Title
Downtown Parking Management Plan Implementation Update
Staffreport
BACKGROUND
The City of San Leandro recently completed a Downtown Parking Management Plan (DPMP) to guide policies and regulations for parking in Downtown San Leandro. The DPMP was funded by a grant from the Sustainable Communities Technical Assistance Program (SC-TAP) of the Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC). The plan analyzed parking inventory, utilization, and turnover in the core downtown and periphery areas. The data includes BART riders, employees of downtown businesses, shoppers, and residents who use parking for either short durations or all-day.
With better understanding of parking patterns, on July 17, 2017 City Council adopted the DPMP with a strategy to aid future land-use and economic development decisions and increase the sustainability of the Downtown. On July 17, 2017 City Council also approved a Consulting Services Agreement with Dixon Resources Unlimited for oversight of the Downtown San Leandro parking system and guided implementation of the City’s new DPMP. The implementation of the DPMP is funded through the appropriation of $600,000 from the Successor Agency to San Leandro Redevelopment Agency’s 2008 Bond Funds to the City of San Leandro Parking Fund’s 2017-18 Operating Expenditure.
City staff is actively working to support the DPMP objectives throughout the implementation process. Several departments are involved including the Police Department, Public Works, Engineering and Transportation, City Manager’s Office, Finance and Economic Development. This is a collaborative effort and staff appreciates the efforts necessary to achieve the DPMP goals that were approved by Council.
The proposed updates to the City of San Leandro Municipal Code on tonight’s agenda are intended to support the overall DPMP guiding principles:
1. Recognize Downtown San Leandro as a valuable community asset
2. Simplify parking operations
3. Make downtown accessible to all users through multiple modes
4. Optimize parking in support of downtown businesses
5. Prioritize residential parking for residents
6. Manage parking with an understanding of systemic and fiscal impacts
Since September 2017, there has been substantial movement with the current parking operation and the results of this effort will soon be visible to the community and our visitors. The City parking project team has been working to implement the following DPMP recommendations:
1. Adopt Goals and Guiding Principles
2. Refine Organizational Structure
3. Simplify Parking Time Stays
4. Update Rate Policy and Pricing
5. Implement Residential Permit Parking (RPP)
6. Offer New Employee Parking Solutions
7. Identify and Communicate the Parking System
8. Integrate Parking Technology
9. Manage Parking Fund to Solvency
10. Encourage Transportation Demand Management
IMPLEMENTATION
Steps taken so far to improve downtown parking include:
Existing License Plate Reader (LPR) Technology- One of the first tasks completed was to evaluate the existing infrastructure and service agreements to determine if there was an opportunity to repurpose equipment and potentially maximize the service terms. This included meeting with the Police Department and riding along with the Parking Aides. Two Parking Aide Jeeps are equipped with license plate recognition (LPR) hardware that was installed by the now defunct APARC. After coordinating with the technology provider (Genetec) and their local distributor (PCS Mobile), the City has established a software licensing agreement that will allow the reuse of the existing hardware (value over $40,000 per unit). Working closely with the Police Department, new LPR technology will be used to monitor time limit parking zones, verify permit parking and identify stolen vehicles and scofflaws (violators with more than five (5) unpaid parking citations). Per the Police Department requirement, the updated system will upload LPR data to the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center (NCRIC) at the end of each shift.
Ticketing- After completing the Parking Aide ride-along, staff began to work with the City’s citation management software provider. Staff was able to leverage the existing vendor (Data Ticket) to implement services that were already included in the agreement. Rather than traditional paper ticket books that require manual entry, delays in the customer’s ability to pay, waiting for input, and human writing errors, the Parking Aides now carry automated smart enforcement handheld devices. These devices provide the Parking Aides with several customer service features, including the ability to issue a warning notice as an alternative to a citation, and the opportunity to verify if a vehicle has received a previous violation. Additionally, the handheld devices will be integrated with the soon- to-be implemented paid parking technology solutions including mobile payment.
Downtown Parking Garage Permits- During the evaluation with the Police Department, staff also coordinated with Public Works and Finance and identified that the City had not optimized the process for management of permits in Downtown Parking Garage. Previously, staff relied upon paper processes for application and billing. Staff leveraged our existing vendor (Data Ticket) and are currently in the process of implementing an integrated permit management system that will allow customers the ability to manage permit accounts online, including applying, submitting documentation, and processing payment. This is an important enhancement development that will prepare the City for the potential demand for residential parking permit programs as staff proceeds to proactively manage the City’s parking operation.
Mobile Payment- Staff has successfully managed two (2) Request for Proposal (RFP) processes for paid parking solutions. The first was for a citywide mobile payment solution. As previously discussed in a memo shared in November 2017, Parkmobile was selected to support the City’s program. Customers will no longer be limited to payment with coins at meters but now will have the option to pay for parking via phone (text, call, or mobile application). Payment status can be verified by the Parking Aides utilizing the handheld enforcement devices, in addition to the LPR technology. Parkmobile provides similar mobile payment services in our neighboring communities including Oakland, Berkeley, and Walnut Creek. This provides customers an existing familiarity with the service and the opportunity to establish an account that provides quick transaction to initiate a parking session. Staff supported a soft launch at the December 1st tree lighting event to alert the community of the upcoming service and the reception was overwhelmingly positive.
