Portlanders for Parking Reform

Better Parking Policy For The City of Roses

TonyJ

23 Stories and zero parking stalls: Proposed Pearl District hotel/apartment project packs meeting

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A building that would likely be the city’s tallest to have no on-site parking went before the Portland Design Commission on January 3rd. The meeting was reported to be packed with residents, many of whom opposed the development’s height and impact on traffic. But others in the neighborhood, including the Pearl District Neighborhood Association (PDNA), were more supportive of the project with some reservations.

The 250 foot tall building would provide roughly 170 hotel rooms on 11 floors and another 110 apartments on 11 more floors as well as ground level retail, all parking would be provided by off-site valet services.

Rendering of proposed building containing 170 hotel rooms, 110 apartments, and no parking.

The location, on NW 12th and NW Flanders, has been owned since 2016 by Vibrant Cities, a Seattle-based development firm. In June, the Oregonian reported that the developer had initially planned to build an apartment tower on the site, but shifted the focus to a hotel use after the city of Portland passed inclusionary housing requirements. Additional height allowed by the 2035 Comprehensive Plan, seems to have enabled a reimagining of the project to provide both a hotel and apartments, including the required affordable homes.

In September, the PDNA submitted a letter to the design commission which was particularly forward-thinking regarding the developer’s choice to forgo building expensive on-site parking, recognizing that “parking garages are the most expensive part of new developments” and building less parking can “[increase] housing affordability and [provide] more options for renters that do not own vehicles.” 

This project will likely face further opposition from neighbors who will insist on lower heights and on-site parking. Ironically, on-site parking would cause additional traffic and conflicts with pedestrians and cyclists; the very issues opponents claim the current configuration will bring. Proponents of multi-modal transportation will be needed to point out what should be obvious, more parking brings more congestion.

While many smaller parking-free projects have been developed in the last decade, this is, hopefully, a sign that larger buildings with no parking will be able to secure funding in the future. As the PDNA points out, “the Pearl is an ideal location to live and work car-free, especially at this particular site where numerous amenities and tens of thousands of jobs are located in reasonable walking distance.”


PBOT Proposes Guidelines For Permit Surcharge Money

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Northwest Portland has been the site of a PBOT parking management pilot for serveral years and the city is looking to apply what it has learned in that pilot to other parking management districts.

On Wednesday, December 19th, City Council will receive a report from PBOT on the activities and results of parking management strategies in the NW District. Council will then be asked to approve a list of “Parking Permit Surcharge Revenue Allocation Guidelines” which define what programs and projects are eligible for funding from permit surcharge revenues. 

NW PDX is trailblazing on permits

The report on Zone M parking permits and management is a case study for modern residential parking management. Since council denied demands for residential parking requirements in 2016, the NW Parking Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) has recommended increases in parking permits prices ($180 per year for a first permit with a discount for low income residents available) and progressive pricing for multiple permits ($360/year for the second permit and $540/year for each permit thereafter).

The process hasn’t been without pitfalls, however,  A recommendation by the SAC to limit permits available to residents of apartment buildings was jettisoned due to being unfair to residents of older buildings. The current policy does limit the number of permits available to residents of buildings permitted since 2013. 

• Permit restrictions will be applied to buildings that received certificates of occupancy (CO) after August 7, 2013 in the following manner: * Buildings with CO prior to 08/07/2013 – no permit restrictions on building. * Buildings with CO between 08/07/13 – 08/31/17 – restricted to .6 permits per number of units in the building. * Buildings with CO between 09/01/17 or later – restricted to .4 permits per number of units in the building. o Residents apply for permits through the City. If the resident lives in a permit restricted building, and there are no permits available, the resident may be added to a waiting list.
Permit restrictions are in place for residents of newer buildings

Where does the money go?

The big decision for City Council is whether to approve the surcharge revenue allocation guidelines. 

