Evening Paid Parking Rep Final 20140418
Evening Paid Parking Rep Final 20140418
PUBLISHEDAPRIL2014
Extending onstreet parking until 8 PM has positively helped people find parking in the early evening in several of our most vibrant business districts.
SDOTEVENINGPAIDPARKINGREPORT
Table of Contents
Summary _________________________________________________________________________________________ 2 Introduction _____________________________________________________________________________________ 3 Rationale for Evening Paid Parking ......................................................................................................... 4 Influence of Evening Paid Parking in Seattle __________________________________________________ 5 Belltown .......................................................................................................................................................... 7 Capitol Hill ...................................................................................................................................................... 9 Denny Triangle South ............................................................................................................................. 10 PikePine ...................................................................................................................................................... 12 University District .................................................................................................................................... 13 Uptown ......................................................................................................................................................... 15 2013 Evening Parking Data ___________________________________________________________________ 17 2013 Results ................................................................................................................................................... 17 Extended Evening Collection ................................................................................................................... 20
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Summary
This report provides background information on evening paid parking, a comparison of occupancy rates before and after implementation, and an overview of evening parking occupancy data from the 2013 Annual Paid Parking Study. The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) manages 12,000 onstreet paid parking spaces in about 20 downtown and neighborhood business districts. Since 2010, we have set the rates, hours of operation and maximum time limits based on annually collected data through our PerformanceBased Parking Pricing Program. This program relies on occupancy data and parking management to reach a goal one to two spaces available per block in commercial areas. This parking availability makes visitor and shopper access easier and results in less traffic congestion and vehicle emissions from circling vehicles. In 2011 and 2012, SDOT implemented evening paid parking until 8 PM in eight neighborhoods with active nightlife, representing around 45 percent of total citywide onstreet paid spaces. In all but the Chinatown/International District (ID), the time limit after 5 PM is three hours in recognition that the daytime twohour time limit does not work for evening attractions. Based on 2013 data results, evening parking occupancy continues to be high, both in neighborhoods with and without evening paid parking. In 2013, 60 percent of paid parking areas or subareas have higher occupancy rates in the evening than during the day. Neighborhoods with lower evening occupancy than daytime occupancy are generally limited to those in and around downtown Seattle. Based on extended data collection in four neighborhoods, evening parking occupancy rates generally plateau around 7 PM or 8 PM. Comparing occupancy surveys before and after evening paid parking in six specific neighborhoods reveals that evening paid parking has increased onstreet parking availability. On average, evening paid parking reduced the 6 PM occupancy rate in these neighborhoods from 93 percent to 73 percent and the 7 PM occupancy from 103 percent to 85 percent. This report provides details by neighborhood.
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Introduction
SDOTs PerformanceBased Parking Pricing Program, established with 2010 legislation in the Municipal Code, works to ensure onstreet parking is convenient and easy to find. Rate and other adjustments are made on an annual basis so that one or two spaces are open and available on each blockface throughout the day. We conduct an annual citywide survey of paid parking occupancy and compare results against a target range of 70 85 percent, plus an annual watch list. Results from this process guide rate, hours of operations, and time limit changes.1 Through this program, most parking rate or time limit adjustments have been applied to daytime parking. However, in many areas, evening demand is often higher than daytime demand. In 2013, approximately 60 percent of paid evening areas had higher occupancy levels during the evening than during daytime hours.2 Areas with nightlife attractions that are adjacent to residential areas (such as Capitol Hill, Fremont, and Ballard) show a sharp increase in occupancy leading up to the end of paid parking hours. Recognizing that evening parking demand outpaces supply in many areas, SDOT extended paid parking hours in certain neighborhoods from 6 PM to 8 PM, starting in 2011. These neighborhoods are identified in Table 1. This report provides information on how occupancy rates changed before and after the implementation of evening paid parking and current evening parking occupancy data.
1 SDOT set this standard citywide target range in 2013 to simplify from earlier targets that varied by neighborhood. 2 For more details about the parking management program, please refer to http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/parking/signs_icons.htm
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RATIONALEFOREVENINGPAIDPARKING
In many cities, paid parking hours have traditionally ended at 6 PM. Researchers have noted that this can be tied to two factors3: Historically, businesses districts were dominated by retail that generally closed by 6 PM Rates and time limits in place during the day to create turnover may not be applicable to preventing evening parking shortages. Historically, traditional meters did not allow for differential rates and time limits over the course of the day.