The Parkmobile payment service is provided at no cost to the City and customers pay a transaction fee to utilize the service. This is an opportunity to provide a credit card payment option without a substantial capital investment for on street technology. If the City were to update the current single space meter inventory with smart meters, the capital investment would be approximately $400,000. Rather than introduce this capital outlay, staff identified alternative strategies that will allow the City to identify the long term needs by making incremental, low cost initial investments.
Downtown Parking Garage Pay Stations- The second solicitation was for parking pay stations for the parking garage. The existing hardware located near the garage elevators has been inoperable since the APARC bankruptcy and patrons have used a cash honor box for parking on the roof deck. After a competitive bid process, the selected pay station vendor Parkeon provided an on-site demonstration and the equipment was kept in City Hall and staff and council were invited to evaluate the equipment. The contract is being finalized and it is anticipated that the garage pay stations will be installed and operational by April. The 5-year estimated cost for three (3) pay stations including fees and extended warranty is $46,000. The pay stations will be configured in a pay-by-plate setting that requires manual input of license plates to initiate parking sessions. Users will be able to pay via credit card, coin and the Parkmobile mobile payment option for parking in the garage. The LPR equipment will be used by the Parking Aides to monitor valid parking sessions and monitor/ verify valid garage parking permits.
Re-Parking Ordinance- To achieve the objectives of parking space occupancy and turnover identified within the DPMP, one of the proposed recommendations was to develop a ‘no re-parking ordinance’ for all time-limited parking zones. Currently, Parking Aides are challenged by vehicles that have time limit chalk marks removed or tracking vehicles that are juggling parking spaces or rolling their vehicles in and out of parking spaces, especially in Washington Plaza.
If approved, there will be a proactive public outreach campaign to educate and inform our downtown community that will include signage updates, warning notices and discussions with local businesses, the San Leandro Downtown Association and the San Leandro Improvement Association. The LPR technology will have the ability to monitor space occupancy within designated zones and, based upon the proposed code amendment, vehicles will be required to move at least one-tenth of a mile. It is anticipated that this will have the desired impact to provide available customer parking throughout our downtown community.
Employee Permits- The DPMP acknowledges the need to refresh the parking program and improve the overall customer experience. Staff intends to reintroduce consistency and improve the regulatory signage to clearly communicate the parking rules. In preparation for the anticipated changes, in addition to the public outreach with the businesses and associations, staff is exploring an employee parking permit program. Staff has been proactively working to identify convenient and affordable locations that are designated for employee parking. Using our Data Ticket permit management system, there is an opportunity to introduce an Employee Parking Program and a Part-Time Employee Parking Program in order to offer a parking solution for downtown employees.
BART Parking- Another element that is currently in progress is the update of signage near and around the BART parking lot. Due to previous construction at the San Leandro Tech Campus and Marea Alta, some of the four-hour time limit signage was removed. The signage is being replaced and staff will begin a proactive public outreach campaign that includes warning notices and flyers. The time limits will soon be consistently enforced to provide the short-term parking options that are intended to be readily available around the parking lot. There is available BART parking in the nearby garages, however it appears that some commuters are taking advantage of the nearby free on-street parking.
Residential Permits- Staff is aware that, even with the education campaign and a nearby available parking resource, the refreshed parking enforcement effort may bring an impact to the surrounding residential neighborhoods. This is another reason why staff has submitted updates to the Municipal Code. Staff is committed to proactively work with the neighborhoods to introduce a residential parking permit (RPP) program into the area, however, to determine the impact, staff needs to begin by enforcing the posted regulations consistently to identify where the vehicles will go. Based upon the Municipal Code, staff anticipates introducing RPP area recommendations in the future. Our neighboring municipalities have provided successful RPP examples and our community will directly benefit from the lessons learned from their experiences.
Outreach- Staff continues to work closely with the San Leandro Downtown Association and San Leandro Improvement Association. Staff has also stayed actively engaged with The Village, Washington Plaza, Pelton Plaza, neighborhood groups and transit agencies. Staff has begun a public outreach campaign to solicit organizations that might be impacted and that will benefit from the informational updates. Thus far, staff has received positive feedback and support from stakeholders and will continue to keep the community engaged and up-to-date as the parking program implementation proceeds.
Budget- Staff has tried to maximize existing resources before making substantial capital investments. As staff implements the technology with consistent enforcement, staff will proactively monitor to confirm and identify the future needs of the program. These improvements will allow for a more efficient and manageable parking program that will address chronic abuses and loopholes within the existing system. The proposed Municipal Code changes are intended to promote compliance with City parking regulations and to improve the overall public parking experience.
NEXT STEPS
The following is a summary of the upcoming tasks of the parking implementation process:
• Parking Aide Enforcement Refresher Training
• Coincide with technology updates
• Analyze enforcement contracting opportunity
• Improve Paid Parking Revenue
• Mobile payment implementation
• Park San Leandro marketing campaign
• Install paid parking hardware for garage
• Present to City Council Changes to Paid Parking Rate Schedule
• Hourly
• On Street
• Off street (garage & surface lots)
• Permits
• Monthly
• Employee
• Residential
• Introduce paid parking near and around BART parking lots
• Pelton Plaza - negotiate paid parking shared revenue agreement
• Develop Downtown Wayfinding Plan
• Provide City Council Updates
Staff will provide ongoing updates as staff achieves project milestones. Staff looks forward to providing an improved customer parking experience for San Leandro’s growing and evolving community.
PREPARED BY: Mariana Garcia, Economic Development Specialist, Community Development Department