"The City With a Heart"
Rico E. Medina, Mayor
Michael Salazar, Vice Mayor
Sandy Alvarez, Councilmember, District 1
Tom Hamilton, Councilmember
Marty Medina, Councilmember, District 4
AGENDA
SAN BRUNO CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING
November 12, 2024
5:30 PM
IN PERSON* MEETING LOCATION
San Bruno Recreation & Aquatic Center, Community Room
251 City Park Way
San Bruno, CA 94066
*Please turn off all electronic devices before the start of the meeting to prevent disruptions*
**Zoom Link
https://sanbrunocagov.zoom.us/j/83947932897?
pwd=mKyPVNo4aDHsymmAt5VfRA6kkJcFCd.1
Phone Line: 16465588656
Webinar ID: 839 4793 2897
Webinar Password: 024509
*Broadcast of the meeting is offered via Zoom as a
courtesy to the public.
**No public comment accepted via Zoom.
PUBLIC COMMENT: In person attendees who want to provide public comment, will be asked to fill out a speaker card and turn it into the City Clerk. Public comment may also be emailed to [email protected] . Comments received via email will not be read
aloud during the meeting.
ACCESSIBILITY: In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, individuals requiring special accommodations or modifications to participate in this meeting should contact the City Clerk’s Office 48 hours prior to the meeting at (650) 6167061 or [email protected] .
*Any disclosable public writings related to an open session item on a regular meeting agenda and distributed by the City to at least a majority of the City Council less than 72 hours prior to that meeting are available for public inspection at the City Clerk's Office at City Hall located at 567 El Camino Real, San Bruno, California during normal business hours. In addition, the City may also post such documents on the City’s Website at sanbruno.ca.gov/AgendaCenter .
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. ROLL CALL
3. STUDY SESSION
Public comment will be requested after each topic in this section a. Receive Paid Parking Program Update and Conduct Study Session to Discuss Potential Adjustments
4. ADJOURNMENT – The next Regular City Council Meeting will be held on November 26, 2024 at 7:00 pm.
POSTING: I declare a copy of this agenda was posted at City Hall, 567 El Camino Real, San Bruno, among other locations in the city limits of San Bruno, on November 7, 2024, by 8:00 pm. 1 of 43
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City Council Agenda Item
Staff Report
CITY OF SAN BRUNO
DATE: November 12, 2024
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: Alex D. McIntyre, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Ryan Johansen, Police Chief
Nick Pegueros, Administrative Services Director
SUBJECT: Receive Paid Parking Program Update and Conduct Study Session to Discuss Potential Adjustments
BACKGROUND:
The City of San Bruno General Plan (GP), Transit Corridors Plan (TCP), Downtown Parking Management Plan (DPMP), San Mateo Avenue Conceptual Streetscape Plan (SMACSP), and the FY2020-21 City Council Strategic Initiatives all identified a significant and longstanding problem with parking scarcity in and around downtown San Bruno. This led to City Council adopting a paid parking program which was launched in April 2024. This report provides a comprehensive history of the situation to give clarity for how the City got to this point.
The core of this issue was that for many years parking occupancy rates on San Mateo Avenue were beyond 100% throughout most of the day and week, with significant vehicle and pedestrian safety issues associated with double parking, red zone parking, and other dangerous behaviors, while City parking lots had ample available stalls. This means that there were almost always more cars parked on the street downtown than there were available spaces.
Additionally, this situation had a significant negative impact on both businesses and potential customers as there was rarely parking available, resulting in potential customers leaving the area without patronizing local shops. All of this was documented in the previously mentioned plans and was a frequent complaint from business owners and community members for many years. Among the remedies prescribed in these various plans and initiatives, establishing paid parking was always atop the list. In fact, repeated community surveys identified that the lack of available parking was the number one reason why people would choose not to conduct business downtown.
The San Bruno Transit Corridors Specific Plan was adopted by the San Bruno City Council on February 12, 2013. The TCP articulates the community's vision for revitalized commercial corridors. The TCP encouraged consideration of paid parking that allowed visitors to pay with cash, credit card and phones, and the use of kiosks, including solar powered options. 3 of 43
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5 The following are some of the key recommendations from the TCP as it relates to the current Paid Parking Program:
•A “Park Once and Walk” strategy. This strategy is aimed at increasing the number of stores that a customer patronizes, and potentially the amount that they spend, when visiting downtown. The premise is that someone parks and walks around the area, visiting multiple businesses while remaining in that parking space. •Metered parking. Implementation of paid parking that allows visitors to pay with cash, credit card or phones. Language and images in the TCP called for innovative, solar- powered kiosks, where motorists paid to park on streets and in lots. •Implementation of a pricing strategy aimed at a target 85% occupancy rate in all areas. Based on well-established industry best practices, the TCP called for paid parking rates that achieved 85% occupancy. In other words, 85% of the parking spaces are occupied while 15% are available, especially during times of peak usage. The TCP calls for higher pricing in high demand areas and lower pricing in lower demand areas, with the overarching aim of 85% occupancy in all areas. It is important to note that this 85% target has been an industry standard for decades and comes largely from the work of UCLA Professor Donald Shoup, widely considered to be the authority on best practices on municipal parking policy. Shoup wrote of this standard in two of his acclaimed books, Parking and the City, and The High Cost of Free Parking. •Create a parking benefits district such that future parking revenue is reinvested in the Transit Corridors Area. The TCP supports revenues from the paid parking program going to the TCP area, which includes but is not limited to downtown. More specifically, the text refers to the revenues going to street repair/maintenance, shuttles, transit passes, benches, street trees and other amenities in the TCP area. •Residential permit parking is suggested if there is spillover from the downtown paid parking program.
In 2016, the City initiated the preparation of a comprehensive downtown parking study in the form of a prepared Downtown Parking Management Plan (DPMP). The City of San Bruno received a $110,000 grant to prepare the Plan from the City/County Association of Governments (C/CAG), funded through the Priority Development Area Parking Policy Technical Assistance Program. This Plan served to implement the City's General Plan (2009) and Transit Corridors Plan (TCP) and to support the City Council's on-going efforts and interests in development and revitalization of San Bruno's downtown while respecting the existing residential neighborhoods and parking demand in the City. It was anticipated at that time that significant changes in parking demand and needs would occur over time resulting from new development allowed in the Transit Corridors Plan.
On January 22, 2019, the San Bruno City Council adopted the final DPMP, which identifies appropriate supply, distribution and management of parking within the downtown to meet current and future parking demands and minimize spillover into residential areas. The DPMP projects future parking demand based on build out projections of the TCP, which anticipated that the increased densities allowed by the TCP will result in changing parking needs. It identifies parking strategies to meet parking needs in the near-term, medium-term and long-term timeframes, and recommends priorities based on the input of decision makers, stakeholders, and City staff.
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5 The study area for the Plan includes the portion of San Bruno from San Mateo Avenue between Walnut Street to the north and El Camino Real and Taylor Avenue to the south, including two to three blocks to the east and west of this corridor. At a high level, the DPMP concluded that a paid parking program was necessary to “encourage short-term parking and direct long-term parkers into the parking lots.”
The following are some of the key highlights from the DPMP as it relates to the current Paid Parking Program:
•Existing conditions: The existing conditions analysis included an occupancy and duration survey of parked vehicles within the study area, to establish a baseline understanding of current parking conditions. Overall, the study found that parking facilities near San Mateo Avenue are well used during the day on both weekdays and weekends, while the residential street blocks are more heavily used in the evenings and overnight, with total overnight parking occupancy close to capacity. In certain instances, individual blocks were observed to be exceeding the capacity of spaces on those blocks.
