Transportation Demand Management

An Analysis and Update for the Ordinance

Byrne, Guardado, Wang

Overview

• Introduction to TDM

• Purpose

• Background Issues

• Variable Pricing

• Shared Parking

• Findings

What is Transportation Demand Management?

• Demand side control for transportation

• Moving people’s choice of transportation mode, time, or space.

Purpose

1. To reduce single-occupancy use of automobiles.

2. Encourage other modes

3. Create equity

a. Internalize the marginal cost to society from air pollution and traffic congestion

Background Issues

• 1993 Ordinance required for new buildings over 25,000 square feet.

• Preferential parking for carpools and vanpools.

• Mandated educational boards that encourage use of public transit or carpooling.

• No evidence that these had any significant impact

Analysis

• 2 Strategies:

1. Variable Pricing for On-street Parking

2. Shared Parking

Variable Pricing, On-Street Parking

• Strategy: to price on-street parking meters according to demand

– Based on 2 dimensions:

• Location

• Time

Variable Pricing, On-Street Parking

• Strategy: to price on-street parking meters according to demand – Based on 2 dimensions:

• Location

• Time

• Express Park, Los Angeles

Variable Pricing Best Practices

Variable Pricing, San Francisco, CA

• Similar to Express Park in Los Angeles

Variable Pricing, Ventura, CA

• Also sought 15% vacancy for parking

• “All moneys collected from parking pay stations, and meters in this city shall be placed in a special fund, which fund shall be devoted exclusively to purposes within the geographic boundaries of the parking district from which the revenue is collected. Such moneys shall be used for the purposes stated in the parking district establishment ordinance” (City of Ventura)

Variable Pricing, Glendale, CA

• At first, “parking ambassadors” provided help at the parking meters and for six weeks only warning tickets were issued for first offenses; after a year Glendale experienced significant improvement in downtown parking efficiency .

Shared Parking

• A Shared Parking Agreement is a legally binding contract between two or more land owners such that one’s surplus of parking shall be used to meet the minimum parking requirement of another

• These agreements are typically done between land uses with different peak periods of parking demand

Shared Parking

• Currently, shared parking agreements done on case-by-case basis. This process has high transaction costs and has been abused

• In the future, it will be necessary to streamline the process and keep track of these agreements to prevent abuse

Shared Parking Best Practices

Shared Parking, San Diego, CA

• Simple, standardized application form.

• Agreement in perpetuity and runs with the land.

• Managed by City of San Diego’s Developer Services Department.

Shared Parking, Seattle, WA

• Encourages the use of agreements between multiple uses.

• Allowed between different categories of use or uses with different hours of operation, but not both.

• Shared parking must be located within 800 feet of the use.

• Burden placed on applicant to establish lack of conflict between uses.

Findings

General Plan Goals

• Goal A: “Adequate accessibility to work opportunities and essential services, and acceptable levels of mobility for all those who live, work, travel, or move goods in Los Angeles.”

• Objective 2: “Mitigate the impacts of traffic growth, reduce congestion, and improve air quality by implementing a comprehensive program of multimodal strategies that encompasses physical and operational improvements as well as demand management.”

• Policy 2.24: “Implement shared-parking, peripheral parking, and parking-pricing strategies in high-employment areas

General Plan Transportation Element, Chapter 7, Plans and Policies, P20

• “Develop and implement a Parking Awareness/Promotion program to increase acceptance of parking management by the general public.”

• “Implement shared parking, peripheral parking, and parking pricing programs in major employment areas and mixed-use districts”

• “Improve and expand enforcement of on-street parking restrictions (e.g. time limits, tow away/no stopping, loading zones), especially where such restrictions provide an additional peak hour travel lane/bus lane or additional loading areas in industrial districts.”

Questions?