Parkdc: Penn Quarter/Chinatown Pricing Pilot Final Report January 2019 6
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PENN QUARTER/ CHINATOWN PRICING PILOT Final Report | January 2019 Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. 3. Recipient’s Catalog No. DDOT-RDT-19-02 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date parkDC: Penn Quarter/Chinatown Pricing Pilot Final Report January 2019 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Alek Pochowski, Meredyth Sanders, Katie Taylor, Brandon Nevers (Kittelson & Associates); Matt Darst, Eduardo Cardenas, Mark Derrick (Conduent); Soumya Dey, Stephanie Dock, Benito Perez (DDOT) 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Kittelson & Associates, 300 M Street SE, Suite 810, Washington, DC 20003 11. Contract or Grant No. Conduent, 750 1st St NE, Suite 1020, Washington, DC 20002 DCKA-2013-T-0100, Task #5 12. Sponsoring Organization Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered District of Columbia Department of Transportation (DDOT) Final Report 55 M Street, SE, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20003 Sept 2014 – Sept 2018 Federal Highway Administration, Office of Operations 14. Sponsoring Agency Code E86-205, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20590 15. Supplementary Notes Study funded through the Federal Highway Administration Value Pricing Pilot Program 16. Abstract The parkDC: Penn Quarter/Chinatown Multimodal Value Pricing Pilot used the Penn Quarter/Chinatown neighborhoods of Washington, DC as a laboratory to test state-of-the-art strategies to make it easier to find a parking space. The project provided real-time parking-availability information so customers could spend less time searching and changed parking pricing (both raising and lowering prices) so more spaces were available. In addition, the pilot allowed DDOT to test a more cost-effective, “asset-lite” approach to collecting parking data. The pilot was largely successful at achieving its goals. After four years and five price changes, parking availability increased on high-demand blocks and underutilized spaces found more takers; better information from DDOT helped drivers to understand when and where they could park, and where parking was available; and circling for parking and congestion decreased as finding parking became easier. DDOT began to address issues with double parking and illegal use of loading zones by applying pricing to loading zones. The pilot did not negatively affect local businesses and the pilot area still has high usage of non-driving modes. Lastly, the “asset-lite” approach was successful and enabled DDOT to conduct the pilot at lower cost and with fewer assets than the current state of the practice. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Congestion pricing; Curb side parking; Data fusion; Parking No restrictions. This document is demand; Pilot studies; Pricing; Sensors; Urban transportation available from the Research Program policy; Washington (D.C.) upon request. 19. Security Classification (of this 20. Security Classification (of this 21. No. of Pages 22. Price report) page) Unclassified. Unclassified. 188 N/A parkDC: Penn Quarter/ Chinatown Parking Pricing Pilot January 2019 PREPARED FOR: PREPARED BY: IN ASSOCIATION WITH: District Department of Kittelson & Associates, Inc. Conduent, Inc. Transportation 300 M Street SE, Suite 810 3505 N. Lakewood Avenue, Suite 2 55 M Street, SE, Suite 400 Washington, D.C .20003 Chicago, IL 60657 Washington, D.C. 20003 202-450-3710 312-513-1734 Disclaimer This research was performed by the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official view or policies of the FHWA. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. Data Sources Full data sources for the content of this document may be found within the parkDC: Penn Quarter/Chinatown Parking Pricing Pilot Data Book. Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW 1-1 CHAPTER 2 PLANNING & POLICY FRAMEWORK 2-1 CHAPTER 3 HOW DDOT DID IT 3-1 CHAPTER 4 STAKEHOLDER OUTREACH & COORDINATION 4-1 CHAPTER 5 PILOT IMPACTS 5-1 CHAPTER 6 LESSONS LEARNED & NEXT STEPS 6-1 The parkDC: Penn Quarter/Chinatown Parking Pricing Pilot (parkDC pilot) sought to use technology, pricing, and information to make parking easier and reduce congestion in part of downtown Washington, DC. The parkDC pilot met the customer- and agency-related goals identified by DDOT at the pilot’s outset. Due to the success of the parkDC pilot, DDOT is working to expand demand-based parking pricing to other District neighborhoods. 