"I can never find a parking spot when I go downtown or to Pioneer Square."
"It's so frustrating to try and park on Capitol Hill at night, there is no street parking."
"As a small business owner, I watch my customers drive by and just keep going. They can't find spots on the street."
The above complaints are heard all around Seattle. That's why Councilmember Mike O'Brien and I started asking questions and challenging assumptions when the Council began consideration of Mayor McGinn's proposed 2011 budget this past September. How does the City manage on-street parking? What are our specific goals with regard to on-street parking? What drives our decisions about parking meter rates?
Frankly, the answers we got weren't very satisfying and caused me to conclude that parking rates were set with a primary focus on generating revenue, not on managing what is an extremely valuable asset to the city and our retail businesses. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to manage on-street parking so that customers would be able to find a place to park near their destination?
So, in adopting the final budget, the Council changed our on-street parking management philosophy away from a revenue orientation to the specific and measurable policy outcome of providing one or two open spaces per block face. This new policy will (1) allow motorists to find parking near their destination, (2) reduce traffic congestion caused by block-circling in search of parking and (3) reduce carbon emissions.
The Council also directed our department of transportation to . . .
- Conduct a baseline study of parking occupancy in all areas of the city with parking pay stations so we would have a factual basis for determining whether our policy outcome was being achieved. (The study was completed in November and it was very well done.)
- Conduct this baseline study on an annual basis going forward. (The next baseline study will be done mid-year.)
- Conduct monthly spot checks of occupancy by neighborhood parking area in order to get regular updates on occupancy trends and early warning of problems. (Monthly spots checks will begin in March.)
- Break up the three, large geographic rate areas into smaller, neighborhood focused areas that would allow better management of meter rates based on retail business patterns. (The three large areas have been changed to 22 distinct neighborhood parking areas.)
- Beginning in 2012, vary parking rates by time of day to more closely adhere to the occupancy target.
The results of the first annual occupancy study will lead to rate increases in just four neighborhood parking areas—Capitol Hill, the downtown commercial core, First Hill and Pioneer Square—that account for 27% of the total paid parking spaces in Seattle. Rates will remain at 2010 levels in seven neighborhoods (21% of paid spaces). Rates will go down in 11 neighborhoods (52% of paid spaces). With a current occupancy rate of 91%, Pioneer Square requires special attention because of the disruption that will be caused by the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement project now underway. The Council will monitor this area closely. View a map and a table of the new rates.
Is everyone happy? No. Change is difficult for all of us, especially so when we fear negative impacts on our businesses. Restaurants and bars are particularly concerned that the new rates will scare away customers or push them over to Bellevue. That's exactly why this shift to market-driven rates based on demand is the correct public policy. Meter rates will increase and decrease based on occupancy and our ability to manage parking to achieve our goals. And nobody should argue that the old revenue-based approach was better.