To make progress on climate action goals we must reduce car trips in the central city and using parking revenues to build parking garages or additional supply undermines those efforts. 

To that end, the eligible project examples given in the guidelines lean heavily toward subsidizing transit and cycling via universal transit passes and transportation wallets. Capital projects are included as well, but similarly the eligible projects are focused on making walking, cycling, scooting, and riding transit more safe, comfortable, and convenient.

Examples of projects/programs could include: • TriMet Universal Pass program to provide transit passes to district employees and residents • Free transit passes to low income residents and employees. • Transit tracker kiosks to provide arrival and departure information • Area walking maps and installation of pedestrian wayfinding signs • Design and installation of curb extensions and Installation of Rapid Flash Beacons • Design and installation of new sidewalks/filling sidewalk gaps • Carshare memberships • Permit opt-out incentive that allows residents to choose other transportation options, such as a transit pass or BIKETOWN membership, if parking permit is not renewed • Company or district-wide ridesharing networks with incentives to carpool • Free day and week passes on TriMet to encourage people to try transit • District-wide BIKETOWN zones that allow commuters and customers to park at any bike rack without paying a fee • Bike parking on public and/or private property • Free and/or reduced bicycling and walking safety accessories, such as lights, locks, and rain gear • Enhanced transit service in partnership with TriMet and/or Portland Streetcar • Transportation analysis related to future TSP projects to determine impact • Awareness campaign & education materials and services, such as graphic design and printing for promoting TDM related projects and programs • Evaluation and analysis, such as travel behavior and parking opinion surveys TDM programs, collateral and events that provide information, incentives, and encouragement to district employees and residents to walk, bike, carpool and use transit more often • Any project identified in the adopted Transportation System Plan (TSP) • Increasing public supply of off-street parking through development of shared use of existing supply and finding opportunities to share new parking supply in the future. Added parking supply should be in conjunction with TDM efforts to minimize the demand on parking
Projects eligible for funding from permit surcharges are, mostly, meant to reduce parking demand by incentivizing and promoting other modes.

More work to be done

The results of the NW parking pilot are encouraging, but there is a lot more that could be done. By eliminating guest permits and placing more stringent restrictions and higher prices on employee permits, the total number of permits sold in 2017 was 1,574 fewer than in 2016, but resudent permits sold increased by 6%.

This doesn’t mean the policy isn’t working, given the amount of housing coming online in the permit zone, an increase of only 188 resident permits is good, but higher annual fees are probably needed to really have an impact on parking demand. At $180 a year, the city is renting some of the most valuable property it owns for $1 per square foot a year, or $0.50 per stall per day, or $15 per stall per month.  No matter how you look at it, it’s a steal.

Table showing permits allocated in NW and change from 2016 to 2017. Mushiness permits declined by 688, 1094 guest permits were eliminated, but residential permits went up by 188

Another improvement to NW parking management would be to extend the hours of enforcement at parking meters later into the evening. Such a move is justified by occupancy rates in the evening dining/entertainment hours and it would have a number of beneficial impacts. Residents would have an easier time finding parking in meter zones if enforcement were extended and businesses in the area, particularly restaurants, would benefit from an additional wave of patrons as parking stalls would turn over an additional time in the early evening. 

Such a change was, in fact, recommended by the SAC and was slated to come before council for approval on Wednesday, but it was pulled and delayed until later next year.

Tell council what you think

The council hearing is scheduled for 3PM on Wednesday, December 19th.  Public comment is accepted in person or via cctestimony@portlandoregon.gov 

Central City In Motion Plan Acquires A Parking Parasite

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City council could approve a backdoor plan to spend public money on parking garages in the Central Eastside and it’s cynically tied to a long awaited project to reduce car trips in the central city.

City Council needs to hear from YOU about this secret parking policy. When you’re done reading, send an email to cctestimony@portlandoregon.gov before Thursday November 15 (put Agenda Item 1184: CCIM Parking Strategy in the subject). Tell City Council to cut out any new publicly funded parking supply from the CCIM Parking Strategy Report.  Tell Council to stay the course with Transportation Demand Management and don’t undermine the great projects in the Central City In Motion Plan.

