Less Parking, More Carsharing: Supporting Small-Scale Transit-Oriented Development
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Working Paper 2012-04 Less Parking, More Carsharing: Supporting Small-Scale Transit-Oriented Development Colin Dentel-Post October 2012 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LESS PARKING, MORE CARSHARING: SUPPORTING SMALL-SCALE TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT COLIN DENTEL-POST PROFESSIONAL REPORT Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF CITY PLANNING in the Department of City and Regional Planning of the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY APPROVED Karen Chapple Daniel Chatman Date: Spring 2011 Less Parking, More Carsharing: Supporting Small-Scale Transit Orie nted Development Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 4 Parking Demand .............................................................................................................................................. 5 Carshare Market Characteristics ................................................................................................................ 5 Carshare Pod Viability ................................................................................................................................... 6 Policy Mechanisms to Reduce Parking Requirements and Support Carsharing ........................ 6 II. BACKGROUND ON MINIMUM PARKING REQUIREMENTS .................................................. 8 Parking Requirements and Vehicle Miles Traveled ............................................................................. 8 Parking Requirements and Housing Costs .............................................................................................. 9 Parking Requirements in Transit Oriented Development ............................................................. 10 III. RESEARCH METHOD ................................................................................................................... 13 Study Areas ..................................................................................................................................................... 13 Parking Demand ........................................................................................................................................... 14 Carshare Market Characteristics ............................................................................................................. 14 Survey Method ................................................................................................................................................................ 14 Carshare Pod Viability ................................................................................................................................ 17 Policy Mechanisms to Reduce Parking Requirements and Support Carsharing ..................... 18 Parking Demand in Neighborhoods Near Transit ............................................................................. 19 Station Area On-Street Parking Occupancy ......................................................................................... 20 Carshare Member Opinions of Street Parking .................................................................................... 22 Parking Demand Findings Summary ..................................................................................................... 23 V. PROFILE OF CARSHARING MEMBERS ..................................................................................... 24 Carsharing Demographics in the Literature ........................................................................................ 24 Demographic Findings of Survey Results ............................................................................................. 25 Vehicle ownership and parking ............................................................................................................... 29 Carshare use and travel patterns ............................................................................................................ 30 Carshare Member Profile Implications ................................................................................................. 31 VI. CARSHARE POD VIABILITY ....................................................................................................... 33 General neighborhood characteristics .................................................................................................. 33 Pod Revenue and Costs ............................................................................................................................... 34 Carshare vehicle access modes and distances .................................................................................... 36 Other pod viability factors ......................................................................................................................... 38 Carsharing viability with smaller-scale infill development ........................................................... 38 2 VII. POLICIES TO REDUCE PARKING REQUIREMENTS AND SUPPORT CARSHARING ... 40 Established public policies for carsharing support .......................................................................... 40 Providing public parking spaces for carshare vehicles ................................................................................ 40 Requiring developers to include carsharing spaces ....................................................................................... 41 Startup costs or revenue guarantees .................................................................................................................... 41 Marketing and promotion ......................................................................................................................................... 42 Combined policy approach ........................................................................................................................................ 43 Parking and carsharing: potential policies .......................................................................................... 43 Reducing parking requirements ............................................................................................................................. 43 Limiting residential parking permits .................................................................................................................... 45 Transportation demand management and parking in-lieu fees ............................................................... 45 Green transportation districts ................................................................................................................................. 46 On-Street Carshare Parking ...................................................................................................................................... 47 IV. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................. 48 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................... 51 APPENDIX A: CARSHARE MEMBER SURVEY INSTRUMENT .................................................. 57 APPENDIX C: CARSHARE PROVIDER INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ............................................ 71 3 I. INTRODUCTION Most cities in the United States require property owners and developers to provide a minimum amount of auto parking for each land use on a property. From their introduction in the 1920s, these minimum parking requirements gained popularity as a way to reduce parking congestion on public streets. Yet, by requiring land and construction funds to be devoted to parking rather than housing or other uses, minimum requirements have increased housing costs and become an obstacle to increasing urban densities even as land use policies encourage infill development on underutilized sites in the metropolitan core. Parking can be especially problematic for small-scale infill in the form of secondary units, or accessory dwelling units, on single family lots; minimum parking requirements entirely prevent much potential development because the required spaces simply will not fit on a property. Parking minimums also encourage car ownership and use because mandating construction of more parking spaces than the market would build artificially pushes the price of parking down, typically to zero. Parking requirements are especially problematic in areas near transit because car ownership is lower, resulting in underutilized parking spaces. Residents also drive their cars less, so many of the vehicles in required parking spaces are used relatively infrequently. Neighborhoods near transit stations are also the ideal places for housing development because it maximizes access to environmentally-friendly and affordable transportation options. In this study, I focus on reducing parking requirements for infill development in BART station areas in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, and El Cerrito, California. Given the need to encourage affordable infill housing development, particularly near transit, this study investigates carsharing as a potential means to reduce the development barrier posed by minimum parking requirements while minimizing any real or perceived street parking overcrowding the development may cause. Carsharing services provide short-term vehicle rentals to members, and are designed to provide the same convenience as a personal vehicle. Cars are located in dispersed neighborhood