Spaces on San Mateo Avenue between Huntington Avenue and El Camino Real had a 2-hour time limit, enforced from 8 AM to 6 PM weekdays and Saturdays, as do some of the cross streets intersecting San Mateo Avenue. Most spaces in the public off-street facilities in the study area have 5-hour time limits, though a few lots at the northern and southern ends of the study area have 2-hour limited spaces. A detailed analysis of occupancy and duration by time of day and location, along with the methodology for data collection, are described in the DPMP.
•Specific DPMP findings:
oOn-street parking on San Mateo Avenue is heavily used on both weekdays and weekends, especially at peak times in the morning and evening, often exceeding 100% occupancy. By contrast, many of the City parking lots are below 85% occupancy during these times. On the weekends, midday parking occupancy is heavier and is sustained throughout the afternoon along both San Mateo Avenue and nearby side streets.
oOff-street parking supply experiences extended periods of occupancies below the 85% practical capacity level on both the weekdays and weekends. oIn the evening on both weekdays and weekends, including the overnight count, off-street parking in residential areas is near or over capacity, implying that there is very high demand for residential parking.
oPublic off-street facilities are less well-used during the day, when primarily employees and short-term visitors are in the area. On the weekend, they are well used by visitors who are staying for longer durations or are possibly less familiar with parking options in the area.
oVehicles on San Mateo Avenue tend to stay for longer durations on weekends than on weekdays, with many vehicles exceeding the 2-hour time limits on the weekends.
•DPMP parking management strategy recommendations: A set of phased parking management recommendations were developed to manage the high afternoon and evening parking demand, help users find and use available parking, improve parking
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5 availability for residents, and potentially increase the parking supply. Specifically, this Plan recommended that the City:
oAdjust enforcement hours to better manage the heavy-use evening period. oAdjust time restrictions, primarily to convert 5-hour parking lot spaces to 10-hour spaces for employee use.
oInstall improved signage to help drivers locate available parking. oImprove parking lot maintenance and security.
oExplore temporary use of the Sylvan Avenue Caltrain Station as additional public parking.
oExplore converting parallel parking on San Mateo Avenue to diagonal parking to increase capacity.
oEstablish paid parking downtown to encourage short-term parking and increased turnover on San Mateo Avenue, and direct long-term parkers into lots. oFormalize overnight parking arrangements in public lots to increase supply available to residents.
oBegin process of planning and securing funds for a parking garage.
In October 2019, the San Mateo Avenue Conceptual Streetscape Plan (SMACSP), which describes concept-level design intent that was developed through a community engagement process was finalized. The objective of this plan is “to provide design guidance for the public right-of-way to support the City’s goals of beautifying the public realm, supporting local businesses, spurring investment within the downtown core, enhancing the downtown’s character, and increasing the attractiveness of the downtown as a destination.” Establishment of a paid parking program in the downtown corridor was among the key recommendations in the SMACSP.
In the Strategic Initiatives for FY2021-22, the San Bruno City Council adopted deployment of a downtown parking meter program, and enhancement of citywide parking enforcement capabilities. City Council also funded a FY2021-22 Capital Improvement Project (CIP) to establish a plan for deploying a paid parking program in the downtown area.
In early 2022, the San Bruno Police Department was tasked with identifying potential solutions for implementation of a paid parking program downtown and enhanced citywide parking enforcement.
At the Special City Council Meeting on March 1, 2022, the San Bruno City Council received an initial report on this project. This report delineated the background for this project in the City’s General Plan, Transit Corridor Plan, Downtown Parking Management Plan, and City Council’s Strategic Initiative. Staff presented the City Council with an early potential model involving the installation of parking meters in all downtown zones with timed parking restrictions, LAZ Parking Services as a potential outsource for enhanced citywide parking enforcement and meter revenue collection, and TurboData as a permit and citation processing resource.
The March 1 report also provided information regarding the challenges and limitations of the police department’s current parking enforcement efforts due to limited staffing and U.S.
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5 Constitutional rights related the conventional tire chalking method for the enforcement of timed parking restrictions. In this report, staff advised City Council of its intention to recommend the establishment of a contracted partner company to augment its parking enforcement efforts, and to help facilitate enforcement of the metered parking program.
In the March 1 report, City Council was also provided with a rough cost estimate of $49,500/month to operate this program, which did not include the cost of meter/kiosk installation, improved and required signage, or work to draft the needed ordinances. The San Bruno City Council’s direction to staff at that time was to move forward with the project and return with additional details when available.
Based upon learning that it would take several more months to acquire and install the kiosks for paid parking due to supply chain issues, in September 2022, then City Manager Jovan Grogan directed Police Department staff to divide this project into two phases, one for enhanced parking enforcement and the other for paid parking. The direction was to bring the potential outsource contract for enhanced parking enforcement to City Council in November and return with the paid parking elements at later dates.
At the Regular City Council Meeting on November 8, 2022, the City Council received a report and presentation recommending adoption of a resolution authorizing the creation of a Parking Enterprise Fund, authorizing the transfer of $533,952 from the Downtown Parking Program Capital Improvement Project into the Parking Enterprise Fund, and authorizing the City Manager to execute a contract with LAZ Parking in an amount not to exceed $3,000,000 for services related to parking enforcement. At that time, City Council indicated its willingness to adopt this Resolution but requested that Staff come back with this request after the Meet and Confer Process with the Union.
Following the November 8 meeting, supply chain circumstances improved, and it was possible to once again join the two phases of this project so that they could begin concurrently.
At the Regular City Council Meeting on April 11, 2023, following the Meet and Confer Process with the Union, the San Bruno City Council adopted three Resolutions as follows:
•Authorizing the Creation of a Parking Enterprise Fund and the Transfer of $2 million from the General Fund Capital Reserve into the Parking Enterprise Fund. •Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Contract with LAZ Services in an Amount Not to Exceed $2.75 million for Services Related to Parking Enforcement and Metered Parking Management.
•Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Contract with T2 Systems in an Amount Not to Exceed $1.3 million for Services Related to the Purchase, Installation and Operation of Metered Parking Kiosks
At a high level, LAZ Services was recommended as the enhanced parking enforcement resource for the following reasons: LAZ Services was being used by other local jurisdictions, including the City of San Mateo, which provided a strong recommendation; LAZ Services was
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5 part of the National Cooperative Purchasing Alliance (NFPA), which ensures competitive pricing without the need for a formal bidding process; and, LAZ Services was the only source that could deliver on all the requirements of the City’s scope of work, including the need to integrate with all existing police department systems, to avoid the substantial additional expense of changing those systems as part of this project.
There were only two potential vendors identified that could deliver on the scope of work for the paid parking kiosks: T2 and MacKay. At a high level, this required meters or kiosks that could operate using solar power and remote data without hard-wired infrastructure, could accept payments via cash/card/phone, could facilitate pay-by-plate parking to allow ALPR-based enforcement, and could integrate with LAZ and TurboData database systems. The quote from MacKay was almost three times that of T2, with no clear competitive advantage. T2 machines were in use in dozens of locations around the world with strong customer reviews. Additionally, T2 was installing other kiosks locally at the time, which enabled San Bruno to piggyback on better bulk pricing.
Pay-by-plate parking was recommended to allow for more effective and efficient enforcement using ALPRs, and because it would save the cost and delay of painting stall numbers in all 800 plus parking spaces. Kiosks were recommended in place of individual meters because they provided a significant cost savings and could facilitate pay-by-plate parking, as well as the ability to pay by phone/app.
A Study Session to further explore the specific elements of this program and seek direction from City Council was scheduled for August 22, 2023, but was postponed due to other agenda items pushing the meeting beyond the 5-hour mark. The Study Session was rescheduled for the September 12, 2023, but was once again postponed due to requests from City Council that the draft policies be updated to include a discounted parking program for businesses in the downtown area.