As parking meter technology has evolved and evening attractions in cities have increased, many cities have moved to extend onstreet paid parking hours into evening and night hours. Based on a web survey in 2013, current examples include: Washington, DC: Paid parking in eight premium demand zones extends until 10 PM, with meters operating until 6:30 PM in other neighborhoods West Hollywood, CA: Paid parking in high demand locations extends until 2 AM, with meters operating until 8 PM, 10 PM, or 12 AM in other neighborhoods Bloomington, IN: Downtown meters operate until 10 PM Boston, MA: All city meters operate until 8 PM Atlanta, GA: In entertainment, restaurant, and hotel zones, meters operate until 10 PM, with hours extending until 6 PM or 7 PM in other areas Portland, OR: Parking meters in one area of the Lloyd District operate until 10 PM, meters in downtown Portland operate until 7 PM, and meters in other areas operate until 6 PM Vancouver, BC: All city meters operate until 10 PM daily
Just as paid parking during the day can improve access to business districts, extending paid parking can enhance access to areas with active evening attractions. Evening paid parking encourages overnight or longterm parkers to park offstreet or out of commercial business districts during the early evening peak. This prioritizes street parking in key locations for shorterterm uses, and keeps parking available for local business customers.
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3 Gregory Pierce & Donald Shoup (2013): Getting the Prices Right, Journal of the American Planning Association, 79:1,
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Figure 1 indicates that there was an increase in evening (6 PM 8 PM) parking availability in most areas after the implementation of evening paid parking rates. The only exception is the Uptown Periphery where occupancy slightly increased at 7 PM after the implementation of evening paid parking. Even with the decrease in parking occupancy after installation of evening paid parking, occupancy remains high in many neighborhoods. The biggest change in occupancy is seen at 6 PM, which was previously the first hour of free evening parking. In most neighborhoods, the 6 PM occupancy after implementing evening paid parking generally aligns with the target occupancy of 70 85 percent. By 7 PM, most of the areas surveyed are above the target occupancy, but more parking is available as compared to before the change in hours. Except for the University District Periphery, no areas saw a precipitous drop in occupancy with the addition of evening paid parking. Occupancies over 90 percent generally indicate squeezein and illegal parking, with parking too close to driveways, fire hydrants, or intersections.
4 Unfortunately, for comparison purposes Commercial Core and Chinatown/ID areas had to be excluded due to lengthy implementation schedules and further changes to the paid parking area, respectively.
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6:00 PM After Evening Paid Parking 7:00 PM After Evening Paid Parking Target Range 70% 85% Page 6
6:00 PM Before Evening Paid Parking 7:00 PM Before Evening Paid Parking
* In the Uptown Periphery, the 7 PM occupancy before evening paid parking was 77%
SDOTEVENINGPAIDPARKINGREPORT
Belltown Belltown is divided into two subareas, north and south of Bell Street. SDOT completed evening paid parking implementation in August 2011. Based on survey timing, this provides two years of data before and after the addition of evening paid parking.
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Figure 3. Belltown South Afternoon/Evening Parking Occupancy
120% Percent of Available Spaces Occupied 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0%
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CapitolHill Capitol Hill is divided into north and south subareas with E John Street serving as the boundary. The 2013 data collection included observations through 11 PM. SDOT implemented evening paid parking in September 2011. Based on survey timing, there are two years of data before and after the addition of evening paid parking.
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Figure 5. Capitol Hill South Afternoon/Evening Parking Occupancy
120% Percent of Available Spaces Occupied 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0%
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DennyTriangleSouth We implemented evening paid parking in May 2012 in Denny Triangle South. Based on survey timing, this provides two years of data before and after the addition of evening paid parking.
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PikePine We implemented evening paid parking in September 2011 in PikePine. Based on survey timing, this provides two years of data before and after the addition of evening paid parking. The 2013 data collection included observations through 11 PM.
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UniversityDistrict University District (UDistrict) is divided into a core and periphery area. SDOT implemented evening paid in October 2011. Based on survey timing, this provides one year of data before and two years after the addition of evening paid parking.
