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Portlanders for Parking Reform

Better Parking Policy For The City of Roses

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Portland Included in FHWA’s Parking Pricing Case Studies

April 16, 2017 By Shoupista 1 Comment

(On-Street Parking in Boise Neighborhood)

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) last month released two documents – “FHWA-Parking Pricing Workshop Summaries” and “FHWA Sponsored Parking Pricing Projects Update 2017” – on parking management and pricing initiatives in several U.S. cities including Seattle, Denver, and Portland.

Since FHWA sponsored the Portland Parking Symposium in June 2015, the City of Portland has made notable changes in its parking policy and management programs such as (1) raising downtown meter rate to $2.00; (2) developing an on-street parking toolkit for NW Portland; and (3) removing parking minimums for housing projects under the Inclusionary Housing Zoning Code near frequent transit.

The workshop summaries document also noted a neighborhood on-street parking permit system in the works:

“few neighborhoods currently have parking permit programs, and the city is looking to enact new policies to address parking shortages where they exist. Everyone who lives in those residential districts will be entitled to parking; however, it will not be free”.

However, the highly anticipated permit program never came to fruition. After a year-long public process and receiving support from both neighborhoods and city staff , the residential permit program was blocked from even getting a vote by Commissioner Amanda Fritz. Subsequently, all documents and information about the residential permit program were removed from the project website.

The FHWA report shows many other cities, such as Boston, Denver, Houston, and D.C., use neighborhood residential permits to help manage on-street parking. There is no reason why Portland cannot implement this tool. It is unclear whether City Council plans to revisit the residential permit program this year, but the pressure for residential permits will continue to grow as some neighborhoods may resist new development under Inclusionary Housing and increasing housing infill due to fear for more competition for on-street parking.

Filed Under: Permit Pricing, Permits

6 Parking Policy Priorities For Portland In 2017

January 12, 2017 By TonyJ 3 Comments

In 2016, Portland parking advocates scored a number of important victories: in February, downtown meter rates increased; in April, City Council ordered development of performance parking policy; in July,  a proposal to require parking in NW Portland was defeated; and, at the end of the year, minimum parking requirements from 2013 were effectively repealed. Still, on the ground, the state of parking policy in Portland is in the roughly same place as it was 15 years ago.

In the coming year, Portland’s City Council and the Portland Bureau of Transportation must move forward and make real progress on parking policy. Our ability as a city to take action on climate change and meet our citywide housing and transportation goals depends on the political will of City Council and PBOT to develop and approve effective parking management tools, with the help of Portland’s growing number of Shoupistas.

Stay tuned for more in-depth articles on these parking policy priorities.

 

1. Pass The Residential Permit Program and Parking Toolkit

A parking permit sign in Northwest Portland.

Portland needs a new residential permit program, and fast. One has been in the works for years but it recently got shelved. With residential infill and more apartments with little to no parking on the way, Portland needs to get serious about on-street parking management.

2. Create In-Lieu Of Fee Options For Remaining Parking Requirements

Graphic showing a comparison of a 2 bedroom apartment layout with 675 sq feet and similar sized layout for two parking stalls.

Starting in February, developers of new housing projects with 20 or more units will be required to rent a percentage of those units at a rate “affordable” to people making 80% of the median family income. As part of the incentive package, those apartments won’t have required on-site parking. State law mandates that developers be allowed to pay in-lieu fees instead of building affordable homes, but if they do, they still have to build parking. Arbitrary parking mandates don’t make sense. Let developers pay additional fees in-lieu of parking stalls and use the money to build more homes!

3. Use Downtown Parking Meter Money To Fund Night Owl Transit

People wait for a bus at night.

Last year, Portland increased the hourly cost of downtown meters by $0.40/hour, raising an additional $4 million a year in revenue. Opponents to parking management often oppose reforms on the grounds that late night workers don’t have transit options. Managing on-street parking and using the revenue to extend transit hours is a win-win.