On September 26, 2023, the City Council conducted the aforementioned Study Session and provided feedback on draft regulations relating to paid on and off-street parking areas in the downtown and El Camino Real corridor. During that presentation, the most critical element that the City Council was asked to provide direction on was the commitment to the 85% occupancy target as the key driver of this program. This included using the 85% target to drive rate setting, as well as to measure the success of the program over time.
The City Council was also presented with draft paid parking policies developed to accomplish the following purposes and objectives for on and off-street parking in specified locations:
•Establish parking meter areas, required methods of parking, parking controls, removal authority for unlawfully parked vehicles, parking space use restrictions, and other regulatory provisions related to the paid parking program. •Establish the ability of the City Council to adopt a resolution establishing a range of meter rates, days and hours of paid parking enforcement, time limits, and methodology for periodic adjustment of parking meter rates for designated paid parking area. •Formally establish the City Hall Employee Parking Lot as a public parking lot during non- business hours.
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5 During the Study Session, the City Council was presented with the following suggested minimum and maximum meter rates, days and hours of enforcement, and time limits for specified on street parking areas:
Table 1: On Street Parking Regulations
On Street Parking Locations Minimum Meter Rate Maximum Meter Rate Street Area 1: San Mateo Avenue,
Jenevein Avenue, Easton Avenue,
Huntington Avenue, West Angus
Avenue, and Mastick Avenue
$1.00 per hour $3.00 per hour
Street Zone 2: El Camino Real $1.00 per hour $3.00 per hour Days and Hours of Parking Meter
Enforcement
Monday through Sunday, 8:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M.
Time Limits
2 hours Maximum, Except for Approved Short-Term
Spaces
Also during the Study Session, City Council was presented with the following minimum and maximum meter rates, days and hours of enforcement, and time limits for specified off-street parking lots:
Table 2: Off-Street Parking Lot Regulations
Off-Street Parking
Lot Location
Minimum Meter Rate Maximum Meter Rate
All Lots in Downtown $.50 per hour $3.00 per hour
City Hall Employee
Parking Lot
$.50 per hour $3.00 per hour
Days and Hours of
Parking Meter
Enforcement
Monday through Sunday, 8:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.
Time Limits 10 hours Maximum
The critical importance of the 85% occupancy target was reinforced during this Study Session as Staff developed a recommended process for adjusting parking meter rates from time to time to optimize management of the use and occupancy of the parking spaces. Staff recommended that the target occupancy rate of 85% be established in the Resolution as the goal sought to be achieved with the rate structure for parking meters. It was once again established that such target occupancy rate balances the consistent use of the public parking supply with minimizing the time it takes for individual parkers to find a parking space. Parking rates were proposed to be set at an amount between the minimum and maximum rates to achieve the 85% target occupancy based upon parking occupancy data collected by the meter system. This policy functions on the principle that the pricing is set on demand. If too many parking spaces were vacant, the meter price would go down. If too many (over 85%) parking spaces were used, the
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5 price would go up. To implement this pricing approach, Staff suggested that the Chief of Police or their designee would review a study of average occupancy for each on and off-street parking facility that has parking meters. The study would be prepared at least biennially and not more frequently than quarterly. Based on the survey results, the Chief of Police or their designee would adjust the hourly meter rates up or down in accordance with the adopted ranges, to seek to achieve the target occupancy rate of 85%.
It was also emphasized during this Study Session that the financial viability of this program required that it be viewed holistically, meaning that it incorporated both revenues from paid parking, and revenues from enhanced citywide parking enforcement.
The importance of making programmatic decisions based upon data was also covered at some length during this meeting. Staff recommended that City Council allow the comprehensive program to run for a full year, or a minimum of six (6) months so that competent data could be collected and used to inform any decisions to adjust or amend rates or policies.
Based upon the previously mentioned request from City Councilmembers, Staff also proposed a potential permit program to enable businesses in the affected area to obtain up to two (2) permits to park in City lots at a rate discounted up to 100%.
At the close of that presentation, Staff specifically requested input and recommendations from City Council in at least the following three (3) areas:
•Parking rate range for on street and off-street spaces oStaff suggested $1 - $3/hour on-street, and $.50 - $3/hour off-street •Days/times of paid parking requirements
oStaff suggested 7 days, 8am – 8pm (on street) 8am – 6pm (off street) •Business owner/employee impact considerations
oStaff suggested up to two discounted permits per business physical address (up to 100%)
Some of the feedback provided by City Council during this Study Session was as follows:
•Agreement that all the data, and all the sentiment about the long-term issues with parking downtown makes this program completely necessary. •Explore providing more than two (2) discounted permits to businesses so that they can accommodate employees.
•Agreement that data is critically important to inform paid parking rates within the established range, with the overarching aim of 85% occupancy. •Request for more financial modeling to include the expected impact of business permits and initial paid parking rates.
•Concerns about worsening the parking in adjacent neighborhoods and the potential need for residential permit parking zones to combat this. •Interest in allowing residents to use City parking lots for free overnight parking outside of the paid parking hours.
•Question as to whether the existing short-term parking (green) zones would be impacted. The answer provided was that while this could change with a City Council
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5 policy decision, those zones would remain but would require payment just like the longer-term spaces.
•Acknowledgment that credit card and other transaction fees would likely make shorter parking increments prohibitive.
•Request to eliminate the minimum from the paid parking rate range and instead allow rates to be set anywhere up to the maximum so long as the rate is justified by the 85% occupancy measure and the need for the program to be fiscally viable. •A desire to set initial paid parking rates at the lower end of the proposed range and increase if data supported doing so.
•Removing the curb segment in front of City Hall from paid parking to make it easier for the public to conduct business with the City.
•The importance of setting rates so that they cover the transaction costs. •Acknowledged that data showed severely impacted parking on Sundays and that Sundays should be included in the paid parking requirements. •Agreement that maximum flexibility in rate setting, without the need to come back to City Council, so long as driven by data and reported back to City Council, was prudent. •Request for business permits to be structured monthly so that users don’t have to pay the kiosks every day.
•Agreement that the Police Department might not have the resources to manage the complexities of this program long term.
•Request that businesses be able to obtain discounted paid monthly parking permits for their employees after the first two free ones are issued. •Agreement that the program should be structured to pay for itself. •A desire to have the CFO determine if the Parking Enterprise Fund was the appropriate way to set up the fiscal side of this program.
•A desire to have excess revenues from parking fees used to enhance downtown.
Over the next month, Staff worked to amend the draft regulations and policies for the paid parking program to accommodate the feedback and direction City Council had provided throughout this process. Also, at the request of City Council, Staff put together a more comprehensive fiscal analysis of the program as structured.
At its meeting on October 24, 2023, Staff presented these revisions in a Study Session to City Council with the aim of introducing, an ordinance entitled “An Ordinance of the City of San Bruno Amending Title 7 (Vehicles and Traffic) to Add Regulations Relating to Paid On and Off- Street Parking Areas in the City and Making a Finding of Exemption Under CEQA”.
At a high level, the following is an overview of what was presented to the City Council at the October 24 meeting:
•The paid parking policies presented were developed to accomplish the following purposes and objectives for on and off-street parking in specified locations:
oEstablish parking meter areas, required methods of parking, parking controls, removal authority for unlawfully parked vehicles, parking space use restrictions, and other regulatory provisions related to the paid parking program. oEstablish the ability of the City Council to adopt a resolution establishing a range of meter rates, days and hours of paid parking enforcement, time limits, and methodology for periodic adjustment of parking meter rates for designated paid parking areas.