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PENN QUARTER/CHINATOWN PARKING PRICING PILOT 5 The District’s residents, commuters, and visitors all share one need: access to public curbside spaces. The number and variety of customers sharing the District’s curbside parking spaces is growing. The District of Columbia is located at the center of one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States. The resident population of over 700,000 people nearly doubles daily with an influx of over half a million commuters and over 125,000 visitors. These residents, commuters, visitors, and commercial vehicles all need access to public space, namely roads, sidewalks, and the curbside. As a result, the District’s on-street parking and curbside space is utilized by a diverse range of customers, ranging from personal cars to transit buses to commercial vehicles to taxis. The growth of new transportation options such as transportation network companies (mobile app-based ride hailing companies) are simultaneously expanding access to District neighborhoods and increasing demand for already limited curbside space. As the District’s economy and population continue to grow, how the curbside is managed will help to shape how people and goods move. Customer challenges related to finding parking add to downtown congestion. When demand outweighs supply for on-street parking, drivers are more likely to circle for parking or resort to parking illegally. The practice of circling for parking and parking illegally have both been identified as major contributors to congestion in the District. Illegally parked vehicles can block travel lanes, bicycle lanes, pedestrian crosswalks, and bus stops, leading to unsafe interactions between motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit users. Limited information on parking availability contributes to frustration. Customers often prefer on-street parking spaces for shorter durations since they are priced significantly lower than off-street garages. However, lack of visible information about the location of open spaces contributes to frustration. 6 PENN QUARTER/CHINATOWN PARKING PRICING PILOT 7 Better information and DDOT’s parkDC: Penn demand-based pricing can Quarter/Chinatown Parking help reduce the “agony” of Pricing Pilot set out to parking downtown. improve curbside access Across the transportation field, public from all user perspectives. Building on the experiences of other agencies and with the agencies are increasingly turning support of a grant from the Federal Highway Administration’s to demand-based pricing to help (FHWA) Value Pricing Pilot Program, DDOT set out to leverage technology and data to test demand-based parking pricing manage access to scarce resources. in the District’s downtown. The parkDC pilot also sought to advance the state of the practice by applying a multimodal In the Washington, DC region, time of day pricing is used on and asset-lite approach to the program. DDOT executed the the Metrorail system to help spread out peak demand. High- pilot in the Penn Quarter and Chinatown neighborhoods from occupancy toll (HOT) lanes in Virginia use pricing to provide less September 2014 to November 2017. congested travel to carpools, buses, and for a price, solo drivers. ADVANCING THE STATE OF THE PRACTICE Major urban areas have made the connection between roadway Apply pricing principles to congestion and curbside other modes (i.e., commercial loading zones) management. Multimodal Simply adjusting time limits and pricing through spot applications on an as-needed basis does little to mitigate the practice of circling for parking and parking illegally, both Develop demand-based of which contribute to roadway congestion. A more active, pricing and real-time parking data-driven approach to curbside management with regularly availability information at a updated parking pricing and policies helps to mitigate circling significantly lower price point and illegal parking, and supports larger agency goals such as Asset-Lite by deploying fewer assets increasing network mobility and reducing system congestion. Cities and towns are increasingly recognizing that parking pricing has an important role in addressing parking demand. Pilots and programs in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Indianapolis, among others, have demonstrated that demand-based parking pricing is an important tool for parking management and has a positive impact on urban congestion. Gathering parking demand data has been expensive. However, continued technological innovations and advances in big data analytics provide an opportunity to reshape the way agencies manage valuable curbside spaces at a fraction of the cost. These technologies also provide opportunities to look at other curbside space users, such as commercial vehicles and motorcoaches, and explore how pricing affects their activities. 8 The Penn Quarter/ Chinatown Pilot Area PENN QUARTER/CHINATOWN