Title
Adoption of Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute All Necessary Documents with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to Accept $742,000 in Grant Funding and Provide the Necessary Local Match for the Demand-Based Parking Pricing and Curb Management Strategies in the Business Districts and Ferry Terminals Project.
This project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15303. (Planning, Building and Transportation 26541642)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jennifer Ott, City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff is requesting that the City Council authorize the City Manager to execute all necessary documents with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) to accept $742,000 in grant funds and the necessary local match to implement the Demand-Based Parking Pricing and Curb Management in the Business Districts and Ferry Terminals Project. On June 6, 2023, the MTC’s full commission voted to award this grant to the City of Alameda (City).
This project consists of a package of strategies including: 1) implement demand-based parking pricing in existing metered and paid parking spaces through incremental, periodic rate changes that are published in advance; 2) create more space for short-term parking, loading, and disability parking in the business districts; 3) guide drivers directly to off-street parking in business districts; and 4) introduce paid parking at the Harbor Bay and Seaplane Lagoon ferry terminals.
This project helps achieve longstanding City goals and the City’s grant proposal included enthusiastic letters of support from entities such as AC Transit, the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA), and the Downtown Alameda Business Association (DABA).
BACKGROUND
This grant will enable the City to fulfill goals and policies set by City Council documents including the Alameda General Plan Mobility Element, Climate Action & Resiliency Plan, Transportation Choices Plan, and the Alameda Point Transportation Management Plan. Using pricing to ensure open spaces at metered spaces and ferry terminals has been City policy since 2018 and earlier. Alameda is well behind several nearby cities on demand-based parking management, with San Francisco beginning this practice in 2011; Berkeley in 2013; and Oakland in 2016.
Timeline of Related City Council Actions 2014-2023
2014: City Council adopted an 85% occupancy goal and approved a study of metered parking on Park Street and Webster Street.
2014: City Council approved the Alameda Point Transportation Management Plan, which called for paid parking at all public parking spaces in Alameda Point as new developments come on line.
2018: City Council adopted the Transportation Choices Plan, which included the following:
• Project 5: Harbor Bay Ferry Terminal Access and Parking Management Improvement (high priority)
• Project 6: Main Street Ferry Terminal Access and Parking Management Improvement (high priority)
• Project 7: Parking Management, including demand-based parking pricing in business districts to achieve an 85% occupancy goal (high priority)
2019: City Council adopted the Climate Action and Resiliency Plan, which quantifies and relies upon the Greenhouse Gas Emissions from parking management projects in the Transportation Choices Plan.
2020: City Council adopted updates to the Alameda Municipal Code (AMC) to allow the Public Works Director to change hourly parking rates within a given parameter to achieve an 85% occupancy goal. At the same time, City Council approved a license plate recognition privacy policy specific to parking enforcement and Alameda’s first license plate reader parking enforcement system is expected to be deployed in the coming months.
2021: City Council adopted the Alameda General Plan Mobility Element with the following policies and actions:
• ME-21a. “Availability. Manage parking pricing to ensure that approximately 15% of public parking is always available [85% occupancy], allowing people to find parking faster and reducing emissions and potential conflicts with pedestrians while drivers circle for parking.”
• ME-21d. “Ferry Terminal Parking Management. Establish daily parking fees at all of Alameda’s regional ferry terminals. Periodically adjust pricing to ensure that some spaces are always available for riders on later boats and to ensure that those with the least resources are eligible for reduced cost parking passes.”
• ME-21c. “On-street Metered Parking and Surface Lots. Utilize parking pricing to encourage one or two open spots on every block, and a few open spots in city-owned surface lots to minimize circling for parking.”
• ME-18c. “Service Quality. Prioritize improvements to improve the efficiency of transit, parking management, and data collection for the purposes of transportation management and improvement.”
2021: City Council approved moving parking enforcement from Police to Public Works and creating a holistic Parking Fund.
2023: In April, City Council accepted the Transportation 2022 Annual Report and 2023 Work Plan. The 2023 Work Plan included the following:
• Implement paid parking at the Harbor Bay and Seaplane Lagoon ferry terminals.
• Implement at least one demand-responsive pricing shift at parking meters in business districts.
• Add new short-term and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) parking zones in business districts.