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5 oFormally establish the City Hall Employee Parking Lot as a public parking lot during non-business hours.
•The following minimum and maximum meter rates, days and hours of enforcement, and time limits were proposed for specified on and off-street parking areas:
•Exempting the following holidays from paid parking requirements: Thanksgiving Day, December 25th (Christmas Day), and January 1st (New Year’s Day). •Paid parking to be applicable seven days a week.
•City Council’s authority to temporarily suspend paid parking requirements for celebrations, special public events, holiday seasons and any other such activity or purpose as the City Council in its sole discretion shall determine. •Initial parking rates as follows:
oOn Street Spaces - $1.50/hour
Table 1: On Street Parking Regulations
On Street Parking Locations Minimum Meter
Rate
Maximum Meter Rate
Street Area 1: San Mateo Avenue,
Jenevein Avenue, Easton Avenue,
Huntington Avenue, West Angus
Avenue, and Mastick Avenue
(See Resolution Exhibit A for
locations)
$00 per hour $3.00 per hour
Street Area 2: El Camino Real $00 per hour $3.00 per hour Days and Hours of Parking Meter
Enforcement
Monday through Sunday, 8:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M.
Time Limits
2 hours Maximum, Except for Approved Short-
Term Spaces
Table 2: Off-Street Parking Lot Regulations
Off-Street Parking
Lot Location
Minimum Meter Rate Maximum Meter Rate
All Lots in
Downtown
$.00 per hour $3.00 per hour
City Hall Employee
Parking Lot
$.00 per hour $3.00 per hour
Days and Hours of
Parking Meter
Enforcement
Monday through Sunday, 8:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.
Time Limits 11 hours Maximum
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5 •Off Street Spaces - $1 for 2 hours, $2 for 5 hours, $3 for 8 hours oThese rates and rate structures provide a substantial discount for parking in off- street spaces, which should help to drive more parkers into the lots, where occupancy rates are notably lower than on the streets.
▪This was consistent with the core objective and purpose of the program ▪Batching the parking options in the lots to multiple hour segments enabled the City to maintain the lowest possible hourly rate, while ensuring that individual transaction amounts are high enough to offset card processing fees.
▪Business employees and longer-term parkers would now be paying as little as $0.375 per hour if purchasing all-day parking, reducing the potential impact on businesses and their employees.
▪Note that there was also a monthly permitting option for local business employees included in the proposed regulations, designed to further reduce the impacts on local businesses.
•A recommended process for adjusting parking meter rates from time to time to optimize management of the use and occupancy of the parking spaces. oA target occupancy rate of eighty-five percent (85%) as the goal sought to be achieved with the rate structure for parking meters.
▪This target occupancy rate balances the consistent use of the public parking supply with minimizing the time it takes for individual parkers to find a parking space.
▪Parking rates to be set and periodically adjusted at an amount between the minimum and maximum rates to achieve the 85% target occupancy rate, based upon parking occupancy data collected by the meter system. •This performance pricing model is used successfully in many jurisdictions. Essentially, it functions on the principle that the pricing is set on demand. If too many parking spaces are vacant, the meter price would go down. If too many (over 85%) parking spaces are used, the price would go up.
•To implement this pricing approach, the Chief of Police or their designee will review a study of average occupancy for each on and off-street parking facility that has parking meters. The study would be prepared at least biennially and not more frequently than quarterly. Based on the survey results, the Chief of Police or their designee will adjust the hourly meter rates up or down in accordance with the ranges in the adopted Master Fee Schedule, to seek to achieve the target occupancy rate.
•Existing short-term parking (green) zones (24-minute) would remain in effect and allow parking within the time limits at no charge.
oThe only reason for not charging for these spaces was that the proposed rate structure did not include a short enough paid parking interval. ▪This was due to the need to ensure that each transaction covered the associated transaction costs.
•A discounted rate program for downtown businesses.
oEach business with a physical address within the paid parking area will be able to apply for up to two (2) vehicle license plate numbers to receive free parking permits for parking in lots only.
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5 oIf a given business requires more than two (2) permits, business owners and/or employees may apply to purchase discounted monthly parking permits at a cost of $30/month/license plate.
▪This represents a discount of more than 50% off the 8-hour rate proposed.
oPermits will be for use by business owners and/or employees only and will allow parking only in off-street spaces.
oAll permits will require an approved application through the San Bruno Police Department, as established by the authority of the Chief of Police or their designee.
•Fiscal analysis and modeling.
oCity staff’s analysis, supported by the 2019 Downtown Parking Study, suggests that an initial rate structure of $1.50 per hour for on-street parking and $0.75 per hour for off-street parking will be sufficient to offset an annual expenditure budget of $1.56 million, leaving a surplus of $173,636 which may be used for reduced rate parking permits.
oIn addition to paid parking revenue, City staff anticipates an increase in citation revenue which is a General Fund revenue and will not be allocated to the Fund given that parking citations are collected across the City and not directly attributed to the metered zones.
oCity staff prepared an expenditure budget with fixed costs, including signed service contracts and repayment of the $2 million loan from the General Fund loan to the Parking Fund.
▪Unlike other enterprise funds, the Parking Fund will not bear a direct personnel allocation to support its functions despite demands on multiple City departments to launch and support the new program. ▪To minimize the program’s impact on the General Fund, however, the budget includes a charge-back allowance upon which City staff will charge actual hours worked on the program.
▪Finally, the budget includes building up a reserve to maintain the program for one full year if an economic downturn decreases parking revenue or if the program requires additional maintenance or equipment upgrades above those provided in the service contracts. The purpose of the reserve is to prevent future demands on the General Fund.
▪The following table summarizes the five-year program expenditure budget.
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5 oStaff estimated the revenue scenarios using the following assumptions and analysis in the Study:
▪The average daily occupancy in on-street parking is 69%. This accounts for peak occupancy of 88% between noon and 6:00 PM, 70% during non- peak metered hours, and a reduction of parking demand of 15%. ▪The average revenue per on-street parking spot is $13.80 daily at $2 per hour. With enforcement 10 hours per day, five days per week. Weekend and off-street parking were not part of the revenue analysis, and both provide a revenue source to reduce the hourly rate for on-street parking below $2 per hour.
Revenue estimates
Table 1.
Parking Fund Expenditures 5-year total Annualized Notes
1. LAZ Parking California, LLC $2,750,000 $550,000 Contract parking enforcement
2. T2 Systems, Inc 1,300,000 260,000 Paid parking infrastructure
3. Debt service - principal 2,000,000 400,000 Loan from the General Fund
4. Debt service - interest 250,000 50,000 Interest rate pegged to the 5-year Treasury
5. Program management 600,000 120,000
Payment processing fees and
estimated staff chargebacks for
hours worked: Police,
Engineering, Streets, Parks,
General Administration
6. Fund reserve 900,000 180,000
Economic downturn,
unanticipated maintenance, and
equipment replacement
Total $7,800,000 $1,560,000
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5 oThe revenue analysis above reflects expanded on to reflect enforcement 7 days per week, 12 hours per day for on-street parking, and 10 hours per day for off- street parking.
oThe analysis above does not include a reduced-rate parking program. Any changes in these base assumptions will impact revenue estimates.
At a high level, following the presentation by Staff, City Council provided the following feedback/direction:
•Altering the rate structure in the parking lots so that the highest timeframe is 10 hours rather than 8 hours so that it can cover the entire enforcement period for a given day. oThis change was made prior to starting the program.
•Ensuring that short term (green) zones are enforced consistently. •Desire to have enforcement done by LAZ Officers walking rather than driving to avoid enforcement vehicles blocking the roadway.
•Interest in having LAZ Officers cite for double parking downtown. •Reaffirming the importance of making programmatic decisions based on the 85% occupancy target.
