Charge higher Parking Prices and shorter payment periods for more convenient spaces. For example, in prime central locations charge 25¢ for each 15-minute period with a two-hour maximum, while at the fringe charge $2.00 for 4-hours, with no smaller time periods available.

· Implement more flexible Pricing Methods which allow motorists to pay for only the amount of time they park, which makes shorter parking periods relatively attractive.

· Limit use of on-street parking to area residents, or provide discounts to residents for priced parking.

· Limit on-street parking of large vehicles (e.g., vehicles over 22 feet long or trailers) to ease traffic flow and discourage use of public parking for storage of commercial vehicles.

· Prohibit on-street parking on certain routes at certain times (such as on arterials during rush hour), to increase traffic lanes.

More Accurate and Flexible Parking Standards

Current parking requirements are often inflexible and generous, applied with little consideration to specific geographic and demographic factors that affect parking demand at a particular location (Shoup, 1999; CTR, 1999; Litman, 1999; Millard-Ball, 2002). Parking requirements are based on parking generation studies that are mostly performed at new, suburban sites with unpriced parking, resulting in standards that tend to be excessive in urban areas with more multi-modal transportation, where parking is priced, and at sites with TDM programs (Shoup, 2002). Current minimum parking standards are often inflexible, applied with little consideration to specific geographic, demographic, economic and management conditions.

In many situations, parking standards for new facilities, and the supply of parking at existing facilities, can be reduced without creating significant parking problems, particularly if implemented as part of an integrated parking management program. More accurate and flexible parking requirements means that parking standards reflect the parking demand and costs at a particular location, taking into account geographic, demographic, economic and management factors. This allows parking requirements to be reduced in exchange for implementation of specific parking and mobility management strategies, such as:

· Shared Parking.

· Regulations that encourage more efficient parking facility use.

· Priced Parking and Parking Cash Out.

· Overflow parking plans to deal with occasional peaks.

· Transit and Rideshare improvements.

· Smart Growth that increases land use Accessibility.

· Other TDM strategies that affect Parking Demand

Parking Maximums

Some communities limit on the maximum amount of parking capacity allowed at particular sites or within a particular area, particularly in growing Commercial Centers (Millard-Ball, 2002; Manfille and Shoup, 2004). This can be in addition to, or instead of, minimum parking requirements that are commonly imposed. Below are some examples (K.T. Analytics, 1995):

· Portland. In 1975, the City of Portland set an overall cap of approximately 40,000 parking spaces downtown, including existing and new parking facilities. The cap was increased to about 44,000 spaces by the 1980’s and increased again in the 1990’s. The City is generally satisfied with its parking policies and believes it has helped increase transit use from 20-25% in the early 1970’s to 48% in the mid-1990’s.

· San Francisco. The city of San Francisco’s “Transit First” policy allows parking to consume only up to seven percent of a building’s gross floor and new buildings must have an approved parking plan prior to receiving an occupancy permit. In some cases, only short term parking is approved; in another, a mix of long, short and carpool parking was approved. This policy has helped prevent increased peak vehicle traffic despite considerable office growth.

· Boston. In 1977, the City of Boston adopted a freeze on commercial parking open to the public, but not parking reserved for individuals or a company use within office buildings. While the number of commercial spaces have not increased, there was a 26% increase in exempt spaces between 1984 and 1987 alone and motor vehicle traffic increased dramatically along major corridors to the city.

· Seattle. The City of Seattle allows a maximum of one parking space per 1,000 sq. ft. of downtown office space.

Remote Parking and Park & Ride

Remote Parking involves encouraging motorists (particularly commuters and residents) to use off-site or fringe parking facilities (typically located a few blocks from a Commercial Center), so the most convenient spaces are available for priority users (such as service vehicles and customers). Motorists usually prefer the closest parking location, but given a choice some will park further away to save on parking fees. In some situations (airports, large entertainment centers, and large commercial centers), Shuttle Services may allow longer distances between parking facilities and destinations. Strategies to accomplish this include:

· Information (signs, maps and brochures) on remote parking availability.

· Regulations and pricing that encourages long-term parkers to use urban fringe facilities

· Shuttle services, free transit zones and pedestrian facilities to improve access to remote parking facilities.

Park & Ride consists of parking facilities at transit stations, bus stops and highway onramps, particularly at the urban fringe, to facilitate transit and rideshare use. Parking is generally free or significantly less expensive than in urban centers.

Improve User Information and Marketing

Many parking problems result, in part, from inadequate user information and Marketing. Motorists need convenient and accurate information on parking availability and price, including what parking facilities exist near a destination, whether spaces are available in a particular facility at a particular time, the price they will need to pay, and whether there are less expensive alternatives nearby. Produce a Transportation Access Guide that provides concise information on how to access a particular destination by various modes, including parking availability and price. Parking information can include maps, signs, brochures and various types of Electronic Communication systems to provide information to motorists on parking facility location, availability (whether a parking lot is full), service options, and price (FHWA, 2007). This can help improve user convenience and security, increase the functional supply of parking, address many objections to specific parking management strategies. For example, motorists may be less resistant to parking regulation, pricing and reduced supply in a particular location if they can easily obtain information on alternatives parking and travel options that can meet their needs.

Smart Growth and Location Efficient Development

Smart Growth (also called New Urbanism) is a general term for policies that integrate transportation and land use decisions, for example by encouraging more development within existing urban areas where additional growth is desirable, and discouraging low-density, automobile dependent development at the urban fringe. Smart Growth can help create more accessible, less automobile-dependent land use patterns. Smart Growth is an alternative to urban sprawl. Smart Growth tends to reduce per capita vehicle ownership and encourage use of alternative travel modes, and so it can reduce parking requirements and support other parking management strategies.

Location Efficient Development means development that is designed and managed to take advantage of more Accessible, multi-modal locations (good walking, cycling and transit). Parking requirements can be reduced in such areas due to reduced automobile ownership and use. Location Efficient Mortgage (LEM) means that lenders take into account transportation cost savings by households that choose more accessible locations when evaluating borrowing ability (Hoeveler, 1997). This encourages infill, multi-modal development.

Improve Walkability

The usable parking supply serving a destination can often be increased by improving Walkability (the quality of the walking environment). Walkability takes into account sidewalk, path and roadway conditions; land use patterns; social acceptance; security and comfort for walking. Improved walking conditions expands the range of Shared Parking, and encourages park once trips, which means that visitors park their vehicles and walk to several destinations, rather than driving to, and parking at, each destination. There are many specific ways to Improved Walkability:

· Improved sidewalks, crosswalks and paths.

· Creating pedestrian shortcuts, such as mid-block paths and connections between dead-end streets.

· Improve facility designs to accommodate special needs, including people using wheelchairs, walkers, strollers and hand carts.

· Provide covered walkways, loading and waiting areas with shade from hot sun and protection from rain.

· Street furniture (e.g., benches) and design features (e.g., human-scale street lights).

· Implement traffic calming, speed reductions and vehicle restrictions.

· Address pedestrian Security Concerns.