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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20231213_Bozeman_Existing_Conditions_Executive_SummaryZsa Zsa's BOZEMAN STRATEGIC PARKING PLAN ECEMBER 2023 MTBOZEMAN WALKER CONSULTANTS BOZEMAN STRATEGIC PARKING PLANBOZEMAN STRATEGIC PARKING PLAN Existing & Influencing Conditions II Executive Summary Bozeman has changed and grown considerably in recent years. With this growth has come economic development, densification, and infill development Downtown and, to a lesser extent, citywide, yielding notable increases in vehicular and pedestrian traffic and intensified pressure on the city’s public parking system. In response to these changes, Bozeman is taking a holistic look at strategic parking management, for both the Downtown core and neighborhoods and communities citywide. This initiative is informed by numerous plans and documents, including previous parking studies and the 2016 Downtown Strategic Parking Plan. While the downtown core will likely remain the primary focus from a parking management perspective, the City intends to develop a comprehensive plan that addresses all areas of the city, including the residential parking permit districts (RPPDs), as well as new development outside of the currently-managed areas where parking needs are evolving. This strategic planning effort began with an evaluation of existing conditions and factors that relate to parking in Bozeman, summarized below. Past & Concurrent Planning Efforts The City and its partners have developed many substantive and impactful plans over the years that influence this work. While many plans were consulted, the recommendations and outcomes from the following guide the methodology and focus for the Bozeman Strategic Parking Plan. • Parking Plans: 2016’s Downtown Strategic Parking Plan yielded the creation of many documents, plans, and policies that guide the parking system and provide a framework for managed parking, including the Parking Management Engagement Handbook and the Parking Permit Policy. Also, a series of key reports, such as the Bozeman RPPP Report and the Downtown and Parking Benefit Zone Report, have built upon and provided context to key strategies and recommendations intended to streamline the parking system and improve the parking experience while ensuring that the parking system is efficient and equitable. Most of plan’s strategies and recommendations have yet to be implemented. • Active Transportation Plans: 2017’s Transportation Master Plan focused on transportation conditions more holistically in Bozeman. The plan recommends promoting connectivity of neighborhoods surrounding Downtown, increasing frequency of transit service and launch circulator shuttle, designating an off-street lot for remote employee parking, and establishing new development standards and requirements. • Land Use, Development, Housing, Economic Vitality, Equity, & Environmental Plans: Plans such as Bozeman’s Climate Action Plan, Community Housing Action Plan, Economic Vitality Strategy, and the Bozeman P BOZEMAN STRATEGIC PARKING PLANBOZEMAN STRATEGIC PARKING PLAN Existing & Influencing Conditions III [Citywide] Strategic Plan collectively lay out a myriad of interrelated strategies and goals relating to placemaking, economic vitality, environmental sustainability, housing access and equity, connectivity and access, urban design, and multimodality at a city or regional level. The Downtown Improvement Plan calls for mixed-use, higher-density development and more multimodal-friendly design, with decreased dependence on vehicle transportation. Existing Operations & Management The City currently manages parking in three areas: Downtown, near Bozeman High School, and near the Montana State University Campus. The Parking Services Division is responsible for enforcing municipal parking regulations across Bozeman, as well as managing all public parking facilities. The Parking Services Division actively participates in public policy discussions regarding economic development and community development as it relates to parking availability. There are five categories of parking management concerns that the City seeks to address: 1. Climate and Community Health – Parking management must encourage the use of multi- modal transportation for the health of the climate and to support active lifestyles in the community. 2. Residents – Non-residents are parking on-street in neighborhoods, limiting parking availability for residents and guests. 3. Downtown Business Owners – Employees are parking on-street in commercial areas, limiting parking availability and turnover for customers. 4. Employee Parking – Employees should be provided with remote parking facilities to reduce use of valuable on-street parking, which is prioritized for customer use. 5. Downtown Developers – The cost and minimum requirements of building parking associated with new developments should be reduced to encourage development and increase flexibility. Existing Parking Options • Short-Term On-Street Parking: Short-term parking is managed both on-street and off-street in Downtown Bozeman. On-street parking and off-street surface parking, which is free, is mostly time-limited to two hours within the core area, with a “rolling rule” in place that prohibits parkers from simply relocating their vehicles to a different block face once time is expired. Immediately outside of the core area, on-street parking options include unrestricted with no overnight parking allowed and unrestricted with overnight parking allowed. • Short-Term Off-Street Parking: For those needing to park longer than two