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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBozeman Parking Study Presentation - 2011.pdfDowntown Bozeman Parking Study Results Ahmed Al-Kaisy Ph.D. P.E. David Veneziano Ph.D. March 3, 2011 Overview •Introduction •Summary of Practice •Parking Inventory •Occupancy Rates •Dwell Time •Turnover •Parking Demand •Conclusions and Recommendations Introduction/Background •Comprehensive data on downtown parking assets needed –Only a rough estimate of total available parking existed •Purpose –Examine the existing and potential future parking needs within the downtown district –Address parking operations to aid in optimizing the BPC parking system •Study initiated in July, 2010 •Study area bordered by Mendenhall St., 5th Ave., Babcock St. and Broadway Ave. Study Area Summary of Practice •Gathered information pertaining to: –Parking studies completed by Montana cities –Parking studies completed nationally in communities comparable to Bozeman •Focus on guidelines and management practices –Existing parking management guidance documents •Focus on parking generation rates and management practices Inventory •Methodology –Data collectors walked each downtown block and recorded parking assets observed on standard data collection sheets –Stalls defined by pavement markings •When markings absent, stalls identified by 20-foot spaces –Data recorded -number of spaces, type of parking (on- street, off-street), ownership (public, private), fees (free, pay, permit), restrictions (handicapped, time, loading zone) •Collection dates –July 27-29, 2010 Inventory •Total of 5,034 parking stalls in study area –Average of 162 per block •Ownership: 2,426 public (48.4%), 2,608 private (51.6%) –Public: 1,667 on street, 742 off street –Private: 2,491 off street –“Other” (ex. alley): 17 public, 117 private Inventory •Total by block N Inventory •Public and private ownership by block N Inventory •On and off street parking by block N Inventory •Restrictions: 1,007 stalls identified as unrestricted –Private parking comprised of 1,740 stalls –Many stalls at businesses intended for customer use only •Permits required for 689 private off-street stalls •Handicapped accessible stalls totaled 125 Inventory •The location of a parking stall is important –Downtown core versus fringe •Available parking space on edge of downtown may remain available because of its location –Tendency to park in a location closest to trip destination •Demand varies by use and time of day Occupancy Rates •Measure the level of utilization of a parking area for a specific period of time •Help understand how parking demand fluctuates during the course of a day •Computed as: OR = (NT/PS)*100 •OR = Occupancy rate, in percent •NT = total number of parked vehicles observed •PS = total number of legal parking stalls •Supporting data collected Wednesday, August 11; Saturday, September 11; and Thursday, September 16, 2010 –Periodic manual count observations of vehicles parked in blocks of interest Occupancy Rate –Study Area N Dwell Times •Dwell time: the duration of time a vehicle occupies a parking space •Dwell times for five city-owned lots and two on-street parking areas examined •Vehicle entry and exit time, license plate number recorded Turnover •Refers to number of vehicles which occupy a particular space over a specific period of time •Computed as: TR = NT /(PS * TS ) –NT = total number of parked vehicles observed –PS = total number of legal parking stalls –TS = total duration of study period, in hours •Rate of 1.0 indicates stall used by one vehicle/hr, 0.50 indicates stall used by one vehicle during a period of two hours Turnover •On street parking saw higher turnover compared to lots •Logical, as these stalls are closer to trip destinations and in more demand Location Observed Vehicles Stalls Study Duration (hrs) Turnover Rate Date Mendenhall and Black 127 58 6 0.36 8/11/2010 Mendenhall and Willson NE 90 44 6 0.34 8/17/2010 Mendenhall and Willson NE 105 44 6 0.40 9/16/2010 Mendenhall and Willson SE 114 28 6 0.68 9/23/2010 Tracy on-street 78 11 6 1.18 8/24/2010 Main on-street 129 24 6 0.90 8/23/2010 Rouse and Babcock NW 91 48 6 0.32 10/8/2010 Parking Garage 64*435 6 0.02 8/11/2010 Parking Demand •Estimate the expected cumulative daily parking requirements per block •Estimate represents current parking demand –Based on assumptions related to •Building uses and square footage •Applicable parking generation rates –Inherent uncertainty in the process Parking Demand •Methodology –Employ ITE Parking Generation rates –Data inputs •Inventory of downtown parking supplies •Square footage and use of downtown buildings •ITE parking generation rates –Rates selected using professional judgment and general knowledge of land use for the respective block –Appropriate rate multiplied by metric (i.e. square footage) for use and results summed together to determine demand for each block Parking Demand •While peak parking requirements by each use are computed and aggregated together, peak parking demand for all uses may not necessarily occur simultaneously •Combined parking demand for a block may indicate that a parking deficit exists, when there may be a parking surplus –Respective demands of different uses occur at different times throughout the day Parking Demand •Results indicated that parking surpluses exist in some blocks while other blocks did not possess a surplus –Again, aggregate demand calculated •The cumulative surplus represents headroom to accommodate future parking demand growth –Availability of surplus is important as the entire lifespan of each building, its surrounding land uses, and their interaction over time cannot be accounted for •Interestingly, observed occupancy rates for blocks without a surplus showed that at no time during the study were all spaces occupied on each block –Possible explanation: demand for various land uses peak at different times Parking Demand N Conclusions •Total of 5,034 parking stalls in study area –Average of 162 per block •Ownership: 2,426 public (48.4%), 2,608 private (52.6%) •Occupancy rates indicated steady increase throughout morning, peaking at noon, and falling throughout the afternoon and early evening •Dwell time results indicated that vehicles remained parked for an average of 38 minutes to 1 hour and 21 minutes Conclusions •Turnover rate analysis indicated off street parking facilities saw rates ranging from 0.02 to 0.68 •On-street parking exhibited higher turnover, with rates ranging from 0.90 to 1.18 –On-street stalls were more likely to be used by motorists making brief stops at an adjacent business •Results of present demand indicated that most individual blocks have a surplus of parking –Presence of surpluses was confirmed by the occupancy rate measurements observed in the downtown core –Represents headroom to accommodate future parking demand Recommendations •Conduct future parking studies as needed •Observe changes in parking occupancies and dwell times by enforcement personnel •Maintain/update compiled downtown parking inventory •Develop GIS database of building square footages •Maintain clear, consistent pavement markings •Employ marketing strategies when changes significant changes to parking occur *These reflect the views of the contractor and are presented for consideration and discussion purposes only. They do not constitute mandatory changes. Acknowledgements •Downtown Tax Increment Finance District for the funding of this work •Paul Burns, Chris Naumann, Chris Saunders and the Bozeman Parking Commission for their interest and assistance in this work •Jon Henderson of the City of Bozeman GIS office for the provision of various spatial data Questions?