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Description

 

Finding a parking space can be frustrating and time-consuming. It’s estimated close to a third of city traffic is caused by drivers circling while looking for a space. Some drivers just give up and double park. This clogs our streets and needlessly pollutes the air.

Installed parking sensors detect when a parking space is available. Drivers will be able to check parking availability and rates online, by text message and by smart phone before heading to their destination, this will help people decide whether to drive, take public transit, bike or walk.

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Figure 1.  Smart parking sensors 

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Parking rates will be adjusted based on demand, once a month, never by more than fifty cents. So, in areas where it seems nearly impossible to find a parking space, rates will increase until at least one space is available most of the time. And in areas where open parking spaces are plentiful, rates will decrease until most of the empty spaces fill or until rates bottom.

 

Objective

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  • No driver circling

  • Reduce CO2 emissions

  • Avoid hazard for pedestrians and cyclists.

  • To provide safer and clearer streets for everyone.

  • Free ways for emergency vehicles.

  • Constant flow of customers for business.

 

 

 

Main objective

  • To have at least one parking space available per block by adjusting prices based on demand once a month.

Project planning

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• Scope of work.

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To manage demand for existing parking supply towards availability targets so that people, when they choose to drive, rarely circle to find parking or double-park. To the extent the right level of parking availability is maintained, everyone benefits.

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• Executive leadership.

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Many challenges accompanied planning and implementing a ground-breaking project with complex technology, significant policy changes, and a large amount of discovery and uncertainty. The support of a dedicated executive at the agency was critical, as was having appropriate financial resources.

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 • Understanding the parking supply.

 • Strong and coherent intellectual foundations.

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This parking management approach was based on the pioneering academic work of Professor Donald Shoup from UCLA. The clarity and strength of those foundations made it easier to develop policies, goals, and tools that were easily communicated and understood.

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• Striking the right balance between complexity and simplicity.

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There was a balance between the potential complexity of managing parking effectively and the need to have something simple enough to be communicated clearly and quickly to customers. They strike a similar technological balance between what is desirable and what is feasible.

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• Emphasizing data collection and project evaluation.

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The SMFTA committed to stakeholders that we would gather the data that would allow a rigorous evaluation of the project. That improved the project’s credibility.

 

Inputs:

 

  • 7 pilot areas with new policies, technology, and significant data collection

  • 2 control areas with no new policies or technology but significant data collection.

  • 6,000 metered spaces, or 25 percent of the city’s total.

  • New Parking meters.

Outputs:

 

SFpark helped drivers find spaces with a combination of real-time and static information. Parking wayfinding signage directs drivers to lots and garages; variable message signs and show which garages have availability; mobile web apps and the region’s 511 system showed on- and off-street parking availability; and an open data feed enabled others to display the data as well.

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• Meeting occupancy goals to make it easier to find parking.

When there are always a few spaces available, drivers have to spend less time circling for parking.

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• Easier payment methods.

New parking meters accept payment by coin, credit card, the SFMTA parking card, and phone.

 

• Longer time limits.

Time limits in SFpark pilot areas are extended to four hours and in some areas eliminated altogether.

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Impact:

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  • In SFpark pilot areas, the amount of time that it took for most people to find a space decreased by 43 percent, compared to a 13 percent decrease in control areas. SFpark also shortened the distance drivers had to travel before finding a spot.

 

 

  • The likelihood for participants in an intercept survey to report that it was somewhat or very easy to pay for parking increased in pilot areas by 75 percent, or twice as much as in control areas where meters were not upgraded.

 

  • Over the course of the SFpark pilot project evaluation period, the SFMTA lowered the average hourly rate at meters by 11 cents from $2.69 to $2.58 and average hourly rates at SFpark garages by 42 cents from $3.45 to $3.03.

 

  • Approximately half of San Francisco’s greenhouse gas emissions are transportation-related. Less congestion and circling, as well as helping Muni to become more viable for more trips, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. The evaluation showed that greenhouse gas emissions decreased. Drivers generated 7 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per day just looking for parking in pilot areas. This dropped by 30 percent by 2013, compared to a decrease of 6 percent in control areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • The right level of parking availability reduces double-parking and circling, both of which present hazards for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other drivers.

  • In both pilot and control areas, where parking availability improved, traffic volume decreased by approximately 8 percent, compared to a 4.5 percent increase in areas where parking availability worsened. And while overall traffic speed decreased, it decreased only by 3 percent in areas with improved parking availability, compared to a decrease of 6 percent in areas with worsened parking availability.

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CONTACT DETAILS:

 

​South Van Ness San Francisco, CA 94103​

info@sfpark.org

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