HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-22-23 Public Comment - M. Egge - Comment to Transportation Board re_ Discussion and Reconsideration of Resolution 2010-01 A Policy for Loss of Public ParkingFrom:Mark Egge
To:Agenda
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Comment to Transportation Board re: Discussion and Reconsideration of Resolution 2010-01 A Policy
for Loss of Public Parking
Date:Tuesday, August 22, 2023 11:56:53 AM
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Members of the Transportation Advisory Board,
I'm writing to urge the nullification of Resolution PC2010-01. The valueand benefit of parking should be balanced against other valuable uses of
the public right of way, which may include bicycle facilities, parklets,
outdoor dining, or other beneficial uses to the economic vitality and
general use and enjoyment of Bozeman's downtown.
Parking is not and end unto itself, but rather to enable visitors, employees,
and other downtown users to access their downtown destinations (by
temporarily storing their vehicle while visiting their downtown destination).Driving and parking is one mode of accessing downtown, among walking,
biking, Streamline, and ride hailing services like Uber and Lyft.
At present, all on-street parking downtown is free. Even when giving awayparking for free, every parking study ever conducted in downtown has
indicated that there is excess capacity in the parking garage and the
overall downtown area even at the busiest time of day on the busiest day
of the week.
There's no perfect amount of parking, and it's silly to pretend that there is.
There's no magic number of parking spaces (as PC2010-01 implies) and
not all parking is created equal. The parking that's closest to the highestconcentration of destinations is most demanded; the parking around the
periphery is least demanded. Should there ever become a meaningful
shortage of parking (such that individuals are forced to "circle" for parking,
or avoid coming downtown altogether), a small nudge in the form ofpricing for the most over demanded parking would quickly bring demand
into balance. As demonstrated by events like Music on Main and the
Christmas Stroll, there's a tremendous supply of parking in the greater
downtown area, and other concepts like a downtown circulator bus serviceto use the county fairgrounds as a park-and-ride can greatly expand theparking supply.
Someone involved with the Downtown Partnership once said to me, thepurpose of downtown's streets is to get purses and wallets downtown.Currently, the "no loss of parking" policy stands in the way of projects
such as creating a high quality cycle track on the north curb of Babcock
Street, as recommended in the most recent Downtown Plan and
Transportation Master Plan. I have no difficulty imagining that a safe,comfortable cycle track along the length of Babcock Street would
ultimately deliver far more purses and wallets to downtown businesses
than the current use of this curb space for temporary car storage for a
handful of downtown visitors.
The No Loss of Parking policy is in contradiction to both the city's
multimodal transportation goals and may also stand in the way of the
city's economic development goals. Car storage is useful, but it's certainlynot the end-all, be-all of the use of public space. PC2010-01 should be
stricken from the books and replaced with a policy that acknowledges the
city's multimodal goals and the possibility that there may be better use of
public space than temporary car storage.
Mark Egge
219 E Story St
Bozeman, MT 59715