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Figure 9. UDistrict Periphery Afternoon/Evening Parking Occupancy
120% Percent of Available Spaces Occupied 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0%
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Uptown Uptown is divided into a core and periphery area. We implemented evening paid parking in October 2011. Based on survey timing, this provides two years of data before and after the addition of evening paid parking. The Uptown Periphery was the only neighborhood to show a slight increase in parking occupancy after the addition of evening paid parking.
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Figure 11. Uptown Periphery Afternoon/Evening Parking Occupancy
120% Percent of Available Spaces Occupied 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0%
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2013 Evening Parking Data
The previous section used data from 2010 through 2013 to compare occupancy before and after the implementation of evening paid parking. This section provides more details on evening parking occupancy rates from the 2013 data survey, which included extended evening data collection in certain neighborhoods.5
2013RESULTS
In 2013, SDOT collected data until 8 PM in all neighborhoods, and several neighborhoods were counted until 11 PM.6 Table 2 shows the distribution of evening peak parking occupancy by neighborhood or subarea. Bold indicates payment is required until 8 PM; meter hours end at 6 PM in all other neighborhoods or subareas.
*Boldindicatespaymentisrequireduntil8:00PM. **Indicateslastobservation.Actualpeakmayhaveoccurredlater.
Report available at http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/parking/docs/2013_Paid_Parking_Report_final.pdf. 6 These times indicate when neighborhood or subarea counts began. The count method is manual, so actual observations occur during some point of the stated hour. For example 11 PM counts on a given block may have been collected at 11:30 PM.
5 For the full report, including maps of the paid parking areas, please refer to the citywide 2013 Paid Parking Summary
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The most frequent peak hour is 7 PM, but there are multiple neighborhoods that showed an evening peak during the last survey at 8 PM. It is possible that the peak occurred after 8 PM in these neighborhoods. Table 3 compares the 12 PM and 7 PM occupancy rates. In most neighborhoods, 12 PM is the highest midday parking occupancy. It is provided to compare how occupancy varies from midday to evening. As it indicates, most neighborhoods have higher parking occupancy during the evening than during the daytime. Some neighborhoods, like First Hill, have high occupancy rates both during the day and the evening. The 2012 and 2013 evening occupancy rates show generally consistency yearoveryear. Evening peak occupancy values between 6 PM and 8 PM in 2013 were within 15 percent of those in 2012 with three exceptions: Commercial Core Waterfront, where peak evening occupancy increased from 42 percent in 2012 to 87 percent in 2013 Pioneer Square Periphery, where peak evening occupancy increased from 50 percent in 2012 to 80 percent in 2013 Commercial Core Financial, where peak evening occupancy increased from 54 percent in 2012 to 78 percent in 2013
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Table3.12PMand7PMOccupancy,2013Survey*
Neighborhood 12th Avenue Ballard Core Ballard Periphery Belltown North Belltown South Capitol Hill North Capitol Hill South Cherry Hill Chinatown/ID Core Chinatown/ID Periphery Commercial Core Financial Commercial Core Retail Commercial Core Waterfront Denny Triangle North Denny Triangle South First Hill Fremont Green Lake PikePine Pioneer Square Core Pioneer Square Periphery Roosevelt South Lake Union 10Hour South Lake Union 2Hour UDistrict Core UDistrict Periphery Uptown Core Uptown Periphery Uptown Triangle *Boldindicateseveningpaidparkingarea. 12 PM Occupancy ** 60% 75% 47% 49% 82% 84% 58% 71% 87% 70% 91% 83% 72% 59% 95% 86% 84% 63% 71% 97% 91% 57% 90% 83% 74% 59% 52% 55% 56% 7PM Occupancy 108% 103% 99% 53% 93% 98% 101% 68% 72% 52% 69% 73% 80% 66% 78% 91% 98% 110% 104% 78% 80% 88% 55% 72% 107% 52% 93% 88% 62% Difference (7 PM 12 PM) 48% 28% 52% 4% 11% 14% 43% 3% 15% 18% 22% 10% 8% 7% 17% 5% 14% 47% 33% 19% 11% 31% 35% 11% 33% 7% 41% 33% 6%
**12PMwasselectedforcomparisonpurposesonly.
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EXTENDEDEVENINGCOLLECTION
As part of the 2013 survey, we collected data in six areas after 8 PM. In these areas, the last data collection occurred between 11 PM and 12 AM. Dashed lines indicate Friday observations, with solid lines representing Wednesday or Thursday data.
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