4. Demand That PDC Build Housing Instead Of Parking Garages

Rendering of the PDC parking garage.

The Portland Development Commission is spending at least $32 million in urban renewal funds on a hotel parking garage just steps away from the MAX Red Line and they have plans to build more garages. In 10 years will visitors to Portland really choose to rent a car and drive themselves to the Lloyd District? Long term goals for the city require investing less in cars and building more close-in affordable housing, PDC should support those goals.

5. Require Parking Cash-Outs And Tax Downtown Private Parking

A graph showing that in one study, parking cash out led to 13% reduction in drive alone share.
(Image from ACCESS Magazine)

Federal tax laws allow employers to pay hundreds of dollars a month, tax free, for employee parking, but don’t require equal benefits for employees who use other modes. California requires employers who pay for parking to provide employees with an equivalent cash option. This has been shown to be very effective at producing desirable mode shifts. Portland can do this and would, likely, reap major benefits.

6. Develop, Adopt, and Implement a Comprehensive City-Wide Parking Management Strategy

Graphic showing cars parked.

At the current rate, passing parking reforms and upgrading PBOT’s technology to effectively manage parking may take several more years. Portland needs a comprehensive plan to modernize our parking management policy to ensure we are using the curb lane efficiently and for the highest social good. Big changes are on the way and time is running out to reap the rewards of progressive parking policy.

 

Filed Under: Meters, Minimum Parking Requirements, Parking Cash Out, Parking Garages, Performance Pricing, Permits, TDM

Parking Minimums Effectively Repealed In Portland – What’s Next?

December 11, 2016 By TonyJ 19 Comments

It took almost four years, but Portland’s growing Shoupista movement succeeded in effectively repealing off-street parking requirements imposed in 2013.  This victory demonstrates that parking policy is a viable target for reformers looking to change city policies to encourage more affordable housing, increase use of alternative transportation modes, and take action on climate change.

On November 22nd, the Portland City Council voted to waive minimum parking requirements in new developments near frequent transit if those developments contain affordable housing units. The Comprehensive Plan containing the new rules should go into effect in January 2018, but the parking requirements will most likely fade away much sooner, in February 2017. On December 13, 2016, council is poised to approve an inclusionary housing package that includes the same waiver for parking requirements in exchange for affordable housing. The inclusionary housing rules require affordable homes in any building with 20 or more units.  Since parking requirements aren’t triggered until 31 units are built, parking requirements will be waived for (nearly) all new buildings starting in February 2017.

Mayor Charlie Hales casts vote to repeal parking minimums.
For the second time this year, Mayor Hales gives a shoutout to Portlanders for Parking Reform.

The hearing, which you can watch here, was intriguing. The passage of amendment 34 was in serious doubt up to the day of the vote. Commissioner Dan Saltzman had gone on record as opposing removal of the requirements (he wanted to maintain them as a bargaining chit for the inclusionary housing bill) and Commissioner Nick Fish was keeping his cards close to his chest on this one. Commissioner Fish, who has a reputation for being a consensus builder, ended up crafting a compromise amendment which tied the waiver to affordable housing, this brought Saltzman into the fold and ended up winning support for a 4-1 vote in which Commissioner Steve Novick cast a protest vote. Commissioner Amanda Fritz’s support for the amendment (in fact she brought the amendment to the table) was so surprising that it seemed there had to be some catch, a poison pill perhaps, in the amendment. As it turns out, Commissioner Fritz was confused about what she was voting for and has asked council to hold another vote. We expect that Commissioner Novick will switch his vote as well if they re-vote, maintaining a 4-1 majority for this amendment.  

Commissioner Amanda Fritz is so committed to car culture that she wants to make sure her record doesn’t reflect a vote against more parking for cars.   

We Did It And We’ll Do It Again

Portland Shoupistas has grown, in just one short year, into Portlanders for Parking Reform, a group with credibility and a number of significant wins under our belt. Progressive parking policy is a critical component to providing more affordable housing and encouraging people to drive less, but there have been few, if any, examples of grassroots movements committed to demanding parking reform.

