NRDC ACCC Rethinking Parking Policy in San José by nelsonnygaard

June 2022

Rethinking Parking Policy in San José How better parking policies can fight climate change, strengthen our economy, and build a more equitable city Ed Schreiner, Planner IV, Climate Smart San José Wilson Tam, Transportation Planning Manager, DOT

Today, any new property development in San José requires a specified minimum amount of off-street parking

These requirements are part of San José development regulations, often called “parking minimums”

They’re designed so that the supply of parking always exceeds demand— so there are always empty spaces 3

Parking minimums are not unique to San José

Nearly every municipality in the United States requires a minimum amount of parking for new land-use developments

And parking minimums are not new

They’ve been on the books in more or less their current form in San José since 1965—around the same time other local governments across the country imposed parking minimums

1965 6

At first glance, parking minimums seem like a commonsense policy

But parking minimums assume cars are the only way to get from Point A to Point B

The result has been cities built for cars rather than for people

So, why is this a problem?

Climate, choice, and traffic

Business flexibility

Land, space, and ecology

Housing affordability

To explain, let’s imagine five people

Hyesang

Tricia

Renter

Angel

Employer

Julie

Homeowner

City staff

Kathryn

Developer

Problem 1: Climate, choice, and traffic

Climate, choice, and traffic

Business flexibility

Land, space, and ecology

Housing affordability

Parking minimums oversupply parking, making it appear “free” to people who drive

With all this parking available, people like Julie have an incentive to drive

Even though Julie is open to walking, riding transit, and even biking

Most people in San José are making similar decisions, often unconsciously

This means more driving— and more traffic that goes with it

The amount we drive is called “vehicle miles traveled” or VMT 17

Parking is a well-known determinant of VMT: in other words, more parking leads to more driving

All this driving results in greenhouse gas emissions

In fact, in 2019, more than half of GHG emissions in San José came from transportation—much of that simply people driving to work

51% 20

This is a challenge for City staff Angel, who is trying to help San José become carbon neutral by 2030

In accordance with the City of San José Climate Neutral by 2030 Resolution 21

Of course, electric vehicles are part of the solution

But EVs won’t help our traffic problem: They take up the same amount of space as conventional cars

Even with widespread electrification of cars, we still need to incentivize other transportation options, like walking, biking, transit, and carpooling

Eliminating parking minimums would more easily:

2030

Encourage us to drive less (lower VMT)

Make walking, biking, and transit more appealing

Get us to our target of carbon neutral

Problem 2: Business flexibility

Climate, choice, and traffic

Business flexibility

Land, space, and ecology

Housing affordability

Tricia’s business is booming

And she’s looking to open a new location

But then she’d have to build far more parking spaces

Even though many of her employees could take transit and many of her customers could walk

Plus, preferences have been shifting, even before the pandemic For example, more and more, Hyesang has been …

Shopping online Prioritizing experience over things

Using ride-hailing

Working from home 31

Tricia sees these trends and wants to convert her rear parking lot into a pop-up event space 32

But she can’t, again because of parking minimums 33

Problem 3: Land, space, and ecology

Climate, choice, and traffic

Business flexibility

Land, space, and ecology

Housing affordability

Parking lots are not appealing places …

… and outside of the function of car parking they do not add value to communities.

All this room for parking pushes destinations apart, which makes it less appealing to walk, bike, or take transit

This is because parking takes up a lot of space

How much parking area is required for every

8.3 sq ft

4.1 sq ft

1 sq ft of …

1.3 sq ft Restaurant dining area

Gym

Office

.4 sq ft Apartment

This is because parking takes up a lot of space So much so, that the parking minimums often exceed the square footage of the use itself—sometimes many times over! How much parking area is required for every

8.3 sq ft

4.1 sq ft

1 sq ft of …

1.3 sq ft Restaurant dining area

Gym

Office

.4 sq ft Apartment

The land area in San José is fixed, so space for parking is space that’s not used for something else