Central City In Motion (CCIM) is a plan to keep the central city of Portland moving. It’s made up of 18 great projects that will make streets safer for walking, more comfortable for cycling, and faster for transit and, sometimes, freight.

After many years and thousands of public comments and meetings the project is finally scheduled to come before city council this week, on November 15th at 2pm.

But Central City In Motion has acquired a companion report and it’s not so good.

The Central City In Motion Parking Supply and Demand Management Strategies Report was released to the public, for the first time, on November 8th. Many people only learned of existence of this report earlier that day when the City Council agenda was released with a second item for CCIM.

Who Was At The Table?

Over the last 5 years, Portland has overhauled it’s parking policy, and it’s getting pretty good. This has taken countless volunteer hours, open houses, and hearings. There have been at least four stakeholder committees to review our parking policies, covering everything from loading zone signage to residential parking permits. At every step of the way, advocacy groups, the public, and business interests have been at the table to shape these policies.

Staff has held meetings with numerous stakeholders and potential partners, both within the City and private entities, to develop the accompanying report and strategies. Key partners involved in shaping the report and providing input include, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, City of Portland Spectators Venue Program, the Central Eastside Industrial Council, the Portland Business Alliance, Portland Public Schools, Multnomah County, and Go lloyd.
Stakeholders Only Included Business Interests And Land Holders

But the CCIM Parking Supply and Demand Management Report was developed internally with input mostly from business interests like the Central Eastside Industrial Council and the Portland Business Alliance. Other groups consulted are primarily large land holders or managers of existing off-street parking supply that the city proposes to open up for public use.

It does not appear that any community groups, transportation advocacy organizations, or neighborhood groups were brought into the process.

And the report’s findings reflect that lack of any countervailing viewpoint among the stakeholders.

A Path Forward To Build A New Garage

The Central Eastside Industrial Council has been angling for new publicly funded parking for years, but new publicly funded parking is among the lowest priorities for PBOT. Thwarted thus far, the CEIC has supported some good parking policy instead. The area has many metered streets and the parking permit program charges almost $25 a month for residential and commuter permits.

The CEIC would seemingly prefer to apply that cash-flow toward new parking supply, perhaps by partnering with Prosper Portland, the city’s development fund that has pursued commuter parking projects in recent years. But, so far, there hasn’t been a policy that provides a path to building more parking.

Enter “Strategy 8” the “Off-Street Parking Investment Fund.”

Undertaking a new, wholly-publicly owned parking garage is an expensive investment in Portland’s Central City. In addition, there are no obvious City- owned properties where a new publicly owned parking garage could be straightforwardly implemented. However, the City could invest public funds by issuing bonds to increase the number of parking spots being built as part of another new development. This type of partnership would remove the need for the City to purchase property speci cally for a parking garage and allow the city to minimize risk.
$50,000/stall is optimistic. Convention Center Hotel parking is costing more than $60,000/stall

If City Council approves this project, CEIC will perceive this strategy as an endorsement of the desire to apply revenue from on-street parking to this investment fund.  While the strategy claims the strategy of buying parking in new developments would reduce risk, this is a stretch. It seems very similar to an attempted deal between Prosper Portland and a prospective developer in Old Town/Chinatown.  Under that deal, the developer would build to their maximum allowable parking allotment (they were planning to build only 1/2 of their allowed stalls) and after construction, Prosper Portland proposed to buy ALL the underground parking from the developer and lease back the stalls to the developer for use by residents in the building. Far from minimizing risk to public funds, this type of deal puts all the risk of long-term parking onto the city.

