The DDA's Parking and Transportation Plan is Much More than Evening Enforcement

The plan recommendations come from years of experience managing parking and contributing to alternative transportation programs in the downtown, and from an extensive outreach process - that’s right, many of these suggestions belong to YOU, the community. So, take a look for yourself, you’ll likely be surprised that the services and programs you’ve been asking for are recommended. Within the plan, you’ll find the following plan strategy sections, each of which contains numerous recommendations.

Strategy 1: Manage downtown curbside parking Strategy 2: Support the downtown evening economy Strategy 3: Develop new off-street parking strategies Strategy 4: Explore policies and plans to add and subtract public parking Strategy 5: Expand upon options for personal transportation vehicles Strategy 6: Increase use of public transit by downtown workers Strategy 7: Improve parking and transportation communications Strategy 8: Develop strategies for downtown & near downtown residents Strategy 9: Explore other miscellaneous parking and transportation suggestions

Through feedback sessions, we heard agreement that Downtown Ann Arbor has assets in the evening and that parking and transportation should be managed to support those assets and the downtown experience. As part of this, you told us that there is a strong need for increased evening transit options, that parking enforcement must be managed with forgiveness and understanding, and that evening employees, in particular, need affordable options. We also heard that a variety of interests must be served through the plan, including those who value convenience, those who value affordability, and those who desire the flexibility to use multiple modes of transportation.

We agree. Currently, the DDA supports and will continue to support the following programs:

• The go!pass: the DDA subsidizes the cost of the unlimited use transit pass, making it available to downtown employers at a very low rate and thus free to downtown employees (currently over 6,000 downtown employees have go!passes)
• Evening/overnight parking permit: the DDA provides an affordable parking option ($30/month) for those who regularly park after 3:30 pm
• Night Ride: the DDA and AATA subsidize a late night shared ride taxi service ($1/ride with a go!pass)
• Zipcar: the Ann Arbor DDA provides a grant in partnership with the getDowntown Program to sponsor Zipcars in Downtown Ann Arbor
• Two-wheeled vehicle parking in the downtown: the DDA oversees installation of bicycle hoops, in-street bicycle racks, and moped and motorcycle parking in the downtown.

As Transportation Demand Management (TDM) indicates, this plan is about expanding options, not restricting them. Using our experience, your feedback, and a desire to maintain a vibrant downtown, we worked with the getDowntown Program and AATA to include additional recommendations to meet the needs voiced above. The plan includes options for those who value both affordability and convenience, such as very low-cost roof top parking in select structures, a one hour free component, expansion of the Night Ride Program and other transit services after 6 pm, and differential meter pricing with a marked difference between high demand and low demand parking areas. In addition, we included recommendations to further improve the downtown experience and lessen patron frustrations, such as, exploring the use of parking ambassadors, using flat rate entry fees for events, reconsidering offering the Link, enhancing bus stops amenities, and creating a comprehensive communications plan to increase awareness of available options.

The DDA doesn’t approach anything in a vacuum and that includes enforcement. When we took on this plan, it was our mission to create a comprehensive vision to improve the downtown for businesses, residents, employees, and visitors. For us, it’s not just about evening enforcement and TDM pricing. But, they are tools to increase turnover at the meters and to make those spaces available for customers who place a high value on convenience. In our conversations with other communities who implemented evening enforcement and differential pricing, negative impacts simply did not develop. Rather, the changes had the intended results of increasing turnover and enabling more people access to metered spaces - thus greater access to downtown businesses. Please, take a look at the recommendations included in the plan, the outreach and research that went into the plan, and feel free to reach out to those communities who implement similar policies. We look forward to your feedback.

To read more about this plan and the comprehensive outreach process please visit: http://www.a2dda.org/current_projects/public_parking_plan/

To continue sharing your thoughts, insights, or simply say hello - please submit feedback on www.a2dda.org, visit our facebook page www.facebook.com/a2dda, or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.

Amber Miller is Planning & Research Specialist at the Ann Arbor DDA. She is enthusiastic about maintaining a vibrant Downtown Ann Arbor and the work that the DDA does to support it. You can contact her at amiller@a2dda.org.