hours, paid parking is available in the Bridger Park Garage for $1 an hour for each hour after the second. The garage is gateless and parkers can either pay at a kiosk or pay via the ParkBZN smartphone app. • Long-Term Parking: Residents within the two RPPDs can purchase up to three BOZEMAN STRATEGIC PARKING PLANBOZEMAN STRATEGIC PARKING PLAN Existing & Influencing Conditions IV resident permits and two visitor permits per household for $35 per year; on- street parking during the day on weekdays is currently restricted to only permit holders. In downtown, a limited number of permits are available, with rates ranging from $60 a month for surface lots to $85 per month for the garage. • Temporary Permits: Within otherwise restricted on-street parking areas, temporary permits are available for construction, moving companies, or service vendors with a limit of one permit per job site for $20 per day. Enforcement & Fines Proactive enforcement is typically conducted in the RPPD areas between 8 AM and 5 PM and in downtown between 9 AM and 5 PM on weekdays. A flat fine schedule is currently in place for parking violations with fine amounts ranging from $23.50 to $63.50 for most parking violations, with handicap zone violations carrying a $103.50 fine. A $20 late fee can be assessed after 10 business days, and vehicles with 6 or more unpaid violations are subjected to immobilization. A staff of four parking enforcement officers employ mobile license plate reader (LPR) technology to conduct enforcement operations. Financial Health & Sustainability The parking system typically generates revenues with a small margin above cost (averaging 108% cost recovery). Since 2019, revenues from downtown parking permits have decreased while revenue from short-term parking and from RPPD permits has increased, with short-term parking revenues generated in the garage more than doubling since 2019. The increase in short-term garage parking and decrease in permit parking is in part due to more short-term demand, but also may be the result of changes to work habits, wherein employees only drive and park a few times a week and may choose to purchase parking daily instead of monthly. In recent years, costs to operate the parking system have increased—including hard costs related to maintenance needs, and soft costs like labor, where pay increases have been necessary to respond to growing inflation and a tight labor market. In the future, evolving parking behaviors and capital needs, such as expansion of the Bridger Park Garage, may require up-front capital expenditures and could also result in the ongoing need for increased enforcement and management. These changes may diminish cost recovery over time and result in costs exceeding revenues assuming no change to the current revenue streams. Cost Recovery Metric FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022 FY 2023 2019 - 2023 Averages Total Revenue $1,181,882 $1,287,707 $1,154,669 $1,088,345 $1,016,431 $1,145,807 Total Expenses $1,091,232 $1,004,606 $883,662 $1,018,093 $1,285,102 $1,056,539 Total Deficit or Surplus $90,650 $283,100 $271,006 $70,252 -$268,671 $89,268 Cost Recovery 108%128%131%107%79%108% BOZEMAN STRATEGIC PARKING PLANBOZEMAN STRATEGIC PARKING PLAN Existing & Influencing Conditions V 2023 Parking Conditions Downtown Inventory & Occupancy In 2023, there were 2,193 parking spaces within the study area, out of which 612 were off-street, 721 were on- street in the core area, and 860 were on-street outside the core area. Overall, on-street occupancy across the study area was the highest during the weekday afternoon count, with the core area reaching an occupancy of 537 spaces, or 74%, and the outer area reaching an occupancy of 600 spaces, or 70%. Combined, occupancy was observed at 1,137 vehicles, or about 72%. During the weekday afternoon, 2-hour parking in the Core Area reached 83%. Off-street occupancy patterns correlated to those on-street, with the highest total occupancy observed during the weekday afternoon count at 462 spaces, or 75% occupied. On the other days, total occupancy ranged from 49% to 50%. However, the Willson Lots and Black Lot remained above 90% occupancy during all survey periods, with the Rouse Lot ranging from 43% to 85%. The garage ranged from 72% during the weekday afternoon count to 35% during the Saturday evening count. The garage’s decreased occupancy during the weekend may be explained by a drop in the number of employees, many of which are long-term parking permit holders, using the garage. In 2023, there were 121 fewer on-street parking spaces available than in 2021 due to construction. Systemwide, percent occupancy decreased in 2023 compared to 2021 for all time periods observed, with the decrease ranging from 8% to 12%, though the weekday afternoon remained the busiest day and time period. Decreases were seen on-street as well as off-street. Percent occupancy in the Bridger Park Garage decreased between 14% during the weekday afternoon to 31% during the Saturday afternoon relative to 2021, and the Rouse Lot also saw notable decreases during three of the four times observed. Despite the systemwide drop, many areas within the system continued to experience effectively full occupancy during peak times. Three of the four surface lots were near 100% occupancy during all observation periods. Also, Main St. and Babcock St. between Grand and Church was effectively BOZEMAN STRATEGIC PARKING PLANBOZEMAN STRATEGIC PARKING PLAN Existing & Influencing Conditions VI at capacity during all observation periods. All cross avenues between Grand Ave. and Bozeman Ave. within one or two blocks of Main