Worse Than Risky

Investing in parking garages in 2018 or beyond is a bad bet. Construction costs are sky high, parking demand is declining at many destinations, transportation is changing rapidly, and the city is working hard to reduce automobile trips.  But even if it wasn’t a bad fiscal play, building new parking will undermine our ability to reduce car trips, reduce emissions, and make our streets safer.

The amount of parking in our city center is, effectively, the minimum number of car trips that are accommodated by our built environment. Most (if not all) of the time, the city has excess parking supply in the City Center. It might not be exactly in front of the restaurant someone is going to, but it is there. The fewer stalls that exist in the central city, the more inconvenient and expensive it will be to park. If there are more stalls, then it is easier to make the choice to drive to the central city rather than to take transit, bike, or walk.

CCIM and associated projects are designed to reduce the number of car trips to the city center. Reallocating on-street parking to other modes is a very effective way to do so, it makes driving less convenient and makes other modes more convenient. Replacing that lost parking supply undermines the goal. It invites more cars into the central city on one hand, while the other hand is trying to discourage them.

Isn’t Traffic Bad Enough Already?

The amount of parking in the Central Eastside is already supporting unacceptable congestion. Traffic congestion is consistently among the most cited complaints of Portlanders. But would the CCIM projects even actually reduce the parking supply in the Central Eastside? Not if new private parking is considered.

A project under construction right now at SE Stark and SE Water Ave, contains 6 floors of commercial parking. A few blocks away at 525 SE MLK, another building under construction includes underground parking. We still aren’t heading in the right direction in regards to parking supply in the Central Eastside, to meet our mode split goals we cannot add any more car trips to the central city, regardless of expected population and job growth.

New Parking Under Construction At SE 7 Stark Ave

What Should We Do?

The CCIM Parking Strategy and Demand Management Report isn’t all bad. There is one very, very good strategy mentioned. It’s also the one already being implemented, it’s proven to be successful, and it’s relatively cheap.

The Transportation Wallet

The first strategy mentioned is to increase funding for transportation demand management (TDM). The city is currently running a program to provide discounted, or in some cases free, Transportation Wallets to residents and workers in areas with parking meters and permits.  Money from the meters and permits is used to subsidize a package of alternative transportation options.  Right now, that package includes $100 on a TriMet Hop Card, a Portland Streetcar pass, and an annual BIKETOWN membership. The CCIM parking report suggests that people who opt-out of parking permits could be provided with an annual TriMet pass and providing deeper discounts for low income workers.

The city could go even further.  Right now the CEIC is paying $250,000 a year to operate a sparingly used parking lot circulator shuttle. A bold TDM strategy would be to scrap the shuttle (which is near both the streetcar and the Eastbank Esplanade) and provide 2,500 Central Eastside workers with free transportation wallets.

The city is looking at expanding the options provided in the wallet as well. Car share and e-scooters are two mobility options that could be added to the wallet soon.

A Proven Strategy

Transportation Demand Management works. On the same day the city finally published the parking strategy report, Sarah Goforth from PBOT presented a lecture at PSU’s Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC).

Goforth detailed how a combination of on-street parking management and the transportation wallet are leading to real reductions in parking demand.  You can watch her presentation here.

Let The Current Policy Work

The most recent parking policy to go through a full stakeholder process, including representatives from the CEIC and PBA, was the Performance Based Parking Management project. This policy will lead to performance-based price adjustments in areas with parking meters, like the Central Eastside. The first adjustments will happen next year.

Additionally, several years ago, the city completed and passed a Central City Parking Policy Update (incidentally, the PBA and CEIC were represented on that committee as well). Among other things, the policy relaxed rules about shared-parking. This relaxation meant that parking which was built for one purpose, say residential use, could be used for commercial parking as well.

These policies were developed in the normal public process. They are hard fought policies that will produce results.  We should not undermine our goals by passing a backdoor plan to build more parking garages and rent private parking spaces for public use.

