People in the parking industry are constantly asking themselves if Parking and Transportation Demand Management (TDM) are opposing forces. Does parking represent the evil product of our country’s addiction to a driving culture? Is TDM Hans Solo and Parking Darth Vader? Well if your only goal in the parking industry is to make money, then you might view reducing the number of drivers as hurting a parking facility’s earning potential. However, one of the best strategies to reduce vehicle trips and encourage people to use other forms of transportation is by increasing parking rates. This increase in rates may offset any reduction in demand from implementing other TDM strategies. I digress. The fact is they are not opposing forces, but one in the same. They both need to be designed and managed properly to create a cohesive, well operated system that serves all forms of transportation, including drivers. As a parking consultant, the main question we need to answer is how we develop a feasible and effective TDM and parking management strategy for each client. The answer is that it requires a process.
The development of an effective TDM and parking management strategy, starts with questions. What amount of money would get a person to change their mode of transportation? What would be the user’s preferred alternative mode of transportation? What would incentivize a person to park off site and take a shuttle? These are the types of questions that need to be answered by the users of a facility or institution when developing a TDM plan for any client, including a university, hospital, municipality, office complex, etc. These questions can be easily answered through questionnaire surveys. The next assessment is what the client can effectively do to change their users’ (i.e. customers, employees, students, patients, etc.) transportation and parking habits.
There is a wide menu of TDM strategies that can be applied for every situation and type of users. There is carpooling, car share, bike share, transit fare subsidies, etc. However, there are two main types of strategies: the incentive (i.e. carrot) and the infrastructure (i.e. stick). Infrastructure based TDM strategies include improvements to the transit system, bike/pedestrian network, bike/pedestrian amenities, car-share vehicles, etc. These are the TDM strategies that improve a person’s convenience and ability to travel to the facility when using alternative modes of transportation.
The other group of TDM strategies are the incentive based strategies, which help change the commuter cost equation. Everyone does the calculation in their head to determine their commute cost and figures the most economically favorable option. Incentive based TDM strategies can tend to be the most controversial, and are heavily dependent on how parking is managed. The management of a parking system plays a huge role in the commuter cost equation. The easy situation is located in an urban center with transit service, limited parking availability, high parking rates, poor traffic conditions, etc. The most difficult situation is located in a suburban or rural area with an abundance of free parking located at the facilities door step. The culture and expectations for each type of user is different. However, there are solutions for every type of client that can begin to create a cultural shift and get people to use alternative modes of transportation.
After reviewing the questionnaire surveys and analyzing the opportunities to enhance or implement both infrastructure and incentive based TDM strategies, the next major question in creating a cohesive, well designed system, is to identify the future parking demand and the realistic potential to reduce demand through each type of TDM and parking management strategy. This is often difficult. However, you need to determine your organization’s starting point by identifying the current percentage of people using each form of transportation (i.e. vehicle, bike, transit, walking, etc.). This can be analyzed through questionnaire survey, which can also provide insight regarding what percentage of people are willing to use other forms of transportation and their travel mode preferences. Another factor to consider is where users live in proximity to the facility/institution/area. This can be determined by mapping home addresses or zip codes, and identifying improvements to service these areas with transit, bike lanes, pedestrian paths, etc. One last major factor to consider is the economics of each travel choice. It needs to be determined how costly it is to drive and park versus other forms of transportation. The one essential piece to this equation which must be understood is how much the institution is willing to subsidize alternative modes of transportation (i.e. free transit cards, parking cash out payment, etc.). An institutions inclination to subsidize other forms of transportation can be based on a number of issues, including: lack of space to construct more parking, cost to construct parking, and the institutions sustainability goals. Each of these factors provides insight in developing accurate projections of the potential to reduce vehicle trips by implementing or investing in TDM strategies.
As stated earlier, parking is part of the equation in developing a TDM plan. Additional parking may still be necessary to support future demand even with the implementation of TDM strategies. This would be simply based on the future parking demand analysis for the facility, campus, or area, and the projected reduction in parking demand from implementing TDM strategies. Not only should the capacity of the parking system be considered, but how parking is managed.
There is a number of parking management strategies that can be implemented to support a TDM program, including:
- Shared parking,
- Remote parking,
- Daily pay parking system (i.e. hourly or daily rates),
- Demand based pricing,
- Parking maximums,
- On-street parking policies,
- Real-time parking availability and way-finding signage,
- Parking access and revenue control equipment,
- Parking cash-out program.
How each of these strategies is implemented and designed is unique for each organization and some of these practices may not even apply for each organization. However, the use of daily parking versus a monthly or annual pay parking system could be effective in every situation, but may be discouraged due to its unpopularity or political issues. With many universities, the parking rates are negotiated as part of the faculty and employee compensation, which can make a daily parking rate difficult to implement. However, a daily parking rate is very effective in making a person consider the cost of parking for each trip.
Another parking management best practice to help reduce vehicle trips that is fairly consistent among each project is the management of on-street parking. Essentially, on-street parking should not be free. It should be regulated with on-street meters, residential parking permit programs, and on-street parking restrictions so that people are not incentivized to park free on-street. This is another issue that can be less desirable due to its unpopularity and political considerations.
To get a TDM and parking management plan effectively implemented, requires outreach and education. Community workshops, city council meetings, social media, and other form of education are necessary to win the minds of the community and users to successfully implement things like daily parking rates and on-street parking restrictions. Depending on the organization, certain TDM and parking management strategies require a cultural shift. For this cultural change to happen smoothly, necessitates effective outreach and marketing. Parking and TDM can live in harmony, but require a well-designed, implemented and marketed plan.
