Beyond Parking
26 Aug 2010 at 10:06am When I was a kid and I did not finish my vegetables, my parents would always remind me of the poor children starving in other parts of the world. Well now, parents who have children who complain about how long it takes to drive somewhere can say, "You are lucky you are not a child stranded in the 60+ mile traffic jam in China." It appears China's new love affair with the auto combined with truck traffic has resulted in a 10-day traffic jam that may span into September. The WSJ reports that businesses popped up along the route to take advantage of the captive audience, and law enforcement was out in force to quell the unrest. We in the United States have never experienced such a thing, and I hope we never will, but we certainly have felt the negative impact of our own love affair with the car, and it has resulted in new thinking around the way we develop and move around. For example, we have embraced mixed use developments that support alternative forms of transportation. The Chinese have their own ideas, and you can read about them here. The Economics of Paid Parking 16 Aug 2010 at 3:02pm Here at Lanier, it is no surprise that we support the concept of paid parking. However, that is not only because our business is built on managing paid parking operations. Placing a monetary value on the availability of parking is also good for the environment, congestion and urban planning. A recent article by Tyler Cowen, a professor of economics at George Mason University, makes the economic case for more paid parking. "Is this a serious economic issue? In fact, it is a classic tale of how subsidies, use restrictions, and price controls can steer an economy in wrong directions. Car owners may not want to hear this, but we have way too much free parking."Cowen points out that zoning laws often mandate ample parking at businesses, effectively subsidizing car trips that the free market would have discouraged. "If developers were allowed to face directly the high land costs of providing so much parking, the number of spaces would be a result of a careful economic calculation rather than a matter of satisfying a legal requirement. Parking would be scarcer, and more likely to have a price ? or a higher one than it does now ? and people would be more careful about when and where they drove."Donald Shoup, professor of urban planning at UCLA, explains that 99% of all vehicular trips in the United States end up in free parking. Professor Shoup has been arguing for paid parking for the better part of a decade and has written a book that I have previously discussed called "The High Cost of Free Parking." "First ring" suburbs no longer fit for walking 29 Jul 2010 at 1:39pm Excellent video about pedestrian safety and the built environment, in particular the "first-ring" suburbs. The focus is on Buford Highway in Atlanta, but this could be any suburban community in the United States. These first ring suburbs were built 30 to 40 years ago to accommodate the first wave of urbanites escaping the trappings of the inner cities, and they relied exclusively on the automobile to get around. Once hot growth spots, many of these communities have found themselves aging and declining, threatened by the pull of newer, farther out suburbs and gentrified inner cities. The population of these communities is now made up of the low-income families (largely elderly and immigrants), many of whom cannot afford automobiles. Over the years, transit has been laid on top of these commuter corridors making them less safe. Kudos to organizations like PEDS and many others who are working tirelessly to make them less dangerous. China adopting alternative transportation solutions to meet crushing demand 21 Jul 2010 at 9:55am China is learning very quickly what it took the U.S. decades to realize. You can?t solve traffic problems only by building and widening roads. In a New York Times story this week, Chinese cities are using BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) systems with elevated stations and lanes dedicated to the buses. Interestingly, it was the U.S. based Institute for Transportation & Development Policy that suggested the idea to the southern Chinese city of Guanghhou.
"And they are not adopting necessarily the same model that the U.S. has adopted in trying to solve all their mobility needs through the construction of highways and increasing the capacity of their road network?? ? said a transportation engineer. Los Angeles runs a BRT system, and Seattle has a partial system. The Atlanta Regional Commission is planning a BRT system with dedicated lanes and light rail from the suburbs. When crosswalks aren't enough, do more, not less 7 Jul 2010 at 8:45am In a July 4 post, Atlanta columnist Maria Saporta, who was previously trained in urban planning, wonders about crosswalks and what they say about a city's commitment to a true pedestrian environment. Maria shows examples from around the world and brings her point home in Atlanta, where transportation engineers seem to treat pedestrians as second class citizens to the automobile. Marie notes efforts by PEDS, a local pedestrian advocacy group that I chair, to fight a move toward removing crosswalks that aren't signalized. ...streets like Ponce de Leon could end up not having any crosswalks for blocks ? a move that would increase jaywalking and the likelihood of accidents between pedestrians and cars. Certainly, that?s not a positive direction for us.PEDS addressed the issue in a recent e-newsletter: After reading GDOT's justification for removing a crosswalk on Roswell Road, we reminded District 7 engineer Bryant Poole that federal guidelines recommend that where crosswalks alone are insufficient to create safe crossings, transportation agencies need to do more, not less. High-speed multi-lane roads like Roswell Road account for 65 percent of all pedestrian fatalities nationwide. Removing crosswalks does not solve the problem of getting pedestrians safely across the street. Instead of removing unsignalized crosswalks, we encourage GDOT to add rectangular rapid flash beacons. Following installation of these low-cost devices in St. Petersburg, Florida, driver compliance with crosswalk laws increased to 88 percent. Should transit agencies sell naming rights to stations? 