•Support for issuing business permits based on interaction with the business licensee. •Interest in having the portion of enforcement LAZ does outside of downtown separated so that it is not paid for out of the Parking Enterprise Fund. oIt was explained that attempting to separate out those hours/activities will be all but impossible.
oIt was also explained that the costs of LAZ are not likely to be covered by meter revenue alone but require citation revenues.
oIt was also explained that from the beginning, one reason metering was pursued was to help fund badly needed citywide parking enforcement. oThe impracticality of this interest was acknowledged by City Council. •Discussion of the importance of including Sunday in the paid parking and enforcement window because data indicates that parking on Sundays is impacted as well. •Concern about this program pushing more cars into the neighborhoods and residential parking permits as a potential solution.
oIt should be noted that there was a Residential Parking Permit Program (RPPP) in place by previous action of City Council.
oCouncilmember Medina expressed that he felt the RPPP was too cumbersome and that perhaps the City should simply impose one in the areas around downtown.
oVice-Mayor Salazar expressed concern with imposing an RPPP without community buy-in.
•Support for the proposed initial rate structure and for adjusting rates in an effort to maintain the 85% occupancy rate.
•Acknowledgement that there is no data or case study to support the assertion that a paid parking program drives customers away from businesses.
•Acknowledgement that San Bruno was one of the last cities in the area without paid parking and that it was the only path to solving the longstanding parking issues downtown.
•Acknowledgement that the program was essentially structured to break even, not to make money.
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5 •Agreement that this program is being considered as a solution to longstanding problems that negatively impact businesses.
The end result of this meeting was that all Councilmembers unanimously voted to adopt the new Ordinances and Resolution for the Paid Parking and Enhanced Citywide Parking Enforcement Program.
Public Outreach
The following is a high-level summary of the public outreach efforts that were a part of the program development and rollout:
•April 2023
oTown Hall Meeting with downtown businesses at Atlas
•August 2023
oTown Hall Meeting with downtown businesses at Aperture •October 2023
oTown Hall Meeting with downtown businesses at One Love •November 2023
oCommunications to announce the new LAZ Parking partnership with the City ▪New Parking Enforcement page created on Police Department web page ▪In-Person Contacts and Flyer hand-outs to the Downtown businesses to post
▪Social media posts on Police Department accounts
(Facebook/Instagram/Nextdoor)
▪Share above on the main City platforms
▪Public Service Announcement on CityNet Channel 1
▪City Manager eNewsletter: Parking Enforcement; LAZ Parking ▪Presentation to City Council re: Paid Parking Program Update •December 2023
oFurther communications of the LAZ Parking partnership and of the upcoming paid parking in Downtown area
oNew Paid Parking page created on Police Department web page oSocial media posts on Police Department accounts
(Facebook/Instagram/Nextdoor)
oShared above on the main City platforms
oCity Manager eNewsletter: Downtown Parking Meters and Enhanced Parking Enforcement Project Update article
•January 2024
oMail Flyers to all San Bruno residents via utility bill inserts (west of I280) oFlyers in English/Spanish posted on pay stations that parking is still currently free oCity Manager eNewsletter: Paid Parking Update article
oPresentation to City Council: Paid Parking Program Update •March 2024
oCommunications that pay stations will become active and paid parking enforcement to begin April 1
oFlyers in English/Spanish posted on pay stations that pay parking begins April 1
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5 oPolice Department sign trailer was parked at different locations each day with message that pay parking begins April 1. Locations included in front of City Hall and either end of downtown San Mateo Ave.
oSocial media posts on Police Department accounts
(Facebook/Instagram/Nextdoor) announcing that that the pay stations will become active and paid parking enforcement will begin April 1 oShared above on the main City platforms
oPublic Service Announcement on CityNet Channel 1 on the above oDirect emails sent to business owners from the PD with detailed information and web portal link for the San Bruno Business Owner and Employee Parking Relief Program
•April 2024
oPay Parking requirements to begin April 1
oRemoved the flyers from the pay station posted in January that parking is still currently free
oFor almost the entire month of April, LAZ Parking only handed out warning citations for paid parking violations for the first offense. A total of 1242 warning citations were issued in April
oSocial media posts on Police Department accounts with Parking Questions or Problems information and contact information
oActual parking citations for paid parking violations were not issued until 4/26/24 oPresentation to City Council: Paid Parking Program Update •May 2024
oOngoing evaluation
oSocial media post and website project update regarding misinformation circulating in the community about the paid parking program oCSO’s walked Downtown area to provide Pay Here for Downtown Street Parking signs for businesses to post in their windows to allow for another convenient way to pay for parking
•June 2024
oOngoing evaluation
oSocial media post and website project update of the paid parking program regarding new features aimed at further improving the parking experience in our community
oNew short-term parking option added
oPre-Payment capability added for monthly permits
•November 2024
oPresentation to City Council: Paid Parking Program Update Staff made additional presentations regarding the progress of program implementation at City Council Meetings in November 2023, January 2024, April 2024, and October 2024.
The paid parking program kiosk installation was complete in late March 2024 and paid parking requirements began on April 1, 2024. Warnings were issued in lieu of citations for non-payment until April 26, 2024.
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5 DISCUSSION:
The purpose of this Staff Report is to provide City Council with an update on the Paid Parking and Enhanced Citywide Parking Enforcement Program through its first six (6) months of operation. This includes but is not limited to: challenges encountered and how they’re being addressed, data collected as it relates to the program’s effectiveness to date, and potential program adjustments being considered by Staff. This will afford City Council with the opportunity to provide feedback and direction to Staff regarding the ongoing operation of the program.
As the extensive Background section emphasized, it is critical to recall that this program was deployed to address a longstanding problem with significant negative impacts to downtown businesses and consumers alike; parking on San Mateo Avenue was so oversaturated that prospective customers could not find places to park. The previously mentioned City plans and the supporting studies, as well as numerous academic sources make it clear that a lack of available parking is a far more significant deterrent to would be customers than having a cost to park. It is critically important that this program be measured against the well-documented circumstances for many years prior to its deployment.
At a high-level, despite significant growing pains, some anticipated and some not, the program is effective in so far as it is achieving the objectives that made it necessary in the first place. The long-established primary goal of this program was to bring parking occupancy rates to near 85% to improve the downtown experience by increasing parking turnover on San Mateo Avenue so that convenient parking was more frequently available. Since deploying this program, occupancy rates have hovered right around 85%, the ideal target according to the most prevalent experts on this topic. Over the last 45-60 days however, we have seen a significant increase in this occupancy rate, suggesting that a rate adjustment might be in order. This is further discussed later in this report.
Challenges encountered and how they’re being addressed
Kiosk malfunctions and inoperability
The most frequent complaint about this program has been the malfunctioning and downtime of the 83 installed parking kiosks. While it has been alleged that the persistence of this problem was due to a lack of concern and/or effort by Staff, T2, and LAZ, this simply is not the case.
Literally hundreds of hours of staff time have been dedicated to resolving the issues with the kiosks, and to maximizing uptime until the problem could be solved. As described below, the underlying problem simply was not easy to identify, resulting in numerous interventions that initially appeared to work, but ultimately did not. The most important thing to note from this section is that we do believe the technical failure underlying this problem to now be fixed, and we have been experiencing near 100% up time of kiosks since deploying the solution.
Following installation, many of the kiosks began to experience power-related malfunctions, which Police Department staff immediately worked with T2 and LAZ to resolve. Initially, most of these malfunctions were attributed to the kiosks being covered with dark plastic between installation and program implementation, blocking the solar panels that charge the batteries.