Thank you and congratulations to the hundreds of people who have participated in our actions, amplified our message, and gotten informed about the high costs of our current parking policies. We have a lot more work to do, in Portland and elsewhere, and we plan to keep at it.

What Is Next?

This next week there are two important votes at Portland City Council that are related to parking minimums.

Inclusionary Housing

On Tuesday, December 13th, council will hold a hearing a vote on the Inclusionary Housing package mentioned above. Portland’s Shoupistas are encouraged to support this package as it is the action which will effectively repeal parking minimums. There is a change we would like to see in this package: developers who pay in-lieu fees rather than building affordable units are still required to build parking; these developers should be offered an in-lieu option for parking as well.  Those additional fees could go directly to affordable housing funds or towards affordable transit subsidies for low income residents.  You can send an email to cctestimony@portlandoregon.gov and to dan@portlandoregon.gov with the subject “Inclusionary Housing.”  Include your name and address.

Residential Parking Permits

On Thursday, December 15th, council will hold a hearing and vote on a new overnight Residential Parking Permit program for Portland neighborhoods.  This program, which is very close to what we described in our post in January 2016, is a critical step towards managing on-street parking in Portland. The proposal is fairly flexible and we expect that over the next few years a very strong permit program will take shape.

There are two important parts to this proposal that Shoupistas should support. First, update purpose of Portland’s permit program to clarify that it is a “tool to achieve the City’s mode split goals by promoting the use of mass transit, car pooling, bicycling, and walking.” Secondly, the resolution will grant administrative rule-making power, including base permit prices, for the program to the Director of the Portland Bureau of Transportation.  This is very important as it will allow the management of the public resource of on-street parking to be implemented with much less political interference.

You can send an email encouraging council to pass this package to cctestimony@portlandoregon.gov  with the subject “Residential Permit Program.”  Include your name and address.

Filed Under: Minimum Parking Requirements, Permits, TDM, Zoning

Portland’s Parking Problem Is An Excess Of Free On-Street Parking

November 14, 2016 By TonyJ 5 Comments

Everyone needs to wash their clothes. Society provides a number of ways for people to manage this necessity. Some people wash their clothes by hand. Some people pay for a laundry service to wash their clothes. Some people take their clothes to a nearby laundromat.  Some people wash their clothes in a communal laundry room. Some people own their own washer and dryer. Some people own very expensive washers and dryers and pay people to wash their clothes in their own home.

A Laundromat

Imagine a city where laundry service is free, first come first serve, for as much as the service could handle. Many people get up very early to take their laundry to the service and they don’t own a washer and dryer.  Imagine local laundromats are free as well. Most people never consider buying a washer and dryer. Laundromats are very crowded day and night and laundry services reach capacity early in the morning. Should this city require all residents to buy a washer and dryer?  Should this city require all new residences, or at least some of them, to have on-site washing machines and dryers? Of course not. The laundry services and laundromats should stop providing free services. People will decide if they are willing to pay for those services. Developers/landlords will provide washers and dryers for residents who prefer the convenience and are willing to shoulder the expense of having that luxury amenity.

Everyone in Portland needs to be able to get around.  Some people walk, ride, or take transit, cabs, or Lyfts to their destination. Some people own personal cars. Those people who own cars need places to park them and on-street parking in Portland is like the imaginary laundry service and laundromats, free. In some parts of town, on-street parking is congested day and night. In some neighborhoods residents rush home after work to find a space and the street is packed by 7PM. Should the city solve this problem by requiring some or all new residences to have their own supply of parking? It shouldn’t, but it does.

Cars Parked on StreetContrary to the lead of this KATU news article, Portland doesn’t have a shortage of parking. It’s even disputable that Portland has a shortage of free on-street parking. Instead, Portland has a shortage of political courage to implement effective parking management strategies.