2023: The draft 2023-2026 City of Alameda Strategic Plan discussed by City Council on September 19 includes the following:
• Implement paid parking at ferry terminals (TIE17)
• Design and construct Civic Center Garage safety improvements (TIE18)
• Implement ADA plan for City programs, facilities parks, streets, and sidewalks (TIE19)
Other Parking Management Capital Grant Recipients
Alameda was one of 6 agencies that received Parking Management Capital Grant awards in a competitive process. The others included:
• City of Oakland: OakPark+ program in various metered parking areas, $1,500,000
• City of Martinez: Parking Meter Program Update in downtown Martinez, $875,000
• Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART): Variable Parking Pricing Project, system-wide, $1,147,000
• Port of San Francisco: Parking Management Pilot in various Port of San Francisco public parking lots, $200,000
• San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA): Pay or Permit Parking Program Expansion in select residential parking permit areas, $1,494,000
Proposals were required to show greenhouse gas emission reductions from the project, so the City did not have the option to focus solely on capital improvements such as at the Civic Center Parking Structure. The City of Fairfield applied but did not receive the grant because, “the application did not meet program requirements of providing greenhouse gas reduction benefits as most of the funds would be directed to improve the physical aspects of the parking facility.”
Letters of Recommendation
The City’s grant proposal included several letters of support. Samples are below.
AC Transit wrote, “Alameda’s proposal includes parking and curb management strategies to reduce congestion and double-parking on Park and Webster Streets. Park Street and Webster Street are utilized by multiple AC Transit lines (including Lines 20, 21, 51A, 78, 96, 631, 663, O, OX, and W) that currently face congestion-related delays. One of AC Transit’s most significant trunk lines is Line 51A, which travels along Webster Street and currently averages over 5,800 daily passengers per weekday with service scheduled to operate as frequently as every 10 minutes.”
DABA wrote, “The scope [of this grant project] includes many elements that will ease congestion and support businesses in our district. Currently… far too many people clog the streets looking for on-street parking, many of whom don’t realize there’s a large parking structure with ample availability nearby. Additionally, delivery and food app drivers are regularly double-parking because there isn’t space available for them when they need it. We work closely with the City on parking issues and support the City’s parking management grant proposal.”
WETA wrote, “Parking management will help ensure that customers arriving for later ferries will be able to find parking spaces in the public lot; help encourage people to take the bus or active modes to the ferry when it’s convenient; and help offset costs for parking lot maintenance and security.”
DISCUSSION
Alameda’s Demand-Based Parking Pricing and Curb Management in Business Districts and Ferry Terminals Project is a package of strategies to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by reducing circling for parking and double-parking, and setting incentives for people to choose other modes of travel. These strategies include: 1) implement demand-based parking pricing in existing metered/paid parking spaces through incremental, periodic rate changes that are published in advance; 2) create more space for short-term parking, loading, and ADA parking; 3) guide drivers directly to off-street parking; and 4) introduce and improve paid parking at ferry terminals.
This implementation grant will cover approximately 80% of the cost for expenses including:
• New pay stations and signs for the ferry terminals
• Parking occupancy data analysis software
• New parking enforcement vehicles
• New automated counter showing real-time available parking spaces in the Civic Center Parking Structure
• New wayfinding signs to the Civic Center Parking Structure and the three City-run parking lots in the Park and Webster Street areas
• Signage, curb painting, and colored meter heads for new curb zones
• Design and printing for outreach materials
• Over $400,000 in staff time
Timing
If City Council approves this Resolution of Support, the City is likely to get authorization to proceed no earlier than March 2024, and will have a 3-5 year window to fulfill the grant starting at that point.
This timing influences timing for a few projects listed in 2023 Transportation Work Plan that City Council accepted in April this year. In order to take advantage of the grant, staff recommends implementing paid parking at the two ferry terminals and the City’s first incremental demand-responsive parking rate adjustment in 2024 rather than 2023 as planned. Staff also recommends implementing a batch of new short-term and ADA parking spaces with the updated striping on Park Street and Webster Street planned for late 2023 or early 2024. After these have been in place for a period of time, grant funds will be used to study land use and ADA needs to determine if any additional painted curb zones are needed, and to implement those zones as identified.
In December 2022, the City of Alameda Transportation Commission endorsed the Alameda Ferry Terminal Parking Pricing Strategy with a baseline rate of $3/day and incremental, periodic (no more than quarterly) demand-based price adjustments above that if needed to ensure parking is available to riders on the last morning ferry. Before starting the paid parking program at ferry terminals, staff will update this strategy and bring it to City Council for review.