28 Jun 2010 at 3:32pm Should transit agencies be able to sell the naming rights to transit stations? This is a question being asked all over the U.S. as transit agencies struggle for money during these tough economic times. Philadelphia, New York, and Miami have agreed to rename their stations, and Detroit and Pittsburgh are considering it. At first glance it seems like a no brainer. We sell the rights to sports facilities, so why not transit stations? But nothing is as simple as it seems. Two very important issues that need to be addressed when considering selling the naming rights to transit stops: Is the name of a station supposed to indicate a geographic location to assist riders as opposed to a corporate logo?Isn't corporate influence in the public sector already at an all-time high, and does this not continue to blur the lines between public and private sector? What do you think? What is your state doing about texting while driving? 11 Jun 2010 at 3:57pm Ever since July 2009 when the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute confirmed what we already knew, that cell phone use (talking and texting) while driving is dangerous (4 times and 23 times more dangerous than not, respectively), the country has been grappling with what policies should be put in place to minimize this risk. The federal government convened a Distracted Driving Summit, and through executive order made it illegal for truck drivers and federal employees to text and drive. States have followed suite with their own cell phone and texting laws, and the question is when will a nationwide ban occur. Georgia recently took one step closer when Gov. Sony Perdue signed an anti-texting while driving bill. The new law, effective July 1, prohibits drivers of all ages from texting while driving. Young drivers with provisional licenses are banned entirely from using cell phones behind the wheel. Violators can receive a penalty of up to $150 and one point on their driving record. Find out what your state is doing here. Lanier CEO on Why EVERYONE Should Support Commute Alternatives 27 May 2010 at 1:19pm Michael Robison, Chairman and CEO of Lanier Parking Solutions, spoke to a group of real estate executives about the business of parking, and what was truly amazing about the discussion was how little Michael spoke about parking. He spent most of this time talking about our efforts to promote alternative transportation solutions such as Zipcar and Streetcar.This goes to the core of Lanier's belief that we are a transportation management firm, not just a parking management firm, and that parking is one component of a much larger transportation system that impacts our clients' properties. When these systems are managed together, the whole system works more effectively, efficiently, and profitably. It is this belief from the top down that separates Lanier Parking Solutions from the competition. To view the video, click here, then click "Speaker Series" and then scroll down to Michael. More Than Talking Heads: Congress for the New Urbanism Promotes Healthy Citie... 12 May 2010 at 1:12pm The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), which I helped to plan this year, is in Atlanta next week, May 19-22. It's the 18th year of the event bringing the nation's most prestigious proponents and creators of livable, sustainable communities to the city for two days of networking, collaboration, education, tours and special programs. Anyone who would like to discuss development practices and public policies, learn from recent innovative work and advance new initiatives to transform communities, is welcome. See an excellent video: SPRAWLANTA. CNU is an urban design and development movement dedicated to developing community oriented principles of traditional town and city planning in contrast with the prevailing system of formless sprawl. New urbanist developments are walkable, provide a diverse range of housing options, encourage a rich mix of uses, and provide welcoming public spaces (read the CNU charter). If you are developer, architect, landscape architect, town planner, urban designer, engineer, environmental consultant, transit/transportation planner, bike and ped advocate, housing specialist, real estate broker, regulator, government official, or interested member of the public, you should check it out. This year's conference is titled New Urbanism: Rx for Health Places and has been organized with assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many of the strategies that the CNU promotes to make communities more livable, energy efficient and better positioned for economic success are the same ones health officials promote to make places healthier. Studies have shown that there are numerous health, social, environmental and economic benefits that come from a more connected way of living that flourishes in towns where people can walk, bike, and interact with their neighbors. There will be a number of impressive speakers at the conference, but one particular highlight will be David Byrne, front man for Talking Heads. David will speak about how cities reveal themselves differently when traveling on a bicycle as opposed to a car. In addition to David's musical talents, he has spent the past several years writing the Bicycle Diaries, a book chronicling his use of a bicycle as his main form of transportation. I hope to see you at the congress. Why You Become a Different Person When You Get Behind the Wheel 4 May 2010 at 1:40pm I just ran across an interview with Tom Vanderbilt who writes the blog "How We Drive" and wrote the book "Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)," and I had to share it. In the interview, Vanderbilt talks about the psychology of driving and the many false impressions drivers use to operate their vehicles. I have always been fascinated with the behavior of driving and how when a person gets in that enclose bubble we call a car, they become a different person. Why does that happen? Well, Vanderbilt has spent a great deal of time researching this phenomenon and many others. This interview is a very refreshing discussion of the psychology of driving which is often overlooked in our car culture. I immediately ran out and bought the book. Here are a couple other interviews of Tom. InfoDesign Interview Amazon Interview Here are a couple Reviews of his book. Washington Post New York Times USA Today