That the Community Services Committee recommend to City Council:

Transcription

1 Public Report To: From: Report Number: Community Services Committee Ron Diskey, Commissioner, Community Services Department CS Date of Report: November 10, 2017 Date of Meeting: November 16, 2017 Subject: Free Downtown Parking Pilot File: E Purpose The purpose of this report is to respond to the Community Services Committee s request for staff to report on the opportunity to provide free on-street public parking in the downtown Business Improvement Area (B.I.A.), from Monday, December 11, 2017 until end of business day on Friday, December 22, Recommendation That the Community Services Committee recommend to City Council: 1. That free of charge parking not be implemented in the downtown B.I.A. area at this time; and 2. That Report CS dated November 10, 2017 be received for information. 3.0 Executive Summary Not Applicable 4.0 Input From Other Sources Municipal Law Enforcement and Licensing Services Finance Services 5.0 Analysis At the October 26, 2017 Community Services Meeting, a motion was introduced That onstreet parking in the downtown B.I.A. be suspended from Monday, December 11, 2017 to the end of business day, Friday, December 22, 2017, on a pilot project basis. This motion was referred to staff to report back at the next Community Services Committee meeting.

2 Report to Community Services Committee Item: CS Meeting Date: November 16, 2017 Page Previous Studies In December 2005, the City approved a request by the Downtown Oshawa Board of Management (D.O.B.M.) to implement an on-street parking Free After 3 program in the downtown as a Christmas promotion. This initiative was implemented for a three week period as an incentive to Christmas shoppers to come downtown in the late afternoon period. Following this three week period the D.O.B.M. requested the Free After 3 pilot be extended indefinitely. The Operational Services Committee discussed the potential of a six-month pilot study for free on-street metered parking in the downtown from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. The proposed pilot study was referred to staff to report back, and the subsequent report OS-06-26, shown as attachment 1, was considered by the Operational Services Committee on January 30, Key points from the staff report: During the Christmas Promotion, downtown merchants did not experience any significant increase in business. Parking meters are an effective tool to generate parking turnover at regular intervals. Free parking required additional enforcement to enforce time limits. Studies showed free parking in other municipalities did not make the downtown more desirable to customers, but resulted in parking congestion. The municipal parking system is operated with the goal of being self-sustaining. A consultant would need to be hired to properly evaluate the effect of the pilot project. Promotion to the public is critical to the success of the pilot. The Operational Services Committee considered the findings in OS and recommended that the Free After Three program not be extended. 5.2 Options for consideration Parking time limit Metered and Pay and Display parking locations are subject to a time limit with a maximum duration of 2 hours in most downtown on-street parking locations. A time limit creates parking turnover that is desirable to businesses for bringing in new customers. Should a free parking pilot not enforce a time limit it may result in parking congestion caused by longer duration users including local residents, visitors staying downtown, and employees and owners of nearby businesses. Conversely if the free parking pilot included a time limit for on-street parking it would be a significant challenge for the City to enforce and will require additional dedicated resources from Municipal Licensing and Enforcement. Without proper signage and advertising it may also be confusing to customers who are unaware that the free parking still has a time restriction.

3 Report to Community Services Committee Item: CS Meeting Date: November 16, 2017 Page Off-Street Parking There are a number of off-street municipal owned parking lots that provide short term parking downtown. These include: Lot 4 - on Athol between Centre and Simcoe Lot 16 - on Athol between Celina and Albert Lot 18 - on Carriage Works at William Parkade 1 (on Centre between King and Bond) Parkade 3 (on Mary between King and Bond) Off-street lots could be included in the free parking pilot; however, this would result in additional loss of revenue for the City. Customers who currently pay for monthly parking passes may also feel it is unfair that free parking is only being provided to short-term parking customers. 6.0 Financial Implications To implement free of charge, on-street parking in the downtown B.I.A. for the proposed duration of the pilot from December 11, 2017 until December 22, 2017, the total lost revenue for the City is estimated at $27,600. If the pilot is expanded in scope to make off-street short-term parking in municipal owned lots downtown also free of charge, the total lost revenue for the City is increased to an estimated value of $49,700. The above estimate does not include loss of revenue from fees generated through parking enforcement. 7.0 Relationship to the Oshawa Strategic Plan This report addresses the Oshawa Strategic Plan by responding to the goal of Economic Prosperity & Financial Stewardship with the theme of downtown revitalization. Glenn Simmonds, Director, Operations Services Ron Diskey, Commissioner, Community Services Department

