Problem Statement

Parking is costly and limited in almost every major city in the U.S., contributing to increased congestion, air pollution, and driver frustration. Furthermore, limited parking can also constrain transit ridership in dense regions, such as the Bay Area, where parking is full or close to capacity at 26 of BART's 29 transit stations (with parking facilities) prior to 8 AM. Job growth is projected to increase by 25 percent by 2010 in the Bay Area; thus, greater parking shortfalls are expected. With parking construction and land use costs increasing, innovative alternatives for meeting near-term parking demand are needed. Smart parking management approaches, including dynamic space sharing (described below) could provide a cost-effective solution.

Smart parking management is the use of advanced technologies to help direct drivers efficiently to available parking spaces at transit stations (and other activity locations), encouraging transit ridership, lessening driver frustration, and reducing congestion on highways and arterial streets. Smart parking approaches range from dynamic displays on roadway signs informing drivers of location and parking lot capacity, to the internet, and cell phones-providing space availability, location, and pricing information.

A concept we call "dynamic space sharing" could also be employed to increase the available parking inventory (without building additional facilities) through wireless communication and matching logic technologies that increase capacity by managing privately-owned or previously restricted spaces. These spaces, such as private parking (e.g., corporate, apartment, hotels), private driveways, driveway curb space, loading zones, access alleys, could be made available for public parking utilizing dynamic management technology that accounts for the specific needs of the rights' holders. When valuable space is made available to the public, the rights' holders share in revenue generated from the space provided. Preliminary estimates suggest that space sharing can increase available parking inventory by 15 to 40 percent in many areas. Because space sharing is highly desirable for both the public and the rights' holders, it is expected to generate significant revenue. By employing sophisticated database technology, pricing can be adjusted dynamically (e.g., value pricing based on time of day). Higher, market-based pricing on desirable urban parking should have the added effect of encouraging transit use in many areas.

Research is needed to design, develop, test, and evaluate the smart parking management concept. Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH)/California Center for Innovative Transportation (CCIT) researchers propose a transit-based, smart parking management research pilot project in the East San Francisco Bay Area in conjunction with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the BART District.

Pilot project objectives include:

• Increasing available parking in and around transit stations;
• Increasing flexibility and convenience by allowing carpoolers/carsharing users to reserve premium spaces in transit lots (and possibly paying for guaranteed parking and long term (airport parking), if authorized by BART);
• Evaluating the impact of dynamic signs and wireless services in increasing transit use (before and after analysis);
• Providing feedback on new smart parking management technology packages developed for this demonstration;
• Assessing value pricing potential of premium/guaranteed parking services;
• Evaluating institutional issues associated with paid parking and space sharing;
• Assessing impact of the availability of long-term airport parking on air traveler's BART usage (if implemented); and
• Documenting lessons learned from pilot research project.

Summary

The proposed project is a two-year pilot research program beginning in June 2002. After initial scoping and analysis, a pilot project will be deployed in one of two locations (i.e., Rockridge or Dublin-Pleasanton) in January of 2003. The scoping analysis will aid researchers in selecting an optimal location for this pilot research project. Five main project phases are included in this study:

• Phase I: Literature Review
• Phase II: Project Scoping & Analysis
• Phase III: Technology Package Design & Concept Testing
• Phase IV: Project Implementation
• Phase V: Initial Project Evaluation.