Title
Recommendation to Approve Parking Improvements for Park Street and Webster Street Shopping Districts (Public Works 310, 221)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: John A. Russo, City Manager
Re: Recommendation to Approve Parking Improvements for Park Street and Webster Street Shopping Districts
BACKGROUND
In the FY13-14 Capital Improvement Program, the City Council approved a study of metered parking on Park Street and Webster Street. In this interim report, staff proposes a new goal and plan for the parking program, and makes recommendations in four areas:
1. Signage;
2. Equipment;
3. Rates; and
4. Enforcement.
To inform these recommendations, staff collected data and solicited public input, including:
· survey responses from 800+ shoppers, owners, and employees on Park and Webster Streets;
· block-by-block parking occupancy data collected on both Park and Webster Streets three times per day over four days; and
· thirteen meetings over four months with the public, boards of Alameda's business associations, an inter-departmental working group, and the Transportation Commission (TC).
DISCUSSION
Staff proposes to make parking more readily available on Webster Street and Park Street. By better using the existing parking supply, the City will achieve a new goal of freeing up two available parking spaces per block for more shoppers to use. This goal is adapted from renowned parking expert, Dr. Donald Shoup, who recommends a parking occupancy rate of 85% or lower. Occupancy rates above this threshold result in insufficient parking turnover. Insufficient turnover inconveniences shoppers, decreases the number of shoppers who make it to local businesses, and increases greenhouse gas emissions from drivers cruising for parking. In fact, studies show that insufficient parking turnover can cause up to 30% of the traffic in busy shopping districts.
The City is far from achieving occupancies of 85% or less, as shown in the red-colored blocks in Exhibits 1, 2, and 3. Many cities adopting such a goal use pricing as a signal to shape drivers' parking decisions. Put simply, on blocks and parking lots where occupancy rates are high, these cities employ higher meter rates. On blocks and parking lots where occupancy rates are low, meter rates are lower. This price signal helps encourage more cost-conscious drivers to choose lower-demand, lower-priced blocks, and lots. Importantly, these choices help free up available spaces at higher-demand, higher-priced blocks, and lots. With greater turnover, shoppers spend less time cruising for parking and emitting greenhouse gases, and more time shopping.
As shown below, staff is not proposing either decreases or increases in meter rates at this time. Even during peak periods (e.g., Friday and Saturday nights), the Civic Center Parking Structure and the lot on Webster Street both have additional parking capacity. For the next six months, staff instead proposes to use more effective signage to attract drivers from curb parking to these two off-street parking lots.
Staff Recommendations: Based on the data collected and input solicited, staff proposes the following recommendations.
1. Signage
Install guide signs. Staff recommends replacing the current green/white guide signs with blue/white signs to direct motorists to the Civic Center Parking Structure and the off-street lot near Webster Street. See Figure 1. These blue/white signs are clearer, easier to distinguish from neighboring trees, and more recognizable. These guide signs will help drivers better find off-street parking as the Civic Center Parking Structure and off-street lot near Webster Street usually have parking spaces available, even during times of peak demand.
Install electronic signs. To further attract drivers, staff recommends electronic signs at the Civic Center Parking Structure and near Park Street that shows drivers in real-time how many spaces are available. See Figure 2. In the few instances when the structure is full (e.g., movie premieres), these signs will discourage drivers from entering. More often, the electronic signs will attract more drivers to the Parking Structure by showing the availability of parking. See Exhibit 9 for a possible sign location.
2. Equipment: Conduct a "smart" meter trial. Staff proposes to install "smart" meters in two high-occupancy locations. The first is on Webster Street between Haight Avenue and Santa Clara Avenue. The second is on Park Street between Santa Clara Avenue and Central Avenue.
These single-spaced, networked meters accept coins and credit cards, are less expensive than kiosks, alert staff of malfunctions, and are preferred by both shoppers and businesses. A neighboring city's staff strongly recommended the meters. "Smart" meters are remotely programmable. A future increase or decrease in parking meter rates can be accomplished with a few keystrokes on a computer. Changing rates on our current meters requires collecting the meter heads, sending them to a third-party for reprogramming, and re-installation. After the trial, staff will share the results and recommend whether to replace all of the City's 800+ meters with "smart" meters.
Add secure bike parking. To increase parking availability by replacing car trips with bike trips, staff proposes additional secure bike parking on Park and Webster Streets. Public input stressed the importance of secure bicycle parking. City staff, working with pedestrian and bicycle groups, will submit grants this summer for secured bike parking and identify locations for their installation.
3. Rates: Staff proposes to keep current parking rates. Webster Street and its off-street lot are both $1 per hour. On Park Street, curb and off-street parking lots are $1.50 per hour. The rate at the Civic Center Parking Structure is only 75 cents per hour, which, with clearer signage and more awareness, should attract more cost-conscious drivers to park there.
Staff proposes to keep the Civic Center Parking Structure's current monthly permit rates at $35 to park 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and $45 for Monday through Saturday. However, staff proposes to expand the number of monthly parking permits from 18 to as many as 57. Expanding these permits will eliminate the current wait list and attract longer-term parkers from curb parking to the Parking Structure.
4. Enforcement: To promote turnover and better utilize the parking supply, staff proposes to:
· continually enforce time restrictions in the shopping districts;
· refresh curb painting to eliminate any parking enforcement ambiguity due to faded curb paint; and
· clarify with signage that yellow zones for commercial loading are available for non-commercial parking after 6:00 p.m.
Staff is also exploring whether improvements such as gated parking systems in the City's off-street parking lots, including the Parking Structure, might reduce the need for ongoing enforcement.
The Plan: To increase parking availability on Webster Street and Park Street, staff proposes a new goal of freeing up two available parking spaces per block for more shoppers to use. Public Works will assume responsibility for making progress toward the goal. While Public Works is currently responsible for maintaining the parking infrastructure, managing the parking program will require on-going review of parking occupancies on Park and Webster Streets, and periodic improvements to signage, equipment, rates, and enforcement.
With the City Council's adoption, Public Works will implement these recommendations by November 1, 2014; evaluate their effectiveness by February 1, 2015; and begin yearly reporting to the City Council on the parking program no later than April 1, 2015.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The funds for this project are budgeted in the Capital Improvement Program (Fund 310, Project Number 91342), with funds available from the Parking Meter Study (Fund 221). There is no impact to the General Fund.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
Alameda Municipal Code Section 12-13 regulates the City's parking meters.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), this project is Categorically Exempt under CEQA Guidelines Section 15301 (c) Existing Facilities.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation to approve parking improvements for Park Street and Webster Street shopping districts.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert G. Haun, Public Works Department
By,
Liam Garland, Administrative Services Manager
Alan Ta, Assistant Engineer
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Fred Marsh, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. Parking Occupancy Map, Webster Street, Saturday, Mid-day
2. Parking Occupancy Map, Webster Street, Saturday, Evening
3. Parking Occupancy Map, Park Street, Saturday, Evening
4. All Parking Occupancy Maps
5. Surveys
6. Summary of Survey Results for Park Street
7. Summary of Survey Results for Webster Street
8. Public Workshop Comments
9. Possible Location for Electronic Sign
10. Timeline