4 Attachment(s) may not be included in the electronic version of the report. To obtain a paper copy of the attachment(s), please contact Mary Medeiros CS Attachment 1 Report To: Item: Date of Report: Operational Services Committee OS January 20, 2006 From: Commissioner, File: Date of Meeting: Subject: Department of Operational Services E-2630 January 30, 2006 Feasibility and Criteria for Free After 3 On-Street Parking Pilot Ward: BACKGROUND In December 2005, the City approved a request by the Downtown Oshawa Board of Management (DOBM) to implement an on-street parking Free After 3 program in the downtown as a Christmas promotion. This initiative was implemented for a three week period as an incentive to Christmas shoppers to come downtown in the late afternoon period. On January 9, 2006, Anna Visconti, Chair of the DOBM, made a presentation to Operational Services Committee requesting that the Free After 3 parking promotion be extended. In her remarks she indicated that many of the business in the downtown community were struggling and needed this incentive for their customers and suggested the extension could be needed until the recently approved Durham Consolidated Courthouse opens in In response to the DOBM request, Operational Services Committee recommended to Council that the Downtown Oshawa Board of Management s request for the City to consider free onstreet parking in the downtown after 3:00 p.m., Monday to Friday be referred to the Downtown Action Plan Parking Strategy. This was approved by Council on January 16, In addition, the Operational Services Committee discussed the potential of a six month pilot study for free on-street metered parking in the downtown from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. with the results of the study being referred to the Downtown Action Plan Parking Strategy. The Committee referred the pilot study to staff, in order to define the criteria, for report back to the next Operational Services Committee meeting. The purpose of this report is to provide the details of the proposed pilot Free After 3 project, outline the various outcomes that can be measured to determine the effectiveness of the pilot project and seek Council direction on the implementation of the pilot Free After 3 on-street parking promotion. 2.0 INPUT FROM OTHER SOURCES Staff have discussed the pilot project with representatives of the DOBM to get their comments on the December promotion and to discuss how the DOBM can assist with the evaluation.

5 Committee (Continued) Meeting Date: January 30, ANALYSIS 3.1 Background on the Municipal Parking System The Community Strategic Plan confirms that the economic health of the downtown is important to the Community. Because the success of the Municipal Parking System (MPS) by definition, is tied to the success of the downtown, the MPS considers itself a partner with the downtown stakeholders and has in the past partnered with the DOBM on initiatives to help downtown businesses. Also, as property owners in the downtown, the MPS is a member of the DOBM and contributes to their budget through the property taxes paid. However, the primary role of the MPS is to supplement the parking provided by private property owners to ensure there is an adequate supply of conveniently located parking. It is a commonly accepted principle that an effective parking control and enforcement program is important to the success and viability of a business and commercial district. Business owners and their employees, as well as customers and clients all want the ability to park as close to their destination as possible. It is also important to generate parking turnover at regular intervals so that all motorists have an opportunity to access short-term on-street parking. Parking meters (or pay and display) are more effective than signs in generating parking turnover and easier to enforce. For businesses to be viable they need to have frequent turnover of parking spaces nearby. While it is a common belief that free parking would boost the success of the retail sector, analysis of the experiences of other municipalities where such programs have been implemented indicates that this is often not the case. In a report to the Council of the City of Hamilton, staff reviewed the practices of 25 Canadian cities and concluded that the preferred means of promoting parking turnover was through the use of parking meters in their respective business centres. Studies have been undertaken by many municipalities, including Oshawa, on the effects of free parking in the downtown. These municipalities removed parking in the hopes of making the downtowns more business friendly. It was found that it did not make the downtown more desirable to customers but in fact resulted in parking congestion that was identified as being caused primarily by the employees/owners of the downtown businesses. With free parking, additional enforcement was required to enforce time limits that were introduced. Subsequently several of these municipalities reinstated paid parking as a means to better control short term onstreet parking. In the past, Christmas promotions in Oshawa, including free parking in the entire downtown for the whole day, resulted in similar abuse by long-term parkers. The DOBM agreed that promotions like this did not achieve the desired results. The MPS is operated in a businesslike manner with the goal of being self-sustaining. The philosophy is that users of the system should pay for the service rather than make all taxpayers in the City support the parking system. Currently parking customers are required to pay to park onstreet between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. at the rate of $1 per hour for a maximum duration of 2