Concerned neighbors would like to continue to require developers to build an “adequate” amount of off-street parking.  The problem is that, when on-street parking is literally or practically free, there is no way to tell what an adequate supply of parking is.

There is no magic ratio that will meet parking demand in a dense neighborhood. Excess parking supply will induce demand. As Donald Shoup famously quipped “minimum parking requirements act like a fertility drug for cars.” Opponents to parking reform point out that surveys say 7 of every 10 new residents in mixed use developments own a car when they move in. They say developers should build at least 7 parking spaces for every 10 apartments.

Arbitrary parking ratios make as much sense as arbitrary washer and dryer ratios.

The city doesn’t require in-unit or even on-site washing machines, but somehow, without the benefit of city regulations, people get their clothes washed and here is no such thing as “laundry congestion” and no one speaks of a “laundry nightmare.”

The proper way to determine the right amount of parking for a building is to manage the on-street parking supply with market rate residential permits. If Portlanders truly want to build an equitable, walkable, and sustainable city they should count the on-street parking spaces in their neighborhoods and sell some fraction of that number of parking permits at a price that manages demand.

Portland City Council will hear from citizens on November 17th about an amendment to eliminate minimum parking requirements for new developments near frequent service transit.  Join us in encouraging them to pass this amendment.

Email City Council By November 17!

Everyone can do this, do it now!

Write to cputestimony@portlandoregon.gov with subject line “Comprehensive Plan Implementation”  Please cc: or bcc: pdxshoupistas@gmail.com.

Tell them in your own words that housing is more important than car parking and they should pass Amendment 34 to the Comprehensive plan to eliminate minimum parking requirements in mixed use zones.

We have talking points if you need them!

Join Us on November 17th and Give Testimony

The biggest impact will come from people showing and speaking to council.  Council needs to hear from people who face rent increases and displacement due to anti-affordable housing policy like parking requirements.  Testifying is easy.  Simply state, in your own words, why this issue concerns you and tell council that you want them to eliminate minimum parking requirements.

We have prepared a document with talking points for your convenience.

November 17th, 2PM @ Portland City Hall

If you plan to testify, please RSVP via this form so we have an idea of what support we can expect. We may be able to save you time by signing you up.

Write to the Commissioners

Send an email to the members of City Council.  We suggest you do this by November 17th.

Write to Commissioner Steve Novick, Mayor Charlie Hales, Commissioner Nick Fish, Commissioner Dan Saltzman, and Commissioner Amanda Fritz.  Let them know that you value housing for people over shelter for cars.

Filed Under: Minimum Parking Requirements, Permit Pricing, Permits

Curb Enthusiasm: Empowering Neighborhoods to Create Safer Streets with Parking Benefit Districts

September 6, 2016 By Shoupista 1 Comment

Residential Permit Zone Boundary Concept
(Photo source: PBOT)


The recent series of traffic crashes on Portland streets has raised a strong sense of urgency among transportation advocates, community leaders, and local residents to demand action to improve street safety. The tragic
death of a child and life-threatening injuries of another caused by two separate drivers have devastated families and our community. As a result, Vision Zero advocates and traffic safety experts are reminding us that while there are many approaches to making streets safer, the most effective approach to reduce fatalities and serious injuries is changing street designs and the built-environment to prioritize the safety of road users over vehicular speed.

However, safety improvements such as enhanced crossings or pedestrian medians that protect the most vulnerable users are often implemented slowly due to the fact the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has limited resources for safety enhancement projects and any change to existing streets would likely cause strong local opposition (these are explanations but not excuses). This means that if there a dangerous street that you or your child must cross every day to go to work or school, your neighborhood will probably have to wait for years to receive any safety improvement due to lack of funding and lengthy public process.

But what if there is a way for neighborhoods to empower themselves, fund their own street safety improvements, and create the change they desperately need?