A Call To Action

City Council needs to hear from YOU about this secret parking policy.  Send an email to cctestimony@portlandoregon.gov before Thursday November 15 (put Agenda Item 1184: CCIM Parking Strategy in the subject). Tell City Council to cut out any new publicly funded parking supply from the CCIM Parking Strategy Report.  Tell Council to stay the course with Transportation Demand Management and don’t undermine the great projects in the Central City In Motion Plan.

Testify In Person

There is a hearing scheduled on Thursday November 15 at 2 p.m. City Council Chambers: 1221 SW 4th Avenue, Portland.

We encourage you to support the Central City In Motion project, but please tell city council to cut new publicly funded parking strategies from the CCIM Parking Strategy Report.

Will City Council Finally Approve Performance Parking Management?

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CALL TO ACTION: City Council needs to hear from YOU about your support for Performance-based Parking Management.  Send an email to cctestimony@portlandoregon.gov before Wednesday July 25 (put Performance-based Parking Management in the subject). Tell City Council why you think it’s time to get politics out of parking prices by using a data-driven approach to parking management.

Should a prime, convenient, and coveted parking spot, right in front of a busy storefront cost the same rate as a, relatively, crummy spot near I-405?

That is the question that Portland City Council will grapple with on Wednesday, July 25th when they consider the Performance-based Parking Management Manual and new Parking Pricing and Event District Policy for approval.

A month ago, on June 13, council heard a presentation and testimony on this policy, but concerns from various commissioners led to a delaying a second hearing. Some commissioners were, reportedly, worried that adjusting prices based on demand would make downtown Portland less accessible to people with lower incomes.

But a look at preliminary data from the city shows that there are many areas of downtown and the central city which would likely see rates decrease under the new policy.  Furthermore, many of the blocks likely to see increases are near city-owned Smart Park garages, a lower-cost and longer-stay alternative to prime street parking.

 

A map showing areas of downtown and the Central Eastside which have previously been observed to have parking occupancy that would warrant an increase or decrease in parking rates. Much of the core of downtown would potentially see increases.
Most areas likely to see increases are near Smart Park garages, many areas will likely see decreases. Image courtesy of Sightline Institute.

PBOT has returned with a new resolution and ordinance that should, hopefully, clear up some other concerns that commissioners had about the proposal in June.

Concerns about the impact of a policy like this on low-income people are valid and important, but too often those worries manifest in policy that provides a subsidy to all car-drivers, the majority of whom are not low income. Meanwhile, transit dependent people are stuck paying ever-increasing rates to sit in buses, idling in traffic caused by single-occupancy commuters. Performance-based Parking Management is just one of many strategic policies the city can use to reduce traffic, save people time, and encourage other modes. The most promising option for a sustainable and equitable solution to Portland’s transportation problems is to prioritize transit above other modes via enhanced transit corridors and bus/freight only lanes.

After years of work, seemingly countless committee meetings, and several false starts, Portland seems ready to join San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Seattle, and many other cities and apply simple market economics to on-street parking.  Will City Council finally take that step?

CALL TO ACTION: City Council needs to hear from YOU about your support for Performance-based Parking Management.  Send an email to cctestimony@portlandoregon.gov before Wednesday July 25(put Performance-based Parking Management in the subject). Tell City Council why you think it’s time to get politics out of parking prices by using a data-driven approach to parking management.

 

Performance Based Parking Management Coming Before Portland City Council

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ACTION ALERT: send a quick email to cctestimony@portlandoregon.gov with subject Agenda Item 652: Parking Management Manual.  Let City Council know that this is LONG overdue and that you support data-driven parking management for a safer, cleaner, and more prosperous city. 

On June 13th, Portland City Council will consider adoption of a set of guidelines aimed at modernizing our parking management policies.  The Performance Based Parking Management Manual (PBPM) will inform the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) when creating and managing parking meter districts.

