feasibility study of real time parking information at ... - WMATA.com

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WMATA Real-Time Parking Information Feasibility Study Chapter 3: BEST PRACTICES REVIEW indicated that smart parking encouraged them to use BART instead of driving alone on their typical commute to their usual workplace, with 55.9 percent stated the same for work trips to meetings and other locations. Overall, 75 percent of survey respondents indicated that their reserved space always had been available when they arrived at the smart parking lot. Forty-nine percent of respondents did not use BART to commute to work before smart parking and were encouraged to use BART more because they could drive to the station. In addition, smart parking resulted in sizable increase in BART modal share. On average, BART uses per participant increased by 5.5 trips per month for typical work commutes and by four trips per month for work trip commutes to meetings and locations other than their typical place of work. Finally, the program reduced overall vehicle miles traveled by 9.7 fewer miles per participant per month on average and decreased the average commute time by 2.6 minutes. While the field test at the Rockridge BART station concluded in 2006, BART has incorporated smart parking into the agency’s strategic plans and intends to introduce the technology at other stations in the system. In addition, there is an upcoming California PATH and Federal Highway Administration Value Pricing Pilot Program initiative at five stations in conjunction with the San Diego Coast Express Rail (COASTER) scheduled to launch in late 2008. This initiative is planned to include a value pricing component, more detailed messages on CMSs, and an expanded number of parking spaces included in the test. Carpooling With parking demand exceeding capacity at a number of Metro stations in the DC metro area, various options are being explored to increase utilization of the existing facilities to better serve the traveling public. Encouraging passengers to carpool to stations may help to increase the number of transit riders served, decrease the number of vehicles traveling to access transit and help to minimize the costs to travelers as travel and parking expenses could be split between the driver and passengers. Research was done to identify other transit systems nationwide where carpooling is being encouraged at transit stations. Studies on the topic were reviewed and researchers and parking operators were interviewed to obtain additional insights on the topic. WMATA Experience For a number of years, WMATA had a number of park and ride locations with a limited amount of carpool parking. This program was discontinued due to a number of factors, including poor utilization, difficulties in administering the program, use of the spaces by non-carpool patrons and the difficulty and costs associated with monitoring and enforcement. However, with parking shortages becoming increasingly acute at a number of WMATA stations there has been renewed interest in re-instating an improved version of the program. Page 3-12 June 2009
WMATA Real-Time Parking Information Feasibility Study Chapter 3: BEST PRACTICES REVIEW General Observations • Carpool parking at transit stations cannot be thought of in isolation; they must be part of an overall parking strategy. • Promotion is key. Carpool spaces are not self-sustaining and require continued promotion, perhaps as part of a wider Transportation Management Agency program. • Enforcement of carpool spaces must be rigorous and continuous, particularly at locations where lots fill up early. Signage must also be clear. • Pilot programs should be wider in scope; one program at a single location is unlikely to be successful. Proposed Parking Program for Carpooling Users This study attempted to research the existing carpool parking programs and interviewed the TDM program manager in Contra Costa County, California, who initiated and managed a carpool parking program at the County’s BART stations. A proposed framework for a WMATA pilot carpool parking program is outlined below: • WMATA can add a number of spaces for carpool parking at a convenient location within the parking facility, ideally, next to the permit parking area and easily accessible to elevators if in the garage. • Carpool driver and passengers in the same vehicle can sign up a WMATA carpool parking permit pass for each. Allowing 2 people at the same address, while not 100 percent desirable, should be allowed. This allows unrelated people sharing an address to participate and encourages related people to carpool more frequently. • The permit can be renewed on a quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis, and requires each person in the car (driver and passengers) to provide the identification number of individual’s Smartrip card. The Smartrip card can then be tied with the person’s use of Metrorail in the central fare card transaction database to allow for validation. • A carpool vehicle needs to display two permit passes on the dash of the vehicle. Passes need not be tied to each other nor tied to a specific vehicle. • On a monthly basis, staff will validate the carpooling against train rides based on the defined frequency of usage established by WMATA for the permit holders. WMATA could also consider a monetary refund in a small amount to each Smartrip card as an incentive. • The importance of enforcement cannot be over stated. It will need to be continuous or there will be a need for frequent, high profile enforcement days. For fines to be a deterrence, they will need to be significant. Consideration should be given to having the fine for parking in a carpool spot being higher than the equivalent fine for a standard reserved space. • Consideration should be given to revoking current permits as well as restricting the ability to obtain and renew permits when there is a violation. • Future ITS applications to the carpool program should be investigated. Some things to consider are: o Handheld devices to check the validity of permits/complete summons, Page 3-13 June 2009
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