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
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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
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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
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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
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But parking minimums assume cars are the only way to get from Point A to Point B
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The result has been cities built for cars rather than for people
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So, why is this a problem?
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Climate, choice, and traffic
Business flexibility
Land, space, and ecology
Housing affordability
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To explain, let’s imagine five people
Hyesang
Tricia
Renter
Angel
Employer
Julie
Homeowner
City staff
Kathryn
Developer
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Problem 1: Climate, choice, and traffic
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2
3
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Climate, choice, and traffic
Business flexibility
Land, space, and ecology
Housing affordability
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Parking minimums oversupply parking, making it appear “free” to people who drive
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With all this parking available, people like Julie have an incentive to drive
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Even though Julie is open to walking, riding transit, and even biking
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Most people in San José are making similar decisions, often unconsciously
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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
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All this driving results in greenhouse gas emissions
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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
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But EVs won’t help our traffic problem: They take up the same amount of space as conventional cars
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Even with widespread electrification of cars, we still need to incentivize other transportation options, like walking, biking, transit, and carpooling
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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
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Problem 2: Business flexibility
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3
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Climate, choice, and traffic
Business flexibility
Land, space, and ecology
Housing affordability
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Tricia’s business is booming
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And she’s looking to open a new location
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But then she’d have to build far more parking spaces
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Even though many of her employees could take transit and many of her customers could walk
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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
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Climate, choice, and traffic
Business flexibility
Land, space, and ecology
Housing affordability
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Parking lots are not appealing places …
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… and outside of the function of car parking they do not add value to communities.
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All this room for parking pushes destinations apart, which makes it less appealing to walk, bike, or take transit
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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
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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
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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
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Problem 4: Housing affordability
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Climate, choice, and traffic
Business flexibility
Land, space, and ecology
Housing affordability
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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)
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This is sometimes hard to understand because, as drivers, we often experience parking as “free”
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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
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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
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Without parking minimums, Developer Kathryn could build more homes, more affordably priced, with less parking
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And Hyesang would have more affordable housing options, better suited to her budget and car-free lifestyle
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At the end of the day, regulations tell us a lot about our values and priorities
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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
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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:
Such as:
Such as:
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
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How would the proposed TDM work?
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The City provides a menu of options—for new property development—designed to make it easier to walk, bike, and take transit
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Renter Hyesang and Homeowner Julie feel more empowered to walk, bike, and take transit
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Developer Kathryn chooses options from the menu for her new development
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With more development comes more people
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TDM means more customers, employees, and neighbors— all the good things that come with growth
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Without the negative impacts on traffic and parking
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So, how do we get from here …
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… to here
So, how do we get from here …
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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If Kathryn chooses to build a lot of parking …
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… 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
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Because, as we know, more parking means more traffic
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By contrast, if Kathryn chooses to build less parking, she would have more space to build other things …
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… and have fewer TDM requirements
Protected bike parking
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In other words, we want to align our policies with our shared goals
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Together, this is our opportunity to …
Climate Reduce our carbon emissions
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Together, this is our opportunity to …
Choice Provide better transportation options
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Together, this is our opportunity to …
Traffic Reduce incentives to drive
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Together, this is our opportunity to …
Flexibility Increase flexibility for businesses
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Together, this is our opportunity to …
Land Allocate more space for people, jobs, and ecologically beneficial land uses
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Together, this is our opportunity to … Housing Build more housing, more affordably, with more clarity for developers
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What we need now is your input
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Changes to parking minimums could take three forms Preferred
Alt 1
Alt 1
Eliminate parking minimums citywide
Eliminate parking minimums everywhere except single family zones Eliminate parking minimums in Envision San José 2040 “Growth Areas”
Renters
Most affordability
More affordability
Some affordability
Homeowners
Employers
Developers
City
Most flexibility
Most impact
More flexibility
More impact
Some flexibility
Some impact
TDM is a key complement to all parking options 77
Staff recommendations
PARKING
TDM
Eliminate parking minimums citywide.
Update TDM requirements citywide. Develop a TDM program for ongoing monitoring and compliance.
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Timeline May 2021
Aug 2021
Diridon Station Area Plan (Parking & TDM)
Jan 2020
Project kickoff, ULI Panel, and Planning Commission Study Session
Winter 2022
Airport Land Use Commission, Planning Commission, and City Council Hearings
City Council Study Session
June 2021
Berryessa BART Urban Village Plan (Parking & TDM)
June 2022
Planning Commission and City Council Hearings
Ongoing community engagement
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Thank you! Click to add text Ed Schreiner, Planner IV, Climate Smart San José Wilson Tam, Transportation Planning Manager, DOT