ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
MEETING DATE: April 25, 2024 AGENDA CATEGORY: New Business TO: Planning and Development Committee
FROM: Christopher Boyle, Development Services Director
DATE: April 17, 2024
SUBJECT: Downtown and Old Town Kern Parking Analysis.
[Document Description]
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends Committee receive and file the analysis and consider the recommendations to assist and encourage more demand and profitability to the parking garage for a future enterprise endeavor.
BACKGROUND:
In 2023, t he City embarked on a parking demand and supply analysis for two different areas, The Downtown and Old Town Kern areas.
With the anticipation of growth in development in downtown and parking demand likely to increase in the future due to organic growth in population, but also with a goal to have new residents moving into Downtown Bakersfield (as part of the city’s densifica tion goal to have 10,000 persons in Downtown Bakersfield by 2045). Also, the movement the City is seeing by the commissioning of the High-Speed Rail system to arrive as early as 2030. For these reasons, the City commissioned this parking study to understand the demand and supply of parking in two neighborhoods in the City – Downtown and Old Town Kern. The study was conducted between May 2023 and March 2024. This report is an exposition of the methods, results and recommendations that emerged from the study.
Study Area Descriptions
Downtown Area: Bounded to the south by Truxtun Avenue, to the west by F Street, to the north by 24th Street (aligning with CA 178) and to the east by Union Avenue. Among the two regions in the study area, Downtown features a regular gridded network of streets with squar e blocks measuring about 350 feet on each side.
Old Town Kern Area: Old Town Kern (OTK) area is bounded to the north by CA 178, to the east by Beale Avenue, to the south by E Truxtun Avenue and to the west by Union Avenue. This region is divided by a Union Pacific railroad alignment with only three streets connecting both sides – Union Avenue, Baker Street and Beale Avenue.
Study Objectives
This parking study is founded on three core principles: review, study and recommend. First, the study reviews existing parking policies not only in the City but also in three peer cities in California. Parking area utilization is the primary metric for assessing parking demand in Bakersfield. During the “Study” phase, the analysis focuses on estimated future parking de mand driven by demographic changes and new developments. The study concludes with a summary of recommended policies and a compilation of best practices.
Data Collection
Parking on the streets of Bakersfield is free. Parking regulations are based on leng ths of time indicated on signs posted along streets. Further, there is one City-owned garage at the intersection of 18th Street and Eye Street. To understand the supply of parking, a field survey was conducted to count the number of on-street parking slots available on all streets in Downtown and Old Town Kern areas. Further, the number of slots in the parking garage was also determined by a field survey.
Parking Demand
Parking Demand was estimated using in person field counts on three separate occasions: a regular working day (Tuesday) between 10 AM and 3 PM; a regular Saturday between 10 AM and 3 PM; and a first Friday of the month between 6:30 PM and 8:30 PM to incorporate demand due to the “First Friday of the Month” event which is a monthly occurrence. Demand of parking was counted every 30 minutes.
Methods of Analysis
Using existing supply and demand of parking from field collected data, the study first classified road segments in the study area based not only on high demand but also the length of time that demand was high. Future demand for parking was also estimated using three methodologies: 1. new developments outside the study area bringing new vehicles into the study area; 2. densification of Downtown Bakersfield; and 3. commencement of the High-Speed Rail service. Demand was calculated for the short term (2023), medium term (2030), and long term (2045).
Peer Cities Review
In June 2023, a peer comparison analysis was conducted, and is included as Appendix A of the report.
Three peer cities were selected for review of parking policies using a compare -and-contrast approach to conduct a qualitative analysis. The cities included were Oakland, Sacramento, and Pasadena.
Results
The study found 5,738 parking slots in the study area with 59% in Downtown and 41% in Old Town Kern. 70 of these slots were ADA compliant; and 4 were for electric vehicle parking only. In addition, 502 slots were counted in the City-owned garage of which 331 were available for public use.
Parking demand was found to be concentrated in the core of Downtown Bakersfield (F Street to K Street, and Truxtun Ave to 22nd Street) where 71% of the parking slots were found occupied on a regular weekday. Overall, in the study area demand was lower at 47% occupancy. Inside the garage, parking demand was lower still at 38%.
On a regular weekend, parking utilization on the streets in the commercial core of Downtown Bakersfield (F Street to M Street between Truxtun Ave and 22nd Street) was found to peak at 40% during the lunch hour. At the same time, parking demand in the garage was only 29%. However, by the end of field study period (around 3 PM), parking utilization was nearly equal as parking utilization on the streets fe ll from 40% to around 33%.
During the First Friday of the Month event however, as the number of slots near the parking garage were restricted, utilization in the garage exceeded that of the street with nearly 75% of the slots in the garage full, while on the streets in the vicinity of the garage, only 66%.
In the future, as demand is likely to increase, the number of parking slots needed will exceed the supply by 732 slots in 2045. Demand is likely to exceed supply before 2045 if growth is higher than expected.
However, the study team found that demand was not equally distributed across the study area and that nearly all the growth was in Downtown, and none in the Old Town Kern area. The study shows also that parking demand in the Old Kern area does not exceed supply.
Recommendations
Staff received recommendations based on the study parking demand and supply for two different areas, Downtown and Old Town Kern to identify whether the demand could justify the creation of an enterprise fund. After review of the Bakersfield Parking Study – Downtown and Old Town Kern (Ardurra, 2024), the consultants have identified the following conclusions/recommendations:
1. At this time, data does not indicate that demand could sustain the creation of a parking enterprise fund.
2. Develop a continuous parki ng data collection plan to monitor parking needs for the Downtown and Old Town Kern Areas to identify when demand data would sustain a parking enterprise fund for either or both areas.
3. Restrict street parking for up to at least one block around the parking garage. Dedicate street parking in this area to ride -share pick -ups/drop-offs, loading/unloading of freight and emergency vehicle use only.
4. Provide some additional electric vehicle parking slots enabled with recharging facilities to be at par with the density of charging stations in peer cities.
5. Introduction of parking fees at least at par with the parking garage with in the area bounded by Truxtun Avenue, 22nd Street, F Street and K Street.
6. Increase enforcement of parking within the area bounded by Truxtun Avenue, 22nd Street, F Street and M Street.
7. Increase garage parking fee to $1.25 per hour for a maximum of $12.50 per day to align with inflation.
FISCAL IMPACT:
COUNCIL GOAL:
Reliable Infrastructure
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Parking Study PowerPoint Presentation
2. 2024 Parking Study