PARKING FACILITY PRICING STRATEGY STUDY MASSACHUSETTS BAY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY SUBMITTED ON THE 12TH DAY OF APRIL, 2016 SUBMITTED TO: RONALD ROSS DIRECTOR OF PARKING MASSACHUSETTS BAY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY 10 PARK PLAZA, SUITE 5750 BOSTON, MA 02116 ARCHITECTS ENGINEERS PLANNERS RESTORATION ENGINEERS SUBMITTED BY: PARKING CONSULTANTS 18 TREMONT STREET, SUITE 300 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02108 (617) 778‐9882 / (617) 778‐9883 (FAX) ARCHITECTS STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS PLANNERS PARKING CONSULTANTS RESTORATION ENGINEERS GREEN PARKING CONSULTING PARKING FACILITY PRICING STRATEGY STUDY PREPARED FOR RONALD ROSS, DIRECTOR OF PARKING BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................... 1 2. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 2 3. FIELD OBSERVATIONS ...................................................................... 3 Weekday Occupancy ................................................................................... 3 Weekend Occupancy .................................................................................. 7 Current Rates ............................................................................................ 10 Conclusions ............................................................................................... 13 4. IMPACT FACTORS .......................................................................... 14 Transit Fares .............................................................................................. 14 Theory of Management by Pricing ........................................................... 15 Parking Elasticity ....................................................................................... 16 Fuel Cost .................................................................................................... 16 Congestion ................................................................................................ 18 Future Development ................................................................................. 18 5. IMPACT MODELLING ...................................................................... 24 Methodology ............................................................................................. 24 Status Quo Scenario .................................................................................. 24 Realistic Scenarios ..................................................................................... 25 Optimal Scenario ....................................................................................... 26 6. CONCLUSIONS/ RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................ 28 7. APPENDICES................................................................................. 29 Parking Facility Pricing Strategy Project # 20‐16109.00‐3 Page 1 of 29 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (Author’s Note: To ensure a comprehensive review of observations, findings, analysis and recommendations, an Executive Summary has been purposefuly omitted from the draft document. Pending comments and review from the Client, a draft Executive Summary will be developed and issued for review after the working session. A revised version of the document will be included in the final report.) Parking Facility Pricing Strategy Project # 20‐16109.00‐3 Page 2 of 29 2. INTRODUCTION The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is the fifth largest transit system in the United States, servicing 175 member cities and towns over a 3,200 square mile area containing over 4.7 million residents. In Fiscal Year 2014, it was estimated that the system supported 1.3 million trips each day and 400 million boardings for the year. There are a total of 141 total parking facilities serving MBTA stations and terminals. Of these, the MBTA controls pricing at 101 facilities. Pricing at these facilities can range from as little as $4.00/day up to $27.00/day or $70.00/month up to $400.00/month; ten percent (10%) of MBTA parking facilities are completely free of charge. The MBTA retained DESMAN to perform a study of current pricing for MBTA parking facilities and return with recommendations for price adjustments reflective of current and future conditions. The MBTA also asked DESMAN to recommend a strategy for future pricing adjustments consistent with the agency’s goals and objectives. As part of this engagement, DESMAN reviewed current conditions in place at every station with parking, collecting data on utilization of a typical weekday and weekend day and current rates, as well as information on the utilization and rates of other facilities competing for MBTA riders. DESMAN also evaluated the area in a 500’ radius of each station to gain an understanding of parking supply and demand dynamics in each area and how those might change in the foreseeable future. Finally, DESMAN reviewed operations at each station and, where appropriate, made recommendations for improving efficiencies or revenue capture. As part of our approach, DESMAN reviewed the MBTA’s history of parking rate and fare adjustments to gain an understanding of how parking and ridership correlate. DESMAN also searched for research quantifying the impact of fuel prices and congestion on mode choice on mode choice in an attempt to quantify how rising gas prices and increasing commute times might drive MBTA ridership and, as a result, parking demand at the various facilities included within the review. Parking Facility Pricing Strategy Project # 20‐16109.00‐3 Page 3 of 29 3. FIELD OBSERVATIONS The following section provides an overview of the observed field conditions at the MBTA parking facilities included within the study. 3.1 Weekday Occupancy In order to measure utilization at parking facilities servicing MBTA stations, DESMAN personnel confirmed the inventory of parking spaces in designated facilities and conducted parking occupancy counts on representative weekdays. Based on our experience and input from MBTA administrators, DESMAN assumed that large part of the users who park at the lots and garages adjacent to MBTA stations will be in place before 9:00 AM. This assumption was predicated on the observation that a majority of riders are daily commuters who must be on their way into Boston by this time in order to reach their destination before the start of the business day. Similarly, the majority are not likely to return to their car before 3:00 PM or later. Based on these assumptions, DESMAN executed occupancy counts between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM on representative weekdays. Parking utilization counts were performed during the weeks of February 15th, February 22nd and February 29th, 2016. Occupancy counts performed the week of February 15th, a school vacation week throughout much of Massachusetts, were checked against conditions the following week and adjusted as necessary to reflect typical weekday conditions. At each of the 141 stations identified by the MBTA, DESMAN counted the number of vehicles parked in each facility to calculate the space utilization. The results of the weekday inventory and utilization surveys are presented Figures 1 and 2 on the following pages. Figure 1: Observed Weekday Occupancy along MBTA Subway, Bus and Ferry Service Lines Parking Facility Pricing Strategy Project # 20‐16109.00‐3 Page 4 of 29 Figure 2: Observed Weekday Occupancy along MBTA Commuter Rail Service Lines Source: DESMAN Parking Facility Pricing Strategy Project # 20‐16109.00‐3 Page 5 of 29 Figure 3: Observed Weekday Parking Utilization along MBTA Commuter Rail Service Lines Source: DESMAN Parking Facility Pricing Strategy Project # 20‐16109.00‐3 Page 6 of 29 As shown in Figure 3, on the prior page, and Figure 4, below, DESMAN divided the parking facilities into three categories depending on the observed level of utilization: facilities experiencing level of utilization of 85% and higher (highlighted in red); facilities with level of utilization between 60% and 85% (highlighted in yellow); and underutilized facilities running at 60% of capacity or less (highlighted in green). Figure 4: Observed Weekday Utilization along MBTA Subway, Bus and Ferry Service Lines The first category highlighted in red is comprised of 59 highly utilized facilities that are operating near capacity. These include Wonderland, most of the Red and Orange Line stations, the Green Line stations closest to downtown Boston along the subway lines. It is DESMAN’s theory that Wonderland, a terminal station located in Revere, supports a large commuter population from the North Shore of Boston who elect to drive and park at the location each day to access the higher frequency of service afforded by the subway as opposed to the commuter rail servicing their home community. Similarly, the Red Line stations offer access to higher frequency service for commuters coming from the South Shore and the communities north and northwest of downtown Boston as well as easy access on and off major highways. High utilization along Green Line stations appears to be a function of limited capacity at those locations. For commuter rail stations servicing South Shore communities, select stations along the Greenbush, Kingston/Plymouth, and Providence/Stoughton were highly utilized, but as a general rule these pockets of elevated demand were located between stations with excess capacity. Along the Franklin line, four of the eleven stations surveyed ran at over 85% capacity and on the Needham line, four of the seven stations with parking were running near or at capacity.