A Tentative Pay Station Implementation Timeline
While the Luzon took the spotlight in this week’s Tacoma City Council Study Session, there was another item on the agenda that may be of interest to you. City Manager Erik Anderson presented an early draft of the transportation element of city’s strategic plan. The document is still a living document and a work-in-progress. That said, Anderson outlined a system of interconnected elements that includes a parking strategy and mobility strategy – on-street parking, structured parking, streetcars, a transit system, trails, bicycles, and (just because we haven’t really looked at it in much detail) water.
Of particular note was a tentative timeline for the implementation of on-street pay stations in downtown Tacoma.
The City Manager’s parking strategy begins with the philosophy that parking is not free and should be priced appropriately by the market to achieve a 15% vacancy. The parking system should be an enterprise operation, self supporting, and parking revenues should pay bonding and operational costs. Finally, all parking revenues should stay within the parking system.
Anderson noted that this last point does not align with some people’s belief that parking revenue should go back to the neighborhood from which it came. He acknowledged that perspective, but stated his belief that the the parking system as a whole needs to be “stable” before that can happen.
Implementation of pay stations could begin in the first quarter of 2010 in much of downtown Tacoma. For this to happen, here’s the implementation timeline:
August 31, 2009 – Final meeting of the Parking Implementation Team
September 15th – Preview overall approach at Committee of the Whole
September 22nd – Bring proposed ordinance to City Council Study Session
September 29th – First Reading at City Council
October 6th – Second Reading
If passed, an RFP for pay stations will be issued by October 16th. Installation of the pay stations will be complete by April 2010. The price will be set by the market. The system will expand based on market demand.
We’ve been talking about parking for a long time. Are we ready for some change?
Filed under: General
12 comments
C Chris K August 13, 2009
Do we have a link to the City Manager’s document anywhere?
This is great.
The inclusion of water is an interesting component. Metroparks considered water taxis along the Ruston Way waterfront in their master planning charettes a few years ago.
N Nick August 13, 2009
Glad to see things are actually happening at city hall, perhaps the last drop of molasses was drained out of the building so people could get back to work? Only kidding!
All teasing aside, this is great news! Perhaps the added revenue from this will also help pay for future road maintenance as well.
T Thorax O'Tool August 13, 2009
Let’s do it.
Hey, idea!
Rent-a-Bike like they have in some European cities… pick up a bike at one station for like $3 and then drop it off at any other station when done. Couple those with our new bike lanes and that could be awesome! To encourage use of the system, imagine this: for every like 5 bike rentals, you could get a coupon for an hour of free parking (because you sometimes have to drive downtown) or maybe some other kind of incentive?
P Papasan August 13, 2009
Where are the sidewalks???
Lanes for bikes, parking for cars, but NO SIDEWALKS????
Priorities, priorities.
D Dave August 14, 2009
Parking revenues to stay within the parking system? Puh-lease. That doesn’t pass the straight-face test.
If this system makes money, it won’t be 2 years before the city starts to raid the piggy bank to pay for pet projects. Quite frankly, there is no other explanation for the sudden interest in expanding parking revenue.
P Proctor-ite August 14, 2009
I don’t care if parking revenue stays within the parking system – they can only charge what the market will bear, and after maintaining the spots and the machines, any excess should go to other infrastructure improvements, especially transit related ones.
This is a great start! I know so many people who don’t go downtown to shop or eat because finding parking is too much of a chore (especially with all the blocked streets, and long lights around the UW-Tac campus). Yes, my friends are lazy suburbanites – but they are also part of what would bring life to downtown, and they happily pay for parking in Seattle to be close to shopping, so why not here?
A altered Chords August 14, 2009
Proctor-ite: Why not here? Because there is no shopping here. That is why.
D DavidS August 14, 2009
I actually avoid going to the shops/restaurants around UWT when I’m driving because of the difficulty finding parking. That’s an awfully big block to circle. When I’m biking, parking is not so much of a challenge.
Of course other areas of downtown are burdened with absurd time limits. It is so frustrating to have a meeting & lunch planned, but the only time zones available are 1hr or less. So there goes lunch. I hope the pay stations allow me to buy the amount of time I need rather than arbitrarily telling me to leave at some pre-set time.
the parking system as a whole needs to be “stable” before that can happen.
So what are the destabilizing influences on the parking system? Initial bonding, political whims, failure to enforce, committing funds to another parking garage construction project…?
J Jesse August 14, 2009
It’s hard to find parking by UWT because it’s the most popular part of downtown! It’s a great area! Maybe next time when you need to be someplace by UWT and don’t want to deal with parking, go park up by the Elks and take LINK in. How convenient! Hey—-> If that’s what people end up doing (parking outside of the pay for parking zone and huffing-it-in or taking LINK) maybe some of those other areas will benefit too.
I do love this article. Great news. I’d love to see the plans on paper though.
M Morty August 17, 2009
When showing office space downtown parking is a problem. Extra cost is the biggest concern followed by time limits for St. parking; North Garage cost $136 per mnth per space, employees and employers hate paying. Visitors/ clients don’t have enough time, they agree with DavidS @ # 8
Meters ok with 2 hr parking, City garages need to validate or discount parking to biz owners and employees who need to drive.
M Morty August 17, 2009
When showing office space downtown parking is a problem. Extra cost is the biggest concern followed by time limits for St. parking; North Garage cost $136 per mnth per space, employees and employers hate paying. Visitors/ clients don’t have enough time, they agree with Davids @ # 8
Meters ok with 2 hr parking, City garages need to validate or discount parking to biz owners and employees.
T tressie August 17, 2009
My views on Pay Parking are now at my blog for your blood-boiling pleasures. Someone has to come up with Reasons For No, and that person, seems to be me.