SUPPORTS ITEM NO. 2
T&T COMMITTEE AGENDA Occ
MAY 6, 1997
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: February 11, 1997
File No. H626-2
CC File1307-1/5653-1
TO: Standing Committee on Transportation and Traffic
FROM: General Manager of Engineering Services, General
Manager of Human Resource Services, General Manager of
Corporate Services and General Manager of Community
Services.
SUBJECT: City Hall Pay Parking Proposal to Reduce Auto Commuting
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT the implementation of a pay-parking program for
employee parking facilities at City Hall be approved,
for the City Square parkade and 10th Avenue surface
lot.
B. THAT Council approve an initial rate of $2.00 per day
and $35.00 per month for the pay-parking program and
that the rate be reviewed on an annual basis.
C. THAT up to $20,000 be allocated for equipment for the
pay-parking program, to be funded through revenues
generated by the program.
D. THAT staff report back on the results of the City Square Parkade 24 0 74 0 0 98
pay-parking program, the disposition of surplus parking P2
revenue, and further steps in the program to reduce
auto-dependent commuting.
COUNCIL POLICY
Council policy, as stated in the Clouds of Change report, and
approved as part of Transport 2021, is to encourage commuter
alternatives to single-occupant vehicles for City employees.
Yukon Exec. Parkade 10 4 0 4 0 0 14 PURPOSE
This report outlines the measures required to implement a
pay-parking system for the approximately 1060 City Hall precinct
employees. The motivation to implement this system comes from
the Clouds of Change report, in which steps were recommended to
reduce automobile emissions. A pay parking program will
encourage civic employees to commute by means other than
single-occupant vehicles, as part of an overall Travel Demand
Management program (TDM).
BACKGROUND
In the Clouds of Change report of October 1990, Council directed
staff to address automobile usage among City employees. An
Employee Transportation Administrator (ETA) was designated in
1991 to coordinate a program designed specifically to encourage
commuting to and from work by means other than single-occupant Single Car Pool
vehicles. Under the ETA s direction, a successful car-pool
program for civic staff in the precinct was developed. To date,
there are 67 registered car-pools of two or more passengers, who
use the 61 designated spaces (about one fifth of the total
employee spaces). Bicycle parking showers and lockers have also
been expanded. The presence of a day care facility, availability
of bus tickets for work-day trips, a fleet van-pool, and a
guaranteed-ride-home program have also contributed to commute
alternatives. More recently, civic unions have been notified
that a pay-parking program is being developed.
In 1996, the GVRD began charging for employee parking at its 2
main Burnaby sites. This has been generally accepted by
employees, on the understanding that revenues are redirected to
other commuting alternatives.
CURRENT PRECINCT PARKING DISTRIBUTION
Parking facilities in the precinct area include parkades at City
Square, surface parking adjacent to City Hall, the East Wing
parkades, the 10th Avenue surface lot, and, most recently, the
Van City Building. A total of 609 spaces are used for City
functions. Of these, 265 unreserved spaces and 61 carpool spaces
are available to employees on a first-come, first-served basis.
An outline of the distribution of spaces in provided in Table 1.
CURRENT DEMAND
Of the 1060 precinct employees, approximately 450 drive alone and
compete for the 265 unreserved City parking spaces on a typical
Tuesday to Thursday. The excess vehicles generally park in
metered spaces on-street or on unregulated on-street spaces in City Square Parkade 115 1 13 0 0 73 135
the P1
neighbourhood. On Mondays and Fridays, there are sufficient
parking spaces because many staff are off due to compressed work
weeks. Of those who drive, some are auto-captive either because
they use their vehicles for City work-related purposes or because
they need a car for other functions before and/or after work
(e.g., drop off and pick up children at day-care or school).
It is a central part of the City's operations that staff must
visit different sites throughout the day and evening. These
include building and public-works inspectors, persons attending
public meetings, and those delivering direct services to the
public. Measures have been provided, such as bus tickets and
passes (and bicycles in some cases) to encourage alternative
modes, but the majority of these trips still require vehicles.
CH Lower Deck 0 0 7 0 122 19 To meet this need, the City operates a number of fleet vehicles.
Most are stored at the precinct, but in some cases may be taken
home by employees. There are also employee and Councillor
vehicles used for City purposes: it is often less expensive for
employees to use their own vehicles, rather than for the City to
purchase additional fleet vehicles. When the City requires
employees to use their own vehicles for this purpose, they are
reimbursed for the proportioned costs. Some form of auto
allowance is paid to approximately 276 employees who use their
own vehicles for work-related duties. The implementation of a
pay-parking system should not change the ability of staff to use
their own vehicles for work, since this is an essential part of
the City's operations.
Table 1. Parking Supply and Allocation in the Precinct Vicinity
(Spaces affected by pay-parking are shown in bold italics)
Location Employees Fleet Public Other Total
NOTES: 1 includes Disabled parking / 2Councillors, Mayor's office, Loading
Zones,
press / 3Day-care / 4Mixed fleet and auto allowance
SPACES TO BE DESIGNATED AS PAY PARKING
The focus of this initiative is to encourage as many employees as possible to use alternative modes of travel
to work rather than single-occupant vehicles. Therefore, the only exceptions to the employee pay-parking
program would be vehicles used for work purposes including fleet vehicles, personal vehicles on City work and
Councillor vehicles.