Parking Benefit Districts

The answer is parking benefit districts. Parking benefit districts is a parking management tool for neighborhoods to capture parking revenue from both on-street parking meters and overnight residential permits and keep that revenue for the neighborhood. It works like this:

(1) neighborhoods work with the city to identify areas with on-street parking congestion and draw a parking benefit district to charge parking fees within the district boundary to reduce parking congestion;
(2) neighborhoods then can set up a “transportation safety enhancement” fund to collect and keep the net parking revenue after covering the administration costs of the program;
(3) the city can provide a menu of small capital projects or street improvement options to neighborhoods that adopt the program so they can decide how to invest their local parking revenue
(4) empowered by parking revenue, neighborhoods can now pay for more transportation options (e.g. bus passes) or small capital projects (e.g. rapid flashing beacon) or that increase the safety and comfort of every resident who uses the street.

The merits and benefits of parking benefit districts have been well documented by many scholars and organizations, such as Professor Donald Shoup at UCLA and the Sightline Institute (I highly recommend reading these articles). Instead of reiterating what these experts have already said, this article will focus on specifically how Portland neighborhoods can take advantage of the proposed residential permit program and create parking benefit districts that will bring locally dedicated revenues to pay for transportation safety enhancements.

Residential Permit Program: A Hypothetical Demonstration

In December, 2015, a stakeholder advisory committee tasked to advise the City of Portland on the development of new parking management tools proposed recommendations for a residential permit program. According to the draft proposal, “the permit area must be comprised of at least 20 contiguous block faces or 5 blocks or 4000’ linear feet.” and the recommended occupancy rate in residential zones is 85%.

Using data from a 1995 parking study in Portland, Shoup estimates that 33 parking spaces are available on a typical block’s 1,012-foot perimeter (The High Cost of Free Parking, p518). Using this measurement, we can conservatively assume that a typical street block face can accommodate 8 parking spaces. In order to not exceed the 85% target occupancy rate, each block face gets 6 residential permits. Thus, a single parking benefit district that contains 20 block faces (or 5 full blocks) in any inner Portland neighborhood can potentially sell 120 (6 x 20 = 120) permits to the residents living within and adjacent to the parking benefit district.

Hypothetically, if each residential parking permit is priced at $25 a month, and all 120 permits in this parking benefit district are sold, the district would generate $3,000 (25 x 120) a month or $36,000 a year in parking revenue for the neighborhood. The amount of parking revenue may be even higher if the permits are progressively priced as recommended by the parking stakeholder advisory committee. Meaning that the second parking permit will cost more than the first, etc., and residents with off-street parking will pay a higher price for their first permit. If the second permit costs twice as much as the first one, at $50 a month, and if two-thirds of the permits were sold in at the first-permit rate and the rest were sold at the second-permit rate, this would yield $4,000 a month ($25 x 80 + $50 x 40 = $4,000) or $48,000 a year in parking revenue.

Admittedly, the math here is crude. Also, no one knows certainly how much monthly permits will cost nor who will have the power to set the price. Nevertheless, this hypothetical scenario shows how much revenue neighborhoods can potentially receive if residents decide to charge for curb parking and the forgone opportunity cost for every day curb parking remains free.

If a neighborhood can receive $48,000 a year to spend on transportation safety enhancements, what kind of improvements can the residents collectively buy? A PBOT document  from 2013 for the East Burnside Street Transportation Safety Project shows cost estimates for some safety improvements recommended for East Burnside:

  • Speed Limit Reduction: $100 per sign; $2,000 – $5,000 per study
  • Travel Lane Modification: $150,000
  • Pedestrian Refuge Island: $10,000-$20,000
  • Curb Extensions: $30,000-$40,000 per corner
  • Flashing Beacon: $200,000

In addition, according to BikePortland, a traffic diverter could cost between $5,000 and $30,000. Based on these cost estimates, a neighborhood that sets up a 5-block parking benefit district can pay for a pedestrian refuge island, a curb extension or a traffic diverter within one year and still have some change left to pay for other public goods like street trees.