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5 This caused the batteries within some of the machines to drain completely resulting in their inability to hold a full charge. Staff replaced all faulty batteries, installed two (2) back-up batteries in each machine, and assigned two Community Service Officers to monitor kiosk power daily for needed maintenance or repairs. There are more than 80 kiosks in operation, so this was a heavy lift involving a great deal of staff time.
Despite the above efforts, power issues persisted on some of the machines as Staff continued to work with T2 and LAZ to resolve them. Most of the issues at that point were attributed to improper placement or orientation of some kiosks and/or solar panels in that the solar ratings were not sufficient to support essential charging. This was ultimately due to errors by the City’s consultant who signed off on kiosk placement, as well as LAZ installers who faced solar panels in incorrect directions. Staff worked with LAZ to reposition solar panels that could be turned, and we began assessing which kiosks could be moved versus which may require hardwiring. Again, this was a heavy lift that required a tremendous amount of staff time.
As Staff continued working to address the power issues, additional kiosk malfunctions occurred due to vandalism and deliberate sabotage by community members. Most often this consisted of people jamming foreign objects into the credit card reader and/or coin slots. This was responsible for more than 50% of kiosk downtime. This activity peaked with one suspect vandalizing several kiosks on multiple occasions, at one point causing enough damage to render multiple kiosks completely unrepairable. It is worth noting that this suspect was ultimately apprehended, has been charged with several felony crimes, and is facing significant prison time for their offenses. Despite this arrest, minor vandalisms and sabotage continue. The Police Department has placed cameras in a variety of locations and will pursue criminal charges against anyone caught damaging parking kiosks.
We continued to experience power-related malfunctions with many kiosks despite ongoing efforts to resolve them. Concurrently, Police Department staff pressed T2 to take a more active role in resolving the problem. T2 responded by sending their top engineer to San Bruno for multiple days in August. The actions taken by the engineer stemmed the issue for a time, but it quickly returned. In mid-October, T2 sent the engineer out again and Police Department staff worked side-by-side with him for several days with the commitment of identifying the problem once and for all. This resulted in the determination that the firmware used to program the controllers in all of the kiosks in San Bruno was faulty, resulting in the machines failing to enter sleep mode, leading to the batteries continually draining. Police Department staff had been keeping the kiosks active as best they could by replacing batteries several times a week, but with the faulty firmware it was to no avail. In late October, the engineer physically replaced the firmware on all 84 kiosks, which he had to do one-at-a-time. T2 also provided three (3) new batteries for all 84 kiosks (252 new batteries) at no charge, and Police Department staff has been installing them as they arrive. Between October 29 and November 6, the kiosks have had nearly 100% up time. The only exception has been brief shutdowns from vandalism/sabotage or simple maintenance issues such as printer paper running out. While we still have kiosk location issues involving solar access to resolve, staff is confident the primary cause of the power- related malfunctions of the kiosks is being addressed.
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5 Issues are typically expected to occur with the launch of a new program, and Police Department staff spent significant hours working through the issues to address them. The Police Department has access to real-time mapping of the kiosk system and can easily see which kiosks are operational, and which are not.
Operator error, false reports/claims and fraud
While there have been anecdotal complaints about difficulty using the kiosks, at full operation we are averaging about 40,000 kiosk transactions per month, with approximately 12 complaints per month, mostly from individuals that had difficulty figuring out how to work the kiosk. While it is certainly true that not all people experiencing difficulty will complain, the complaints represent less than 0.03% of transactions. The data shows that the overwhelming majority of people are able to use the kiosks without significant difficulty.
The Police Department handles all citation appeals, which provides the City with some significant insight into many of the complaints that kiosks are malfunctioning or that citations have been issued in error. Beyond simply evaluating the citation appeal, it is important to identify to know if and when kiosks and their supporting systems are malfunctioning. As such, staff will often use our database systems and extensive camera network to determine the validity of claims that the system has not worked properly. It is important to note that in nearly every such complaint, the determination was that the system was not the problem, but rather operator error, and in some cases, false claims from the complainant.
The most frequent problem comes from customers improperly entering their license plate number, usually attributable to confusing an “o” and a “0”, or another simple mistake. The backend of the enforcement program is a very simple API. It scans license plates and informs the enforcement officer when there is a parked car whose license plate has not been entered for a parking purchase. So, if the customer inputs the wrong license plate number, the system reads that as an unpaid vehicle and a citation may be issued. When we encounter this explanation in analyzing a citation appeal, the Police Department dismisses the ticket and informs the customer of the error to prevent recurrences.
Unfortunately, a significant portion of these complaints are attributable to customer dishonesty, and in a few cases even outright fraud. We have analyzed numerous complaints in which the customer claims that they tried to pay but could not find a working kiosk despite the system indicating that multiple kiosks near where they parked were operational. In many of these cases, a review of area video reveals that they never approached a kiosk or attempted to pay at all. In some cases, we have had customers claim that they received a citation despite paying for parking. Again, this is nearly impossible given the simple API involved, but in some cases the customer provided a receipt that appeared to show that they had in fact paid to park. Upon further investigation however, it was revealed that the customer had created a fraudulent receipt using a prior transaction and provided it as “proof” that the system was not working.
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5 Issues with LAZ Enforcement Officers and practices
While this topic is somewhat outside the scope of this Study Session, it has drawn enough concern to merit mentioning here. This program includes the establishment of LAZ Services as the City’s parking enforcement contractor. There have been some growing pains in working with LAZ to ensure that their enforcement practices are purpose-driven and consistent with the way that we do business in San Bruno. The Police Department is confident that we have made significant progress in this regard and will continue to do so.
While LAZ has its own supervisory structure, the officers are ultimately required to conduct enforcement based upon direction from the Police Department. There have been several instances in which these officers took it upon themselves to operate outside of the parameters they had been given. This most often consisted of them enforcing violations that were legitimate, but for which enforcement was not desired. We have also had issues with LAZ Officers being somewhat overzealous with their enforcement, issuing multiple citations when one would suffice, or being too quick to issue tickets without providing ample time for payment.
On a few occasions, we have also had issues with LAZ Officers being overly direct or even rude with community members. This is unacceptable, but it is also important to note that in many of those instances we have observed via camera that the community member was being very rude or even aggressive toward the LAZ Officer as well.
A Police Lieutenant and the Traffic Sergeant have been assigned to work directly with LAZ supervision to better ensure that the officers’ practices are professional and consistent with our culture of service. This effort has included providing LAZ with a specific list of violations that they can enforce and equipping their officers with body worn cameras. LAZ has been a good working partner and Staff is confident that continued collaboration will result in more professional, courteous, and prudent enforcement.
Reporting data as it relates to the program’s effectiveness to date Parking behavior
The fundamental premise of this program is that parking behavior can be influenced through paid parking policies and practices. While the previously discussed technical challenges with kiosk operation during this 6-month period make it difficult to fully evaluate changes in parking behavior, there is some data worth sharing here.
Most cases of deploying paid parking programs in business areas with impacted parking follow a similar pattern in terms of shifts in parking behavior. Generally speaking, people do not like having to pay for something that was previously free or having to do a task where they previously did not have to. As such, upon initial deployment, parking levels in a paid parking zone will often decrease as some people temporarily avoid the area or park further away to avoid having to pay. It is also typical during this initial rollout to see relatively high citation numbers as some people will forget to pay or choose not to pay and hope not to be cited.
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5 Shortly after this initial window of time it is common to see parking levels begin a steady rise as people come to better accept the new program, learn how to navigate it, and choose convenience over protest. During this secondary timeframe it is also common to see citation numbers rise again, simply based on the fact that there are more people parking in the paid zones.