6 Committee (Continued) Meeting Date: January 30, 2006 hours. The MPS has experienced an annual operating deficit since This deficit, composed mostly of debt incurred to fund capital projects, has been funded from the General Tax Levy. Given that there are costs associated with the running of any parking operation and the provision of any parking program, in reality there is no such thing as free parking ; rather there is either User Pay parking or Levy Subsidized parking. With the construction of a new Downtown Sports and Entertainment Centre and the announcement of a new Durham Consolidated Courthouse, it is anticipated that the operating deficit will be reduced over the next several years. 3.2 Downtown Parking Strategy In 2005, Council endorsed the Downtown Action Plan which included as one of its recommended actions that the City develop a new Downtown Parking Strategy, encouraging reduced parking standards based on urban conditions. The Terms of Reference for this study include several objectives including a review of fundamental parking policies such as the downtown parking exempt area as well as a projection of the long-term demand for parking in the downtown based on current and future development. Also, the strategy will review operational issues such as appropriate parking rates, hours of operation and parking control devices. One of the tasks within the Downtown Parking Strategy study is a comprehensive measurement of current parking utilization which will not only indicate how many on and off-street parking spaces are utilized at various times but will also measure how long parking customers stay and how this utilization varies across the downtown. Free After 3 is only one possible parking initiative that could help the downtown. Other short-term strategies could be generated by the Downtown Parking Strategy Study and on this basis it would be premature to begin a trial of one particular requested change when advice from parking experts will be available within several months. 3.3 December Free After 3 Promotion In discussion with the DOBM, they advised that the Christmas promotion was well received by the downtown merchants, however the downtown merchants did not experience any significant increase in business as a result of this promotion. This could have been due to a number of factors including the inadequate promotion or possibly that free parking was not a sufficient incentive. The period from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. represents 30% of the time when parking customers are required to pay for on-street parking. However, a review of the data from a selection of downtown pay and display machines revealed that approximately 12% of on-street parking revenue is collected during this time period. This translates to approximately $1,000 per week and if this were extrapolated over an entire year, the impact on the MPS budget could be in the order of $50,000 in reduced revenues. 3.4 Proposed Free After 3 Pilot Project

7 Committee (Continued) Meeting Date: January 30, Goal of Free After 3 The intent of this parking promotion is to attract new customers to the downtown during the late afternoon period. The DOBM suggested this time period because the activity level in the downtown drops after 3:00 p.m. each weekday. Because parking rates are the same at 10:30 a.m. when activity is higher as they are at 4:30 p.m. when activity is lower, it is reasonable to assume that the activity level is lower because the customers prefer to shop or do business at times other than after 3:00 p.m. If this promotion is to be successful, it needs to provide incentive to customers who would not normally have done business in the downtown, not only to come downtown but to do so at a time of day that is not their preference. The value of this promotion depends on whether the removal of the on-street parking charge of $1 per hour would be sufficient incentive. Also, it should be noted that for these same reasons, it would inappropriate to extrapolate any benefits measured from offering free parking after 3:00 p.m. as being indicative of the impact of free parking at all times Pilot Study Evaluation There are various ways to evaluate the impact of a promotion such as Free After 3. They range from a very basic measurement of parking change that can leave doubts as to the cause of the change or more detailed assessment of parking and business activity. These methods naturally vary in their level of effort required and cost. Measuring Revenue Loss Staff can measure the impact on parking and enforcement revenue relatively easily because this data is collected as part of our normal business. However, because this promotion involves free parking, measuring changes in parking revenues, while relevant to the City, is not an accurate measurement of changes in parking activity. Measuring Parking Activity In order to accurately measure this, the study needs to measure parking utilization. Although the pilot study only applies to on-street parking, to ensure that any increase measured is caused by new customers and hasn t resulted from customers moving from off street facilities, shoulder areas of the CBD where parking is free or from other times of the day, comprehensive monitoring will be required. This would not only describe whether parking spaces were occupied more but would also measure whether cars stayed parked longer when parking is free. The scope of this type of parking study is significant and requires a survey team to gather and analyze the parking data. This type of study is beyond the current resources of staff and would require the hiring of a consultant. Also, because staff do not have this type of data for the current operating hours, sufficient time must be available to plan and conduct measurements in advance of beginning the pilot study. Measuring Business Activity