With support from the grant, the City will also work with WETA to conduct a public outreach campaign to WETA ferry riders and Alameda community members before launching paid parking at the Seaplane Lagoon and Harbor Bay ferry terminals. This will include communications to riders on-board the ferries in addition to flyers on vehicles, press releases, social media posts, web updates on WETA and City webpages, and other methods.
ALTERNATIVES
• Authorize acceptance of grant funding and execution of all necessary documents; or
• Not approve the grant or execution of the necessary documents, and direct staff to proceed with a different approach. This will either require General Fund dollars to support some of the capital expenses or cause delays as the Parking Fund generates revenues to cover them.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This grant provides $742,000 reimbursement for expenses totaling $927,702, thus the City’s overall match is about 20%. As is common with grants, the City will pay for supplies and staff time and then receive reimbursement from MTC. Over the course of three years, the City’s local match is $99,687 from the Parking Fund plus an in-kind contribution of $86,015 in existing City staff salaries. Staff will include this grant award, both expense and revenue, for City Council approval in the Fiscal Year 2023-24 mid-year budget adjustment.
The City would have incurred many of these expenses without the grant, as these projects fulfill existing plans and policies. In addition, implementation of the grant-funded projects is expected to increase parking revenues from ferry terminal parking, some parking meters, and additional parking enforcement staffing.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
AMC Chapter 8 contains parking prohibitions and Chapter 12 covers public parking regulations and use of the parking fund. California Vehicle Code section 22500 et seq. regulates stopping, standing, and parking of vehicles. AMC Chapter 18, Article III, speaks to street sweeping as part of storm water management. Adoption of this Resolution is consistent with adopted City policies.
Adoption of this Resolution is also consistent with adopted City policies in the 2019 Climate Action and Resiliency Plan, the 2018 Transportation Choices Plan, the 2019 Vision Zero Policy, and the 2014 Alameda Point Transportation Demand Management Plan.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action does not constitute a “project” as defined in CEQA Guidelines Section 15378 and therefore no further CEQA analysis is required.
CLIMATE IMPACT
Parking management plays an important role in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from vehicles. The developing parking program will manage parking and traffic to meet GHG reduction goals. Achieving an 85% occupancy goal means that every block has a couple of open parking spaces, and drivers can park quickly rather than continuing to drive while looking for parking. Reducing double-parking also helps buses run efficiently on commercial corridors, making it that much more viable for people to choose buses over driving.
Consistently enforced paid parking programs can influence mode choice. Free parking provides a powerful incentive to drive; when parking is priced right and enforced for compliance, people are more likely to consider other modes of travel. Parking management also plays a key role in improving street sweeping effectiveness and litter control by providing the street sweepers better access to the curb line. Improved litter collection at the curb line ensures compliance with regulatory litter control programs and improves local flood control resiliency by keeping more litter out of the municipal storm drainage system.
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute all necessary documents with MTC to accept $742,000 in grant funding and provide the necessary local match for the Demand-Based Parking Pricing and Curb Management Strategies in the Business Districts and Ferry Terminals Project.
Respectfully submitted,
Allen Tai, Planning, Building, and Transportation Director
By,
Lisa Foster, Acting Transportation Planning Manager
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Margaret O’Brien, Finance Director
cc: Erin Smith, Public Works Director
Links to referenced documents:
• Alameda General Plan Mobility Element (2021): <https://irp.cdn-website.com/f1731050/files/uploaded/AGP_Chap4_June2022_Amend-1.pdf>
• Climate Action and Resiliency Plan (2019): <https://www.alamedaca.gov/CITYWIDE-PROJECTS/Climate-Action-and-Environmental-Sustainability-in-Alameda/Climate-Action-and-Resiliency-Plan>
• Transportation Choices Plan (2018): <https://www.alamedaca.gov/files/assets/public/departments/alameda/transportation/tcp/tcp_public-final-01_04_2018.pdf>
• Alameda Point Transportation Management Plan (2014): <https://www.alamedaca.gov/files/assets/public/departments/alameda/base-reuse/final-planning-documents/140520-alameda-point-tdm.pdf>
• First adoption of an 85% parking occupancy goal (2014): <https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=1810340&GUID=3D393E9C-973F-4994-B88F-72F383AEFCCE&Options=ID|Text|&Search=85%25>