54.3 F
San Diego
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
-Advertisement-

Parking Improvements Are Around the Corner

Parking guidance technologies — from companies including Vista-based McCain Inc. and Streetline Inc. of Foster City — are helping curb frustration among time-strapped drivers searching for available spaces.

They are also adding to a growing arsenal of tools now allowing urban planners and developers to make better use of available parking space in high-traffic neighborhoods, minimizing new investment in costly, space-hogging lots and garages.

Parking strategies impacting commercial and civic development were the focus of a recent forum in Vista, presented by the Urban Land Institute’s San Diego/Tijuana chapter.

In interviews prior to the gathering, experts said communities are increasingly turning to smartphone-enabled parking apps, providing drivers with real-time data on available spaces and pricing. The technology also offers valuable information for cities and commercial lot operators, to track parking demand at various locations and set prices based on peak usage times.

‘Toolbox of Methods’

Robert Davis, senior transportation planner in the Carlsbad office of RBF Consulting, said cities in recent years have developed “a whole toolbox” of methods to either pay for parking enhancements — through entities like assessment districts — or lessen the need for parking by providing more walk- and bike-friendly amenities in central business districts. Others have bolstered public transit options, or installed smart meters and similar devices to boost parking-space turnover.

“Cities have been employing combinations of all of these strategies, by necessity,” Davis said. He noted that traditional municipal parking requirements in business districts — based on a ratio of spaces to commercial properties’ square footage — have often proven inefficient and out of sync with actual parking usage patterns.

Kurt Buecheler, vice president of business development with Streetline, pointed to results of a recent national survey by IBM, in which 60 percent of respondents said they have abandoned plans to patronize a business simply because they could not find parking quickly.

Cities are finding that a big chunk of workers’ commute time is being spent finding parking, and connecting parking providers more efficiently with consumers would also help improve overall traffic flow in busy commercial districts.

“Parking is extremely painful for consumers, and on a macro level it’s very painful for cities,” said Buecheler. His company’s parking guidance apps, and related information collection technology for parking providers, now cover more than 5,000 spaces in 40 U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, New York and Indianapolis.

Streetline and its competitors envision a time in coming years, when in-car parking guidance will be as ubiquitous as in-car trip navigation, and the firm is in talks with several automakers to include the technology. Key to acceptance is getting more cities and lot operators to sign on as paying customers for the tracking technology, which is then offered to consumers through free mobile apps.

“Things like the parking space sensors, the mobile technology, it’s all becoming cheaper to produce and provide,” Buecheler said.

Other experts said improving the offerings of central business districts will ultimately be more important than adding parking spaces. Kevin Ham, economic development director for the City of Vista, said that if downtown areas have compelling merchants and attractions, visitors will be willing to walk longer distances to get to them.

Walk the Walk

He said Vista, for instance, has taken steps to make its central business district pedestrian friendly and encourage usage of mass-transit options, including the Sprinter commuter train that serves North County and offers close access to the city’s downtown area.

“The answer isn’t always going to be putting up a new parking structure,” Ham said. “In the years I worked in Coronado, they didn’t have to put up a new garage, and people found places to park.”

Forum organizer Robert Ford Mance, principal owner of Ford Mance Capital Advisors in Vista, said local businesses view parking as one element in bolstering visitor counts and diversifying the tenant mix, as well as handling rising traffic. The city’s downtown village area recently saw the arrival of Mother Earth Brew Co. and Home Brew Store, and talks are in progress with various other retail and restaurant operators.

“You want to approach development from a consumer-centric standpoint,” said Ford, who also chairs a committee of the Vista Village Downtown Association, a designated business improvement district. “And in this case you don’t want your parking to be a distraction — you want it to be an attraction.”

-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

Oberon Eyes Europe for Renewable DME

Leaders of Influence in Law 2024

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-