8 Committee (Continued) Meeting Date: January 30, 2006 Although an increase in parking activity could be a good predictor of an increase in business activity, because the goal is to improve business activity, consideration of how to track business activity relative to parking activity is important. It is proposed to evaluate the change in business activity through a survey questionnaire distributed to all downtown businesses. Although we would not anticipate 100% participation, the survey information will provide insight into the impact of the promotion on the downtown Pilot Study Promotion Promotion to the public is very important and critical to the success of the pilot study. Without adequate promotion, disappointing results could be blamed on lack of public awareness. However, if the pilot project is over communicated it may cause a distortion of the results as increased patronage may be as a result of increased advertising of the downtown and not related to the Free After 3 initiative. Therefore, the right level of advertising and communication will have to be developed. An appropriate level of promotion would likely involve a combination of press releases, print advertising, web-site notices and posters. Also, if a pilot is intended to extrapolate the potential impact over several years, the pilot would need to continue for at least two months with the evaluation at the end to attempt to measure the long-term impacts and not the extra impacts during any initial hype. Also, parking signs and control equipment would need to be modified to communicate to parking patrons that the hours of operation have changed. 3.5 Proposed Pilot Study Schedule While Operational Services Committee has suggested that a pilot study be undertaken for six months, parking data indicates that there is a dramatic change in parking demand during the summer months. For this reason it is recommended that the pilot study not extend into the summer months for evaluation purposes. In order for the evaluation to be complete before the beginning of summer it is recommended that the base line data be collected in late March or early April and the pilot study run during the months of April and May. This will permit sufficient time to evaluate the results and present a report to Council before the summer recess. 4.0 RESPONSE TO THE COMMUNITY STRATEGIC PLAN The issues discussed in this report support Objective A1, Revitalizing the Downtown by ensuring that there is sufficient affordable parking in the downtown area, and Objective C1, Enhancing Health, Safety, Accessibility and Affordability which includes a strategy to support community affordability. 5.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

9 Committee (Continued) Meeting Date: January 30, 2006 The most significant costs associated with the pilot study would be the costs of data collection. Staff discussed this project with a firm experienced in this type of work which recently collected similar data in Whitby and they estimated that this project would cost approximately $40,000. Although part of the purpose of the pilot study is to assess the expected loss in revenue to the City, there will be revenue losses incurred during the pilot study as well which would vary depending on the length of the pilot study but could be in the range of approximately $1,000 per week plus approximately $500 per week in reduced enforcement revenues. The anticipated cost of promotion and equipment modifications would be approximately $6,000. Based on the above, the total impact to the City s budget for a 2 month pilot study would be approximately $60,000. Also, in 2003, Council approved a business case to begin replacing parking meters with Pay and Display stations in the downtown. Unanticipated changes to the revenue expected from parking fees will impact and delay this implementation. As done in the past, consideration should be given to have the DOBM share in the costs of a significant promotion such as Free After 3. Because the operating costs of the MPS will not change and this pilot study was not anticipated in the preparation of the 2006 Operating Budget, the City s share of the above-noted costs would need to be added to the Department s budget and will add to the operating deficit of the MPS. 6.0 CONCLUSION The Municipal Parking System, as currently mandated, is based on a user pay system and it attempts to be self-sustaining while charging reasonable parking rates. Currently the MPS runs an operating deficit, primarily due to capital debt, and any reductions in revenue caused by promotions such as Free After 3 will increase this deficit and impact the general tax levy. The City is about to conduct a Downtown Parking Strategy with the help of a parking consultant as part of the Downtown Action Plan. As this study will develop a long-term plan for parking and propose changes to support the downtown, it would appear to be premature to study one possible initiative when a more comprehensive review will be completed in the near term. To properly evaluate a promotion such as Free After 3, a detailed study needs to be carried out which is beyond the capacity and expertise of staff. The costs to conduct this pilot study and any lost revenue during the pilot study are not included in the Department s 2006 proposed Operating Budget and will add to the MPS operating deficit and the general tax increase. 7.0 RECOMMENDED ACTION That the Operational Services Committee recommend to City Council:

10 Committee (Continued) Meeting Date: January 30, That based on report OS-06-26, dated January 20, 2006, titled Feasibility and Criteria for Free After 3 On-Street Parking Pilot from the Commissioner of Operational Services the consideration of a Free After 3 pilot study for the downtown be deferred and reconsidered after the Downtown Parking Strategy is completed; Or 2. Should Council decide to proceed with a Free After 3 parking pilot study at this time that: (a) the Downtown Oshawa Board of Management be requested to assist with the gathering of survey data from downtown businesses, and contribute $30,000 towards the cost of the pilot study evaluation and the remaining $30,000 be referred for consideration to the 2006 Operating Budget; (b) a consultant be hired to conduct the before and after studies including parking occupancy and turnover data for on-street and off-street facilities in the downtown and relevant shoulder areas at an estimated cost of $40,000; and (c) a schedule be developed in consultation with the DOBM and the consultant to allow before data to be collected and a sufficiently long pilot period which would end prior to June 30, Original signed by: Craig Kelly, P. Eng., PTOE Director Transportation & Parking Services Department of Operational Services Original signed by: Stan Bertoia Commissioner Department of Operational Services SB/CAK/REV/dh