If passed, Portland will join at least 11 other US cities in implementing policies developed and championed by Professor Donald Shoup, as explained in his book The High Cost of Free Parking:

  1. Eliminate Minimum Parking Requirements
  2. Price on-street parking so that there is always a space available per block
  3. Use parking meter revenue in a way that benefits the locality in which it’s collected

Graph showing meter rates in various Portland parking districts. Downtown hourly rates were 20 cents in 1970 and are 2 dollars in 2018. There have been 8 increases in between.
Portland meter rates since 1970

Portland is slowly, but surely, reducing and eliminating minimum parking requirements throughout the city, but parking meter rate setting is still a lengthy and political process. Currently, to get a meter rate increase downtown, a stakeholder committee must be convened and city council must approve any rate increases.  This was last done in 2016 and the process is so cumbersome that meter rates downtown have only been adjusted 8 times in the last 50 years!

Because of this antiquated and political process, some parking downtown is underpriced, and completely full at peak hours, while other areas have overpriced parking, leading to lower than ideal utilization.

The new process will use a data driven approach to adjust meter rates annually. Observed occupancy in a parking zone of above 85% will trigger a rate increase, while occupancy below 65% will trigger a rate decrease. The rate adjustment will be ±$0.20-$0.60 depending on how congested (or vacant) the parking zone is. The proposal would cap maximum rates at $5.00/hour and set a minimum rate of $1.00/hour in metered areas.

a chart showing how various observed occupancies will lead to meter rate adjustments.
Observed excess parking congestion or vacancy will trigger meter rate adjustments.

In practice, the average price for an on-street stall downtown will likely decrease.  There are many areas in downtown where the current $2.00 rate is too high.  This policy will allow cost-sensitive visitors to downtown to seek cheaper parking, perhaps a few blocks away from their destination, or incentivize parking in Smart Park garages.  The areas with very high parking demand will see rate increases, but visitors to those areas who choose to pay the higher rate will find their costs offset by greater convenience and less time (and money) spent cruising for parking.

But That’s Not All

Performance-based pricing is the most critical policy outlined in the manual, but there are several other important topics addressed.

Creating New Parking Districts

The manual spells out how new parking districts can be requested and how they will be implemented.  Getting meters installed would be a multi-step process starting with time-stays and ensuring multiple opportunities for stakeholders to give input.

Net Meter Revenue Allocation

Charging for on-street parking should not be a tax or a money grab by City Hall. Meter rates should be set to help create functioning and safe commercial districts and to signal that the city values its right-of-way as an essential public resource. The PBPM recommends “a majority of net meter revenue should go to services and programs within the meter district in which they were generated.” In addition, the committee recommended that PBOT review revenue allocation for downtown meter revenue, currently all downtown and Pearl District revenue goes to the general fund.

Time Limits and Loading Zones

The PBPM clarifies and standardizes how time limits and loading zones are determined and adjusted. The city currently has over 40 types of loading zones, the PBPM condenses them to five types.

Event Districts

The manual recommends a data-driven rate schedule for event districts (currently there is one event district, near Providence Park and in-force on Timber’s game days. Rates near the stadium during these hours would be adjusted ±$1.00-$3.00 depending on demand, with a cap at $10/hour.

A HUGE Step In a Great Direction

Overall, this is a comprehensive and well thought out manual.  The stakeholder committee included representatives from the Portland Business Alliance, Venture Portland, Portlanders for Parking Reform [Disclosure: the author of this post served on the committee], freight interests, and several downtown neighborhoods. The committee supported the manual unanimously.

Certainly, improvements could be made to the manual.  In particular, it may take several years of adjustments for some of the most congested downtown parking zones to see prices that provide relief from congestion.  Ultimately, however, the most important policy objective is to depoliticize parking meter rates, and this proposal delivers.

If you agree, send a quick email to cctestimony@portlandoregon.gov with subject Agenda Item 652: Parking Management Manual.  Let City Council know that this is LONG overdue and that you support data-driven parking management for a safer, cleaner, and more prosperous city.