Finally, parkers begin to habituate with their preferred parking practices and parking levels and citations will generally level out considerably. It is after this leveling out window that potential policy shifts are best considered as they can be based on a relative new norm in terms of occupancy levels.
Even with the kiosk operation issues impacting the rollout of this paid parking program, the shifts in parking behavior have largely followed this typical path, as illustrated in some of the charts below.
The above chart shows average monthly parking occupancy rates on San Mateo Avenue since the rollout of this program in April 2024. The spike in August/September is a slight anomaly attributable to the vandalism and power issues that took dozens of kiosks offline resulting in a suspension of enforcement on some blocks. This anomaly helps to illustrate that removing paid parking requirements and enforcement rapidly results in a return to severely impacted parking.
Even with these influences, this chart demonstrates that the program rollout in San Bruno largely follows the common path in terms of parking behaviors. 40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Apr-24 May-24 Jun-24 Jul-24 Aug-24 Sep-24 Oct-24
Average Monthly Occupancy - San Mateo Avenue
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5 The above chart shows parking purchases by month, which more or less follows the same pattern as the occupancy chart above it. Note that this chart begins well before the program launched in March/April 2024. Again, we see some anomalistic shift downward in August and September based upon the number of kiosks that were out of operation during that time.
Transaction data
Transaction data can help to paint a picture of where, how, and when people are paying for parking using this system. In the graph below, Downtown streets and lots are labeled as “Streets” and “Lots” respectively.
As the above chart shows, more than 60% of transactions are for on-street parking. About 36% are for parking in the lots, and less than 3% are for parking on El Camino Real.
60.29%
36.92%
2.78%
Streets Lots El Camino
% of Transactions in Each Area
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5 The above chart shows that more than 85% of parking is purchased by credit card, and less than 15% by cash.
The above chart informs us that about 63% of non-cash transactions are made at the kiosk, versus about 36% made using Mobile Pay on a smartphone.
Parking occupancy data
As previously mentioned, the objective of maintaining 85% occupancy is central to realizing the aims of this program. This section provides some important data collected on occupancy rates during the first six months of program implementation to help inform potential adjustments and direction moving forward. At a high-level, this program is succeeding in that occupancy rates have generally hovered around 85% for most of this timeframe. More recently, occupancy rates
14.86%
85.14%
Cash Credit Card
Cash vs. Credit Card Transactions
36.27%
63.73%
Mobile Pay Kiosk
Mobile Pay vs. Kiosks
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5 during certain times have once again exceeded 100%, which could necessitate rate adjustments in the near future.
Some information about parking occupancy can be ascertained from paid parking reports.
However, occupancy data from this source can be flawed in that it only shows how many vehicles have paid to park at a given time but does not account for vehicles that might have left prior to paid time expiring, vehicles parked without paying, or handicap and other exempt vehicles taking up spaces. Additionally, paid parking reports can only be broken down by designated zones, which does not allow for detailed examination of specifically where cars are parked, and when. Furthermore, the previously mentioned issues with inoperable kiosks resulted in more unpaid vehicles parked in the area, making payment an inadequate measure of occupancy. With the kiosks now operating at near 100% up time, paid parking system reports should provide a more accurate assessment of occupancy over the next several months. In an effort to provide reliable occupancy data, Staff conducted physical counts of parked vehicles versus available spaces at various times of day and days of the week. Counts were conducted on multiple days and averaged to provide these snapshots. Red bars indicate times when occupancy rates exceeded the 85% target (indicated by the orange line). 0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00
San Mateo Avenue - Weekdays
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5 As the above charts indicate, occupancy rates are above the 85% target during a few days and times, mostly from the early afternoon into the early evening. However, occupancy only reaches to 100% or beyond on weekdays and Saturdays in the 6:00pm hour.
Occupancy rates in the various City parking lots remain at or below the 85% threshold throughout the day, indicating that policy and practice should continue to encourage increased parking in the lots and decreased parking on the street. 0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00
San Mateo Avenue - Saturday
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00
San Mateo Avenue - Sunday
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5 Turnover is another key metric of ideal occupancy. The chart above shows the average space turnover time for on-street parking by day between October 7th and November 5th. Turnover under 2 hours indicates that parkers are adhering to the time limits and contributes to increased available parking. On most days of the week, each spot turns over about every 45 minutes to an hour. On Fridays and Saturdays, we see turnover times closer to the 2-hour maximum.
Discounted business permit data
To minimize the initial impacts to local businesses, City Council requested and adopted a discount permit program. This program allows businesses in the paid parking area to obtain up to two permits to park in off-street lots at a discount of up to 100%, and to purchase monthly permits for employees at $30/month. City Council’s request of Staff was to provide the full 100% discount initially, noting that this might have to be revisited in the future.
As of the writing of this staff report, there are 159 business parking permits issued at the 100% discount rate. This equates to a potential revenue loss of $4,770/month, or $57,240/year, at the full $30/month business permit cost.
There are currently 40 active monthly parking permits at the $30/month rate. The paid monthly permits must be renewed each month, so the number can vary over time. There has been a total of 432 such permits purchased since this program began.
Potential Future Program Adjustments
The City Council adopted the policy that defined the program, and the intention was to collect data that could better inform the specifics of this program over the first six months of operation.
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5 While the previously mentioned issues with kiosk functionality likely affected some of that data, the overall volume of usage and parking rates show the program was still effective.
Nonetheless, there have been a number of potential changes for the current program suggested, which can be studied and brought forward as potential changes subject to City Council direction. Some of these adjustments are addressed in the following section.
Shorter paid parking intervals
To ensure that transaction costs were covered by parking purchases, while keeping the cost of parking as reasonable as possible, the initial on-street rate structure was set at $1.50 for up to one hour. This did not provide the ability to pay for shorter time increments, which customers and business owners quickly expressed an interest in. Despite the importance of maintaining the initial rate structure throughout the initial 6-month evaluation period to ensure relevant data could be collected, based on recurring requests, in May a $0.75/20 minute rate was added to on-street parking to accommodate this. This rate is frequently used indicating its clear value to users, but its impact on the overall fiscal viability of the program has not been assessed.
There has also been requests for shorter parking intervals in the parking lots, which presently begin at 2 hours minimum. Based on City Council direction, Staff set the initial parking rate in the lots at just $0.50/hour. To provide such a low rate and still cover potential transaction costs, Staff set the minimum purchase at $1 for up to 2 hours. Establishing a shorter interval in the lots would compromise this structure and would essentially be subsidized parking. Additionally, one of the fundamental mechanisms of this program, prescribed in all of the aforementioned reports, is to encourage longer term parking in the lots and shorter-term parking on the streets.
Establishing shorter intervals in the lots seems counter to this aim.
Exempting holidays
The adopted paid parking program established only a few major holidays that were exempted from paid parking. This was an oversight by staff as the intention was to include all City recognized holidays in the exempted list. As such, Staff has exempted all of those holidays from the start of this program by suspending payment processing and replacing kiosk and app menus with a message that parking is free. Staff believes it would be appropriate to amend the adopted resolution to make it consistent with this practice.
Exempting, or reducing hours on Sundays
Some cities with paid parking programs do not require payment to park on Sundays and many community members have requested that San Bruno do the same. The City Council approved the policy to require payment on Sundays, and the City Council can choose to change that policy. However, it is important to note that the paid parking program’s primary aim is to maintain an 85% occupancy rate, and Sunday is one of the days that is consistently above that mark. Additionally, eliminating one of the busiest days of parking would have a significant impact on the fiscal viability of the program. It has also been suggested that we consider starting the paid parking requirement later Sundays as many businesses do not open until after 10am and churchgoers could benefit from free parking during services. The City Council can amend
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5 the policy to change the hours on Sunday, but the varied hours for one day of the week could prove confusing to customers, would require that all signage be amended and reinstalled, and would negatively impact the fiscal viability of the program.
