City of Haverhill, MA

Parking: A Tale of Two Cities

Downtown History

• Really two sections of downtown• Old retail section to East• New restaurant and factory section to East• East – mostly vacant at night, busy during day• West – restaurants, nighttime, commuters,

trying to redevelop

Pay for Parking – 35 Years of Debate!

• Haverhill installed parking meters in 1950’s• Parking meters removed 1970’s• Pay for parking plans defeated 2004, 2006,

2008• Plan approved 2012• Parking meters reinstalled August, 2012

2004 – Two Plans Defeated

• Effort to revitalize western end• Did parking study – for parking garage• Submitted first “pay for parking” plan

Included all of downtown – East & West sectionsPlan defeated – too bigNew plan submitted, Berman – defeated, too small!

• Real reason – no buy in, too much opposition in the room

2006 Parking Improvement District

• Western end only• No meters on Merrimack Street• Parking permits available • Implement parking program in phases• All proceeds go to downtown to keep area

cleaner, safer & more aesthetically pleasing• Defeated – no buy in

2010 Parking Garage Adds Impetus

• Had “reason” to support the parking garage• Fear that if garage charged and free on street,

no one would park in garage• Outside consultant

key to passage

New Plan, Summer 2012

• Lots of input• Many public hearings• Key: Examine key opposition, try to keep them

out of the room

Plan Outline

• Two plans for two sides of downtown• East Side– Keep them out of the room!

No charge for on street parkingCharge in lots 8 am to 8 PMTwo hours free in front of garageLots of free parking on outskirtsPMA Lot free

Plan Outline West Side

Charge on street from 8 AM to 8 PM

Permit parking $30/hour

Free up spaces for restaurants

Central Business District Parking Map

Slides courtesy of Nelson Nygaard

The Opposition

• PMA - Our patients• Businesses - $30 per month will put us out of

business• Meters - $1/hour will kill us• LAST MINUTE OPPOSITION

Local deli – will kill our morning business

Compromises to Gain Passage

• Price cut in half (mistake)• First two hours free at PMA• Free spaces for bank• But – drew the line at leasing spaces• Pledge to fix up downtown• Council gets to decide on rates: MISTAKE• DELI: No on-street parking before 3 PM• Night of vote, merchants come to meeting to support it.• Plan passes 6-3

Plan Tweaked– All Plans Evolve

• Complaint: Shortage Permit spaces• Compromise:Add more free spaces

Reverse Angle in parkingMore permit spaces added

Update:January 2013

• More people parking downtown• More people using MVRTA garage• Merchants expressing positive comments relative to

their customers finding parking

City of Haverhill – Parking Services

(Year to Date)

Total Year to Date# Month # of Days Meter Revenue Revenue

1 August 23 11,924.00$ 172,175$ 2 September 20 11,624.00$ 3 October 23 13,235.00$ 4 November 22 12,621.00$ 5 December 21 12,976.00$ 6 January (2013) 22 -$ 7 February 21 -$ 8 March 22 -$ 9 April 21 -$

10 May 23 -$ 11 June 21 -$ 12 July 22 -$

Totals 261 62,380.00$

SP PlusPermit $ # of Permits Permit Revenue

30.00$ Qrt 1 Permits 867 25,785.00$ 45.00$ Qrt 2 Permits 278 12,024.00$ 45.00$ Qrt 3 Permits 237 10,584.00$ 45.00$ Qrt 4 Permits 0 -$

9 months 112.50$ Annual Permits 547 61,402.00$ Total Permit Sales 1,929 109,795.00$

Notes:Aug through Dec revenues are actuals# of days = Mon through Friday when pay to park

Parking Revenues - FY 2013

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Before & After Count Data Results-- Overall

2010 2012

7AM 10AM 12PM 4PM 6PM0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

691

1,1791,121

761

609

990 502 560 920 1,072

On- and Off- Street Utilization

Occupied Vacant

8AM 10AM 12PM 2PM 4PM 6PM 7:00PM0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

915

1,157 1,122 1,079994

548 432

1,089 847 882 925 1,010 1,192 993

On- and Off-Street Spaces

occupied vacant

4,736 parked cars(Avg.: 947)

4,361 parked cars(Avg.: 872)

Slides from Nelson Nygaard

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Lower Lot Utilization– Reduced

2010 2012

7AM 10AM 12PM 4PM 6PM0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

526

924882

546

389

769 371 413 749 906

Off-Street Utilization

Occupied Vacant

8AM 10AM 12PM 2PM 4PM 6PM 7:00PM0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

661

835 811 811 771

400265

922 748 772 772 812 1,116 936

Off-Street Utilization

Occupied Vacant

Exception is MVTRA garage, which has higher utilization (by commuters)

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On- Street Utilization:-- Higher

2010 2012

7AM 10AM 12PM 4PM 6PM0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

165

255239

215 220

221 131 147 171 166

On-Street Utilization

Occupied Vacant

8AM 10AM 12PM 2PM 4PM 6PM 7:00PM0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

254

322 311

268

223

148

167

167 99 110 153 198 76 57

On-Street Utilization

Occupied Vacant

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7-10AM, 2010 8-10AM, 2012

Pricing has pushed cars out of lots… …and onto free streets/lots

Thursday 7-10AM

Early Morning

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10AM-12PM, 2010 10AM-12PM, 2012

Lots/garages are no longer as full… …and streets are too full

Thursday 10-12PM

Late Morning

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Thursday 12-2PM

Lunchtime

12-2PM, 2010 12-2PM, 2012

Customers who could easily park on-street… …now hunt to find a free space,

and lots are underutilized.

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4-6PM, 2010 4-6PM, 2012

Thursday 4-6PM

Late Afternoon

Lot pricing keeps utilization lower… ….while street pricing is not discouraging its use

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6-8PM, 2010 6-7PM, 2012

Thursday 6-8PM

Dinnertime

On-street utilization used to be high… …but it is still fairly high today,…because lots are no cheaper than streets?

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6-8PM, 2010 7-8PM, 2012

Thursday 7-8PM

Dining & Entertainment

Parking lots have availability with pricing…. …but sustained on-street demandsuggests on-street prices are low

Lessons Learned

1. Get a consultant– key to passage2. Do loads of public hearings, there are never

enough3. Keep most of the opposition out of the room!4. Try to only charge people from out of town

Most popular part of program is getting commuters off the streets

5. Don’t compromise with intractable foes– they are always going to be opposed;

6. Don’t give away the ship on pricing, someone opposed to $1 per hour is just as opposed to 50 cents an hour

7. Tweak it all the time! 25

Key Conclusions

Pricing has made parking available in lots and the Goeke Deck, which used to be filled up (good)

Pricing has driven commuters into the MVRTA garage (good)

Pricing has driven people to the free spaces The imbalance in the daytime pricing system is

reducing utilization in priced facilities, filling free facilities.

Permits have helped create availability in the Deck and lots, but the high buy-up proved the price was too low.

Today

Spaces freed up by moving people to free areas Commuters moved out of key downtown

locations Restaurants in Western end generally happy, can

find spaces

BUT… People in east side who were opposed are still

opposed Not enough revenue generated East side streets are crowded Opposition still exists to paying on street

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