Like housing, jobs, stores, restaurants, or green space 40

This is to say nothing of the negative ecological impacts of excess surface parking

Habitat loss

Less open space

Worse drainage

Heat islands

Problem 4: Housing affordability

Climate, choice, and traffic

Business flexibility

Land, space, and ecology

Housing affordability

Parking is expensive to build and maintain

$34,000 to

$75,000 per space

initial construction cost for structured parking (That’s at least $1.7M just to build 50 spaces)

This is sometimes hard to understand because, as drivers, we often experience parking as “free”

But parking is never actually free: the costs show up everywhere in our lives

Higher rents

Higher purchase prices

For housing, retail, and office space

Including higher construction costs

More expensive goods and services

But many people in San José—including Hyesang—don’t need car parking People who choose not to drive, young people, older people, people with lower incomes, people with limited vision, the list goes on

Without parking minimums, Developer Kathryn could build more homes, more affordably priced, with less parking

And Hyesang would have more affordable housing options, better suited to her budget and car-free lifestyle

At the end of the day, regulations tell us a lot about our values and priorities

At the end of the day, regulations tell us a lot about our values and priorities Today, empty housing for cars takes precedence over housing for people

Yet parking minimums are only half the story

PARKING STRATEGY

TDM STRATEGIES

Right-size the parking supply to avoid building excess parking spaces and incentivizing driving over alternatives

Manage demand for parking by providing high-quality alternatives to driving, such as walking, biking, and transit

We also want to make it easier to walk, bike, and take transit 51

There are 30 TDM strategy options (in 4 categories)

Land use

Street

Parking

Programmatic

Such as:

 Mixed-use

 Pedestrian improvements (e.g., sidewalks, crosswalks)

 More bike parking

 Subsidized transit passes

 Affordable housing

 Bus stop improvements

 Carshare parking

 Unbundled parking program

How would the proposed TDM work?

The City provides a menu of options—for new property development—designed to make it easier to walk, bike, and take transit

Renter Hyesang and Homeowner Julie feel more empowered to walk, bike, and take transit

Developer Kathryn chooses options from the menu for her new development

With more development comes more people

TDM means more customers, employees, and neighbors— all the good things that come with growth

Without the negative impacts on traffic and parking

So, how do we get from here …

… to here

So, how do we get from here …

To do this, we need to harness both parking and TDM policies

PARKING STRATEGY

TDM STRATEGIES

Right-size the parking supply to avoid building excess parking spaces and incentivizing driving over alternatives

Manage demand for parking by providing high-quality alternatives to driving, such as walking, biking, and transit

For parking, this would mean rethinking our minimum parking policies, or doing away with them altogether

PARKING STRATEGY

TDM STRATEGIES

Right-size the parking supply to avoid building excess parking spaces and incentivizing driving over alternatives

Manage demand for parking by providing high-quality alternatives to driving, such as walking, biking, and transit

For parking, this would mean rethinking our minimum parking policies, or doing away with them altogether This wouldn’t stop Developer Kathryn from building more parking if she thought market conditions warranted it STRATEGIES But she wouldn’t be forced TDM to build demand for parking by providing more parking thanManage necessary high-quality alternatives to driving, such as walking, biking, and transit

This is where TDM comes in, to incentivize less parking while making alternatives more appealing PARKING STRATEGY

TDM STRATEGIES

Right-size the parking supply to avoid building excess parking spaces and incentivizing driving over alternatives

Manage demand for parking by providing high-quality alternatives to driving, such as walking, biking, and transit

If Kathryn chooses to build a lot of parking …

… she would need to invest in TDM measures to compensate for the increase in traffic generated by the parking Subsidized transit passes

Protected bike parking

Pedestrian improvements

Because, as we know, more parking means more traffic

By contrast, if Kathryn chooses to build less parking, she would have more space to build other things …

… and have fewer TDM requirements

Protected bike parking

In other words, we want to align our policies with our shared goals