Contemporary Approaches to Parking Pricing Adam Arnold UrbanTrans ACT Canada Sustainable Mobility Summit 2012

Overview Pricing parking is a powerful tool to influence travel behaviour The FHWA handbook is a good overview of pricing strategies and how to implement them

Key Points Technology advancements have revolutionized parking pricing and parking management Innovative thinking by politicians, transportation and parking professionals, and researchers has been critical to parking reform Correctly priced parking can help allocate scarce transportation resources, reduce market subsidies and create a revenue stream for cities

Pricing 101 Performance-based parking allows cities to better manage parking supply with either variable rates or escalating rates Cities that adopt performance parking often seek a certain level of parking availability as their performance goal

Pricing 101

SF park

Technology 2.0: You have seen this before! Single-Space Meters Multi-Space Meters

Technology 3.0 Pay-by-Phone Parking Space Sensors Smart Phone Apps

Technology Cities can do more with less: – Innovative programs can be implemented with basic technology – Technology will become more affordable, better integrated, and provide more opportunities to share data across platforms

Seattle Case Study Performance based parking without significant technology investment Created 23 parking districts, each with rates and time limits set based on time of day, location and occupancy Rates based on annual parking studies: allows for annual adjustments to mange occupancy

Employer/Developer Parking Pricing Strategies In most communities city-owned or controlled parking represents only a small proportion of available parking Studies indicate 95% of employees receive free parking

Employer/Developer Parking Pricing Strategies Commuter parking can be influenced through: – Parking Cash Out and Transportation Allowances

Employer/Developer Parking Pricing Strategies Unbundled Parking Parking Taxes and fees

Preferred User Accommodations Preferred users include: – Residents – Disabled – Government Employees – Commercial vehicles – Car share Preferred users impact parking turnover and parking availability, each in a unique capacity

Preferred User Accommodations

Public Acceptance Understand your parking problems and utilize key stakeholders Simple, consistent messaging with marketing materials is essential to building public acceptance Measure success of marketing efforts

Conclusions Performance-based parking has proved to be successful and cities are developing data-driven parking policies Technology advancements are driving parking policy reform Parking policy is responding to market distortions created by free employer-provided parking Parking decisions affect the physical environment, livability, and economic success of a city

Contact Information Primer available today at: Questions: Adam Arnold UrbanTrans