Impact of Parking Supply and Demand Management in CBDs of Miami and Fort Lauderdale

Project # 85436
PI: Ruth Steiner, Ph.D.
Title: Impact of Parking Supply and Demand Management on Central Business District (CBD) Traffic Congestion Transit Performance and Sustainable Land Use
Department: Urban & Regional Planning
[final report]

Abstract

Local officials often consider parking problems in downtown areas to be the result of inadequate, inconvenient or expensive parking. This perspective suggests that the best solution to parking problems is to increase parking supply without directly charging the end-user. While decision-makers and planners have long accepted that we cannot build our way out of congestion (see, e.g., Downs, 1 992), we paradoxically believe that we can solve the parking problem by adding more parking spaces, which is the equivalent of adding additional capacity on a congested roadway. Traffic congestion remains a major long-term concern in the Central Business

Districts (CBDs) of Miami and Fort Lauderdale. This research explores the diverse range of parking supply and demand management strategies that could be used to address congestion associated with parking in the Miami and Fort Lauderdale CBDs.

This research explores the connection between parking supply and demand management strategies and transportation system outcomes – congestion management (cruising for parking and underpricing of parking), Transportation System Management

(TSM) and Transportation Demand Management (TDM), revenue streams, transit use and performance, and sustainable land use –to make recommendations for Miami and Fort Lauderdale CBDs. This research uses mixed methods, including literature reviews of best practices, field studies of the current parking inventory and parking rates, case studies of peer and model cities, interviews with decision-makers in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, and presentations to advisory committees and other stakeholder groups. Recommendations are made in the following nine strategy areas:

  • pricing to manage demand
  • funding
  • land use planning
  • coordination of transportation and land use
  • coordinated parking policies for alternative modes of accessibility
  • regulation of parking providers
  • design and technology
  • improving public education through social marketing
  • institutional coordination of parking, transportation and land use

While many of the proposed solutions require action on the part of local governments, the study reveals the complex network of stakeholders involved in addressing current and future needs related to mobility in the study areas, including developers, lenders, local and regional advisory boards, and transit providers.