Portlanders for Parking Reform

Better Parking Policy For The City of Roses

You are here: Home / Posts

Posts

WEDNESDAY PARKING ROUND-UP: PARKING PERMITS WORK WELL IN NW PORTLAND, CINCINNATI FUNDS TRANSIT WITH PARKING REVENUE, AND MORE

By 1 Comment

00003543564072(Photo by Christopher Keizur)

Parking permits + meters work really well in NW Portland. Maybe soon PBOT will expand the permit and meter district to share the benefit with surrounding neighborhoods?

Parking can support transit. Cincinnati raises downtown parking rates and invest revenues in transit.

Parking made convenient. 1 in 5 parker uses smart phone app to pay for on-street parking in Minneapolis and St. Paul  As PBOT moves forward with performance-based parking policy, smart payment methods must be considered.

Santa Cruz figures out how to have your cake and eat it too with graduated pricing structure.

For the hard core parking wonks – here is how you tear apart a libertarian’s argument for more “free” parking.

PDX City Council Directs PBOT To Develop Performance Parking System

By 5 Comments

On Wednesday, April 13th Portland City Council approved a resolution directing the Portland Bureau of Transportation to develop a Performance Based Parking Management system.  A video of the hearing is available (this item starts at 8:52).

Managed Parking In NW PortlandThe system, which will be city-wide in scope will define data-driven performance targets, such as desired occupancy of on-street parking, and parameters for adjusting rates, hours of enforcement, and other variables to meet those targets.

Commissioner Amanda Fritz asked Senior Transportation Planner Mauricio Leclerc “how will the needs of people with lower incomes and the effects on people of color be evaluated and incorporated?”  Leclerc responded that PBOT will be keeping those concerns in mind and has, in other parking related changes, made accommodations for lower income residents.  Leclerc did not mention that the average hourly meter rate in San Francisco went down after performance based management was implemented.

A second question from Commissioner Fritz concerned the eventual expected fiscal impact of this program.  While the current resolution is revenue neutral, no additional staff will be needed to convene and run the Stakeholder Advisory Committees, the program itself may generate additional revenue.

The resolution passed unanimously. A staff proposal will come back to council later this year for approval.

BikeLoudPDX Event: Why Parking Matters To People Biking (And Everyone Else)

By Leave a Comment

Join us on Tuesday, April 19th from 6:30-9:30PM, downstairs,  at Velocult Bike Shop (1969 NE 42nd Ave, Portland) for a conversation about upcoming parking policy, Shoupian theory, and  convincing arguments about why you should care about car parking policy no matter what your issue is.

From BikeLoudPDX’s event announcement:Parking Lot

On the surface, car parking doesn’t seem very relevant to people who bike. But the hidden prices of parking include less room for bike lanes, higher costs in housing, and more incentive to drive everywhere. Portland is poised to drastically change the way it manages its parking with innovative new ideas and technology. Join BikeLoudPDX and PDX Shoupistas’ Tony Jordan and Kathryn Doherty-Chapman for an informative presentation and talk about upcoming parking reforms and why they’re just as important for active transportation as driving.

You can find more information, and RSVP on the Facebook event.

 

Wednesday Parking Round-Up: why parking requirements are bad, parking subsidy works against mode-shift, and more

By Leave a Comment

Ottawa’s 90 second PSA explains why parking minimums hurt cities: Want to promote businesses and development?  Want to improve housing? Want less traffic? Build less parking!

Commuter transit subsidy has little effect on mode-choice when parking is free. People only stop driving to work when they have to pay for parking.

On-demand parking service start-up Zirx gives up its valet parking service. Some urban issues, like parking, are better to be addressed by demand-based pricing than fancy apps. services.

How Parking Requirements Hurt the Poor – some parking wisdom from Professor Shoup

Grand Rapids prices downtown parking as a commodity, based on demand. “This provides choices for customers and optimal utilization of our public facilities”, says John Naramore, the city’s new mobile GR manager 

Wednesday Parking Round-Up

By Leave a Comment

lead_large

Columbus, OH is struggling with downtown parking crunch. But they decided buying transit passes for employees turns out to be much more cost-effective than building parking garages. http://www.streetsblog.net/2016/03/24/true-story-buying-transit-passes-is-cheaper-than-building-garages/

Portland City Council Faces A Test: Housing Affordability vs Parking Everywhere. Livability has become the new euphemism for “I don’t want people park in front of my house” http://www.wweek.com/2016/03/23/has-portland-city-hall-learned-its-lesson-about-parking-spaces-raising-rents/

Apartment construction costs have increased since Portland City Council required new apartments to include on-site parking in 2013. http://bikeportland.org/2016/03/28/average-apartment-building-costs-fell-sharply-during-no-parking-apartment-boom-179149

Chicago has a gluttony for residential parking spaces. http://www.cnt.org/blog/neighborhood-affordability-what-does-parking-have-to-do-with-it

Study shows excessive parking causes more driving – just like tobacco causes lung cancer. http://www.citylab.com/commute/2016/01/the-strongest-case-yet-that-excessive-parking-causes-more-driving/423663/

Two major on-demand parking app companies are struggling to stay in business. It is interesting to see that many would rather pay their money to private firms to park their cars for them but they oppose paying the public for on-street parking.  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-14/on-demand-valet-parking-seemed-like-such-a-great-idea-it-wasn-t

“It’s the American expectation that’s creating the [parking] problem”. Hate to break it to you, but you really should not expect to park free everywhere. http://www.citylab.com/cityfixer/2016/03/trader-joes-parking-lots-donald-shoup/475098/

Parking Madness Final Four. See how badly these American cities have ruined themselves with parking. http://usa.streetsblog.org/2016/04/05/parking-madness-final-four-niagara-falls-vs-louisville/