While car-poolers are not exempt from the program, their efforts would be rewarded by the continued
allocation of reserved stalls, and by the sharing of costs. The current allocation of 61 stalls should be
maintained and expanded as the program is evaluated in the future. 10th Ave. Surface Lot 126 1 48 0 0 0 174
In summary, the stalls for employee use found in the 10th Avenue surface lot (174 stalls) and the two levels
of the City Square parkade (152 stalls) should be included at the start of this program. This is a total of
326 stalls. Any private vehicle parking in the City-owned parkade currently must display a City permit,
which is provided to any staff who requests one. This practice would continue in order to ensure that the
City lots are only used by City employees during work hours. However, staff would also be required to
purchase a ticket as noted in this report.
RATES
A survey of parking facilities was undertaken to determine the market value of parking in the precinct area.
In the Central Broadway corridor to the west, most of the facilities surveyed were covered parkades with
reserved stalls. The monthly rate for this type of parking stall ranged from $55.00 to $85.00, with an
average of $70.00. City Hall is peripheral to this corridor, and adjacent to an area of Mount Pleasant
where parking is low-cost or free. Initially, it is proposed to set a monthly rate of $35.00 and to evaluate
that rate on an annual basis.
CH Upper Deck 5 1 0 1 57 102 73
One principle of TDM is that drivers should understand the marginal cost of using their vehicles.
Therefore, monthly passes would not be available. Instead, employees would pre-purchase and validate
tickets at a rate of $2.00 per day. Except for carpools, this parking would not be reserved or guaranteed.
Based on a 4 or 5 day week, the resulting monthly rate would be $35 or $42.
A magnetic pass system is currently being considered for the precinct. If incorporated with pay parking,
this would permit direct charge of the daily fee without the congestion of selling and validating tickets at
the start of the shift. It could also cap the cost at the specified monthly rate, thereby removing the
inequity between full and compressed-week employees.
It would also be possible to open the 10th Avenue lot to use by the public on evenings and weekends, in order
to generate additional revenue. Before this could proceed, however, the lighting needs to be improved and
"ticket spitters" would have to be installed. This subject can be covered in a report back on the program.
CAPITAL COST, ENFORCEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
There are three areas that will be converted to daily parking, the 10th Avenue surface lot, and each level of
the City Square parkade. The supply of ticket validators, spare batteries, and additional signage,
including installation, would cost approximately $20,000 (first year) and depreciation at $4000 per year
thereafter.
The administration of the program will be carried out by existing cashier and security staff. Based on the
method outlined, there will be an annual cost of approximately $10,000 for ticket printing and
administration.
REVENUES
Assuming the demand for daily parking does not fall far below the supply of 326 stalls, it can be expected
that 95% of the stalls will be occupied from Tuesday to Thursday.
The following analysis estimates the annual revenues from the proposed pay-parking system: Total 322 5 61 114 83 29 609
326 stalls x $2.00 @ 95% occupancy
* 17 days/month $ 620.day
* 52 wks/year, less holidays $ 120,000.00/yr
Costs for vehicles used on City business can be addressed in one of two ways. Either the costs can be taken
directly from the revenues generated by the program, or the calculated rates for auto allowance could be
adjusted. Initially, the former is proposed. An estimate of the cost of pay parking for vehicles used on
City business is $55,000 per year. In the longer term, Departments should fully recognize the costs of
their travel activities so these amounts should be incorporated into Departmental budgets.
For 1997 the program should generate a small surplus. In subsequent years, there will be a stream of
surplus revenue that could be applied to provide additional incentives to alternative transportation modes
such as bus pass subsidies, enhanced service, or improved facilities. These options should be considered 10th Ave. Parkade 294 0 21 0 0 50
separately by Council following further analysis.
1997 Subsequent Years
Gross revenue $ 89,000 $120,000
Less:
GST & PST $ 11,000 $ 15,000
equipment installation/depreciation 20,000 4,000
management 7,500 10,000
offset to vehicles used for City work $ 41,500 $ 55,000
Net revenue $ 9,000 $ 36,000
MONITORING
The use of parking areas, revenues and expenditures, and effects on employee commuting habits will be
monitored. These results will be reported back to Council so that future adjustments on the program and
further TDM measures can be introduced.
UNION NOTIFICATION
The affected employee Unions have been supplied with a copy of this report.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The pay-parking system is an initiative to advance the City's Transportation Demand Management objectives.
By discouraging employees from driving to work and offering incentives encouraging alternative modes of
travel, such as reserved carpool spaces, guaranteed ride home program, improved cycling facilities, etc.,
the City continues to lead by example towards reducing traffic volume and encouraging environmental awareness
by the public.
With the exception of vehicles required for City work purposes, all vehicles in specified lots will pay a
rate of $2.00 per day for parking. This amount is reasonable given market rates in adjoining areas. The
program should be monitored and reviewed on an annual basis.
The projected annual gross revenues would be approximately $120,000 with potential additional revenues being
generated from transient parking after hours and on weekends if the lot is suitably equipped. The capital
cost for installation of the facility is approximately $20,000. Annual expenses are estimated to be
approximately $85,000, for a net annual surplus of $36,000 beginning in 1998. A future study should address
this future revenue surplus, and other ways to further encourage alternative modes to the single occupant
vehicle.
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