Think about a street like Hawthorne Boulevard. It is a major commercial corridor that attracts a lot of foot traffic but it is not a friendly environment for walking and biking. Nonetheless, PBOT’s data show that compared to other high crash corridors, Hawthorne is relatively safe. Therefore, it is difficult to justify using public money to pay safety improvements on Hawthorne when there are many other streets in worse shape in East Portland. If both Richmond and Sunnyside set up a parking benefit district in their neighborhoods, they could pool their resources together and enhance safety on Hawthorne rather than waiting for the City to take action.

A Benefit in Search of A Beneficiary

In The High Cost of Free Parking, Shoup notes that “curb parking revenue is a benefit in search of a beneficiary”. No one likes to start paying for something they have always had for free. However, charging for on-street parking in residential neighborhoods would be a lot more political favorable if the people who have to pay see their money come back to their neighborhood and used for their benefits. By adopting a residential permit zone to charge the right price for parking and a parking benefit district, neighborhoods that have experienced on-street parking congestion can (1) reduce over-crowding of curb parking caused by new development, (2) maintain access to convenient curb parking spaces, and (3) empower themselves to invest in transportation safety enhancements within the neighborhood boundary. Long-term residents who bemoan the loss of “livability” and increase in traffic on local streets can turn back the tides by charging for curbside car-storage.

Indeed, evidence from at least nine other U.S. cities show that parking benefit districts are invaluable neighborhood assets. For example, parking benefit districts in Pasadena and San Diego generate over a million dollar of parking fees annually dedicated for local investments. In Austin, TX parking revenue has created better public spaces and infrastructure for walking and bicycling by paying for sidewalk repair, cycle tracks, bike racks, street trees, and benches.

Some people might say “Portland is not Austin” or “Portland is not San Diego”. How do we know parking benefit districts will work in Portland and bring all the benefits it promises to bring? It will work in Portland because it already did – in the Lloyd District. The Lloyd District used to be an auto-oriented, suburban style neighborhood of office buildings and shopping mall and devoid of street life. However, in 1997 the district association turned on its first 1,000 parking meters and soon some employers started charging commuters for parking as well. Today, funded by parking revenue from 1,900 metered stalls, Go Lloyd provides incentives to commuters to use transit, walking, and bicycling and improve workers’ access to more transportation options.

The results of investing parking revenues in non-drive alone mobility options is impressive. According to BikePortland, between 1994 and 2013, the percentage of drive-alone commuters in the Lloyd District dropped from 72 to 42 percent. Transit usage increased more than three-fold, and walking and biking to work also increased significantly. It is also no surprise that this area has some of the best bicycling and walking infrastructure in the City. The story of the Lloyd District shows when a neighborhood decides to abandon the entitlement of free-parking, it opens itself to a future of increased safety, livability, and mobility options for its residents and workers.

From Curb Enthusiasm to Neighborhood Empowerment

The parking war in 2013 that led Portland City Council to adopt mandatory parking minimums for new development demonstrates that on-street parking is perhaps the most sacred amenity in Portland’s residential neighborhoods. This outcome also affirms that neighborhood voices are extremely powerful in the politics of parking. But the desires for better parking management and safe streets for our children and families are not mutually exclusive. In fact, there is a lot of untapped synergy that can create strong political momentum to accelerate infrastructure investments that will benefit neighborhoods locally.  

The good new is PBOT is working on developing various parking management programs, such as residential permit zones and performance-based pricing, that will increase the feasibility of parking benefit districts. We are already halfway there, but our elected officials are averse to political risks and they need to know that the desire for parking benefit districts comes from the neighborhoods, not planners. In the wake of the recent spree of traffic violence on our streets, it is clear that we urgently need infrastructure improvements and waiting for the City to to fix our streets may result in another devastating, yet, preventable, traffic death in our community. Parking benefit districts can empower neighborhoods with locally-collected and locally-spent revenue and that allows neighborhoods to pay for safety enhancement projects and reduce traffic fatality and serious injuries.

 

Filed Under: Parking Benefit Districts, Permit Pricing, Permits

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