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WEST MAIN STREET PARKING OPPORTUNITIES AND ANALYSIS City of Charlottesville Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates Inc. | 21 Metered parking There is currently no metered on-street parking along West Main Street, though the City does operate one public parking lot with meters at 100 East Water Street, a few blocks outside the study area near the Downtown Mall. The Downtown Parking Study did recommend establishing the West Main Street corridor as an “Outer Zone” to the Downtown Mall, where on-street parking was free and with a two-hour time limit only on specific spaces in certain areas 3. Meanwhile, City Planning Commissioners have expressed interest in expanding on-street meters to free up more parking spaces in congested commercial corridors such as West Main Street 4. Benefits  Manage occupancy levels to ensure that most spaces are used but some spaces are always available for arriving shoppers and visitors. The usual target occupancy level for on-street parking is 85%.  Make it cost-effective and easy for commuters to buy monthly garage permits, rather than utilizing on-street spaces that are needed for short-stay shoppers and visitors.  Reinvest the parking revenue to pay for the parking meters and associated costs, as well as enforcement costs. City code should also be altered to enable any net revenue to fund transit improvements or enhancements to the West Main Street district.  Fees would apply to all on-street parking spaces and further study would be required to determine the desired hourly rate, hour of use and/or the use of dynamic rates. The objective would be to provide a rate that is cost-effective for those long-term parkers to utilize the off-street garages/lots. Limitations  Would be a big change to the existing system and may be seen purely as a revenue generator.  Would require capital outlay for parking meter equipment. Typical costs for “smart meters” enabling credit card payment and pay-by-cell is $250/meter with associated fees per transaction. Challenges  Proper parking enforcement is not possible unless regulatory signs are in place to notify people of the intended purpose of a parking area and the rules that apply.  Fines should be set merely as a deterrent to illegal parking and should not be viewed as a revenue source. Fines also should escalate depending on the sever ity of the infraction. If fines are set too low, they will not discourage people from parking illegally.  Would require the implementation of an enforcement division with the City (or the new parking department). 3 “Charlottesville Downtown Parking Study,” Martin Alexiou Bryson, http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/article_3d33cd09-7547- 5d20-af6e-1a5265458390.html; retrieved May 28, 2014. 4 “Parking meters worth look-see, say some in city,” The Daily Progress, http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/article_3d33cd09- 7547-5d20-af6e-1a5265458390.html; retrieved May 28, 2014.