St. were also effectively full during most observation periods. During the weekday afternoon peak, nearly half of block faces across the study area were at or above 75% occupancy, while about 1 in 3 were at or above 85% occupancy. Total overall off- street occupancy during the weekday afternoon was about 75%, which is just within the range considered to be nearing effective capacity (75% - 85%). Potential explanations for decreased occupancy systemwide relative to 2021 may include that overall outdoor tourism activity to southwestern Montana spiked in Summer 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that employee permit parking in the garage decreased, or that some visitation downtown was temporarily deterred as a result of construction activity taking place on Main St. during the data collection period. Other communities that remained open during the COVID-19 pandemic and that cater to outdoor- and nature-related tourism and recreational activity across the United States were known to have experienced similar spikes in tourist activity during those years, in contrast with most other communities. It should be noted that data collection in 2023 took place one week later in August than in 2021. Length of Stay & Movement The average length of stay, which refers to the amount of time a vehicle was parked, on the weekday ranged from 1 hour and 5 minutes in the two-hour parking zones to 2 hours in the unrestricted all- day parking zones. The average length of stay for off-street parking ranged from 1 hour and 1 minute in the Rouse Lot to 1 hour and 11 minutes in the Willson Lots. The average length of stay across all off- street facilities was about 1 hour and 14 minutes. The average length of stay on the Saturday ranged from 1 hour and 1 minute in the two-hour parking zones to 2 hours in the unrestricted all-day parking zones. The average length of stay for off-street parking ranged from 1 hour and 0 minutes in the Bridger Garage and Black Lot to one hour and 24 minutes in the Rouse Lot. The average length of stay across all off-street facilities was 1 hour and 5 minutes. On the weekday, about 95% of vehicles in off-street parking facilities and 97% of vehicles within 2-hour time-limited on-street parking areas stayed 2 hours or fewer, with those figures increasing to 98% and 99% respectively during the Saturday. BOZEMAN STRATEGIC PARKING PLANBOZEMAN STRATEGIC PARKING PLAN Existing & Influencing Conditions VII Compared to 2021, the average length of stay in 2023 increased between 5 and 15 minutes in the off-street facilities, and by between 3 and 9 minutes for on-street parking. The number of observed violations decreased during the weekday but increased during the weekend relative to 2021. For vehicles observed to have made a movement, notable percent increases were observed in vehicles moving between two time-restricted areas, such as a surface lot to 2-hour on-street parking, compared to 2021 on the weekend, with these movements nearly unchanged on the weekday. Also, in 2023, there was a notable decrease in the percent of total unique vehicles observed more than once that moved (1% decrease during the weekday and 8% decrease on the Saturday). Overall, both the length of stay data and movement data indicate that parkers may be more comfortable with staying parked for longer in time-restricted areas, mostly on the weekend, and/or may be more comfortable now versus 2021 with both exceeding time limits as well as with rolling between time-restricted areas, potentially in violation of the “rolling rule” in place. MSU RPPD There are about 1,752 on-street spaces within the MSU RPPD. Occupancy peaked during the morning at 48% within the RPPD (shown at right), with occupancy reaching 53% if including block faces immediately outside the RPPD in potential spillover areas. Percent occupancy across the area decreased to 42% during the evening, and two hot spots of high demand in the morning were noted immediately to the north of College Ave. east of 10th Ave. and east of 6th Ave. between Arthur and Grant. When comparing the daytime and evening heat maps, it is possible that some spillover parking demand could be occurring on some block faces just outside the RPPD boundaries, such as along 12th and 10th between Dickerson and Story, though potential spillover just beyond the boundary does not appear to be widespread. BOZEMAN STRATEGIC PARKING PLANBOZEMAN STRATEGIC PARKING PLAN Existing & Influencing Conditions VIII BHS RPPD There are about 488 on-street spaces within the BHS RPPD. Occupancy peaked during the evening at 43% (shown at left) within the RPPD, with occupancy reaching 49% if including some block faces immediately outside the RPPD in potential spillover areas. In the morning and afternoon, percent occupancy ranged between 28% and 29% for RPPD block faces. During the morning or afternoon, the only demand hot spot observed occurred just outside the RPPD southeast of 9th and Babcock. The lack of demand hotspots, or locations where parking demand is especially high, immediately adjacent to or near the BHS campus, both just within and just outside of the RPPD boundaries, along with the overall low occupancy observed during the daytime, suggest that spillover parking demand from BHS is likely not occurring into the neighborhood. Notably, percent occupancy along the west side of 11th Ave. was relatively low during the day despite bordering the campus and falling outside of the RPPD. Parking demand adjacent to the campus was high during the evening (shown above), likely due to a school event. However, the observation time was outside of RPPD enforcement hours.