Georgia Lawmakers Pass Needed Transportation Funding Bill 23 Apr 2010 at 8:14am It is hard not to be cynical when writing about transportation/transit funding in Georgia, but I will do my darnedest not to interject cynicism into this update. Recently, there has been a glimmer of hope in the long fought battle to get the State to step up with some leadership and money. Just last night, at the eleventh hour, the Georgia State Legislature voted and approved a measure that would allow 12 designated regions around the state to tax themselves for transportation improvements. As reported in the AJC: The bill would divide the state into 12 regions. A ?roundtable? of local elected officials in each region, working with an appointee of the governor, would draw up a list of projects for the region. The region could then submit the list to its voters for their approval in a referendum, along with a 1 percent sales tax to fund them. No county could opt out of a region?s tax, but a roundtable could decline to hold a referendum in the region.If approved by a region, the money would not start funding for approximately three years. So what is a region to do if they need money sooner? Well, I'm not sure if there is a solution across the board, but MARTA was offered some relief when the legislature included language in the proposal that "lifts, for three years, a restriction on how the transit agency can use its revenues from sales taxes, freeing up several million dollars for operations." Thank goodness for small miracles. So to recap, the legislature has spent years working to pass a piece of legislation that 1) allows us to tax ourselves for transportation projects and 2) allows us more flexibility to spend money we collected by taxing ourselves. Nice. When Public Transit is Cut, Everyone Suffers 19 Mar 2010 at 9:39am Transit agencies across the country are struggling to make ends meet and are being forced to cut service. Too often, their hardship is treated differently from departments of transportation. For example, I often hear that transit is a subsidy, while roads are an investment. Here in Atlanta, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Agency is in especially dire straits, and the state treats it like a red headed stepchild (MARTA is the only major transit agency in the world that does not get state funding). In today's AJC, Jim Durrett, a MARTA board member, explains that when transit services are cut, transit riders aren't the only victims. READ THE OP/ED Seeing Is Believing 11 Mar 2010 at 9:34am I often think about how the design of a street can eleicit a feeling from those who use it similar to the way a piece of art or architecture elicits a feeling. Unfortunately, most people using a street do not know why they are feeling a certain way. They just know they are.A recent article that highlights Steve Price's work shows streets transformed from places that create a negative reation to places that create a positive one."The work, done mostly with Photoshop, rests on the premise that seeing a proposed development can be more useful to people than receiving lots of information about it. There are limits, says Price, to explaining a design proposal with things like dwelling-units per acre, setbacks, building heights, traffic volumes, and vehicle-miles traveled. They might be perfectly good arguments, he says. They?re just not how people come to understand and support civic changes."What are your reactions to the changes?See the article here. Parking Companies Not Paying Valet Attendants at Least Minimum Wage: Beware 8 Mar 2010 at 11:18am In the hyper competitive valet industry, the question of whether to pay the employees a minimum wage plus tips, tip wage plus tips, or have the valets work for tips only is always a quandary. At Lanier, we have chosen to take the high legal ground by paying minimum wage plus tips. Of course, this has resulted in Lanier having to pass on many of valet opportunities. But, let the buyer beware. Two recent articles, one in the National Restaurant News and the other in Service First Newsletter, point out that not only is the valet company potentially liable for underpaying the valets, but so too is the entity that hired the valet company. Parking Management key to successful transportation system 1 Mar 2010 at 12:33pm When I left the Perimeter Transportation Coalition (PTC) to come work for Lanier Parking Solutions, many people asked how someone who worked so hard to promote alternative transportation could work for a parking company. I would say that I am a big advocate of paid parking, because it encourages people to think about the cost of driving trips, and as a result they may change their travel behavior (i.e biking, walking, transit, and carpooling). Ninety-nine percent of all U.S. driving trips end in free parking spaces, but when the economic and environmental consequences are considered, these parking spots are not free at all. Smarter parking management, which is what Lanier has touted for the past decade, will benefit consumers and businesses in time and money saved. This has now been confirmed by a recent study by Insitute for Transportation and Development Policy (TTDP). "U.S. Parking Policies: An Overview of Management Strategies," co written by Professor Rachel Weinberger, John Kaehny, and Matthew Rufo, illustrates how parking management in most U.S. cities creates additional traffic and air pollution and feeds auto dependence. As long as parking is considered independently of transportation policy, parking demand and traffic will continue to increase in the form of excess auto trips, on-street parking shortages, and a decline in the overall pedestrian?s environment. This is not only true from a macro level (region and city) but also from a micro level (mixed use development and retail establishment). Traditional parking policy prioritizes private automobile use, undermining the use of public transit, walking, and bicycling as travel modes, spurring significantly higher household travel costs for all. A balanced transportation system, with the automobile and parking being one component, is the end game. The parking policy of the past 30 years has been a huge impediment to creating such a system. But as the ITDP study indicates, there seems to be change in the air. Download the full report. Newsfeed display by CaRP |