Allow customers to pay to park in any lot, and move about the other lots Each parking lot is designated as a separate “zone” in the parking system for a couple of reasons. Importantly, industry best practices and the DPMP call for a “park once and walk” strategy. Studies indicate that such a strategy increases the number of businesses the average customer patronizes during their visit, and thus the average spend of those customers.
Additionally, each lot being set up as a “zone” enables better data collection and facilitates variable pricing from lot to lot based upon that data if needed.
Remove the paid parking requirement from El Camino Real As indicated by one of the preceding charts, paid parking on El Camino Real is used much less than the on-street and off-street parking downtown. El Camino Real was included in the initial paid parking map because it had long been time restricted like the rest of downtown. With the opening of large apartment complexes along El Camino Real and the existing residences, it could make sense to remove some or all of the paid parking. This would have an impact on the fiscal viability of the program.
Create more short-term “green” zones
Some business owners have expressed interest in more green zones downtown. Green zones limit parking duration to just 24 minutes and are designed to provide a space that turns over quickly so that short errands can be run more easily. When these spots are in a paid parking area, they generally require payment like any others. However, when this program initially launched it did not offer any paid parking interval less than an hour, so the City did not require payment for parking in a green zone. With the establishment of the 20-minute on-street parking option, green zones should require payment and failure to pay should be enforced. If the program succeeds in making parking generally available on the street, and there is an option to pay for as little as 20 minutes, essentially any space can function as a green zone and additional zones may not be necessary. Staff recommends that the City begin requiring payment for green zone parking and enforce accordingly. This would be preceded with a robust public education effort and grace period to implement.
Seek a better mobile pay application
The Mobile Pay function provided by T2 is less user friendly than some of the other options on the market. Staff is evaluating some of these other options in an effort to make the app payment option more attractive to customers. Using the application to pay for parking decreases the likelihood of a citation because the phone reminds the customer of pending expiration periods.
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5 Rate adjustments
Maintaining 85% occupancy during peak periods is the overarching goal of this program. As indicated in some of the data tables in this report, there are timeframes in which the occupancy rate is above 85%, and even at or above 100%. However, there are also periods in which the occupancy rate remains below the 85% mark. The typical response to bring these occupancy rates back down would be to increase the hourly parking rate on the street in order to push more parkers into the lots. Ideally, such increases would only be applied during the times in which parking occupancy exceeds the 85% mark, which we now have the ability to do. While staff would recommend maintaining the status quo in terms of parking rates for at least another 30 days to assess the impact of optimized kiosk up time, if the occupancy rates persist an increase in the on-street parking rate during impacted times will likely be implemented in the near future.
Removing paid parking program oversight from the Police Department As has been well-documented, the Police Department took ownership of implementation of the paid parking program after it had failed to get off the ground for many years. While it is certainly appropriate for the Police Department to oversee enforcement, it was never the intention for the ongoing operation of the paid parking program itself to reside within the Police Department.
Management of such a program is well outside the normal purview of the Police Department and creates a significant draw on staff time that is better spent on public safety. Of all the other Bay Area cities running paid parking programs, none of them are managed on an ongoing basis by the Police Department. The Police Department has only maintained that role in an effort to keep the program rollout progressing, and it is time for it to be moved to a more appropriate City department. Initially, this could be the City Manager’s Office or Public Works Department.
Potential need for a service contract
The amount of staff time that has been required to operate this program is staggering, especially with respect to the ongoing work required to maximize kiosk uptime. While the City currently has a contract with LAZ for basic kiosk maintenance work, the needs thus far have gone beyond that scope. That said, now that the kiosks appear to be operating properly, it is possible that this burden will be significantly reduced. As such, staff will evaluate the workload over the next few months and determine whether an expanded service contract is needed.
Improved wayfinding signage
One of the ongoing issues impacting parking downtown is the lack of sufficient wayfinding signage to direct parkers to the many available parking lots. This was noted in the various presentations leading up to implementation of the paid parking program, but to date supplemental signage has not been deployed. This project will be recommended as part of the next budget cycle.
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Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
November 12, 2024
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5 FISCAL IMPACT:
The Paid Parking Program generates revenue through parking fees and citation fines for parking violations. Expenditures cover contract enforcement, startup cost repayment, administrative overhead (including accounting and program management), equipment repairs, and payment processing. Based on early program data, this analysis reflects a period of adjustment for Downtown visitors and highlights startup-related operational costs and revenue fluctuations. As the program stabilizes, these early figures offer insights into future financial performance and potential adjustments.
Revenues and Expenditures
Chart 1 provides a detailed breakdown of the Parking Fund's financial trajectory, beginning with FY 2023-24 (FY24) actuals (reflecting a partial year of operation) and projecting through FY 2029-30 (FY30).
a.FY24 Partial Year: Due to rollout timing, only a quarter of revenue was collected, and the Parking Fund collected $0.34 million in revenue against $0.48 million in expenses, resulting in a $0.14 deficit.
b.FY25 Projected: In the first full fiscal year, revenues are anticipated to reach $1.18 million, with expenditures rising to $1.36 million due to the addition of the loan repayment to the General Fund and a full year of contract enforcement. This is expected to result in a $0.18 million deficit.
c.FY26 through FY29 Forecast: Revenue is projected to stabilize at around $0.99 million annually as citation-related income decreases with improved compliance. At the same time, expenses are expected to grow at an average rate of approximately two percent (2.0%) per year, reaching approximately $1.35 million in FY29. FY29 is the final installment of the loan repayment to the General Fund.
d.FY30 Forecast: With the repayment of the General Fund loan, the Parking Fund achieves a modest surplus of approximately $0.07 million. However, because loan payments resulted in a deficit from FY25 to FY29, the Fund will have a cumulative negative cash balance of $1.76 million, approximately equal to the loan from the General Fund. The Fund must stabilize itself to avoid going into a deficit, as discussed below under the “Financial Considerations” section.
This analysis highlights that the Fund will likely see increasing annual deficits under the current fee structure, with a projected cumulative deficit of $1.76 million by FY 2029-30. However, a sixty-percent (60%) increase in parking fees is expected to bring revenues in line with expenditures by FY 2029-30, potentially generating a $0.29 million surplus.
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Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
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5 Chart 1 – Parking Fund Financials
Financial Considerations
1.GAAP Compliance and Fund Type. Currently, the Parking Fund does not meet Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for a self-sustaining, user-fee- supported business-like entity, as revenues are insufficient to cover expenses.
To align with GAAP standards, the City has three primary options:
a.Increase Revenue: Raising parking fees by sixty percent (60%) would generate approximately $1.4 million annually, potentially creating a surplus by FY30 and allowing the Fund to retain its enterprise status.
b.Defer Loan Repayment: While the Adopted FY25 budget includes a partial repayment of the General Fund’s loan to the Parking Fund, the Parking Fund does not have sufficient funds to make the repayment. The City Council may elect to defer principal payments with interest-only payments for a period of time. c.Authorize General Fund Subsidies and Convert to a Special Revenue Fund: By converting to a Special Revenue Fund, the Parking Program could operate with a deficit subsidized by General Fund transfers. This option provides flexibility for future rate adjustments, allowing City Council to approve subsidies that fully cover program
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5 costs. A Special Revenue Fund can be structured to align with GAAP compliance through these periodic subsidies.
Each option has significant implications for long-term financial planning. Retaining enterprise status would require higher fees, impacting program accessibility.
Alternatively, converting to a Special Revenue Fund offers flexibility but introduces reliance on the General Fund, potentially impacting other services.
2.General Fund Loan Repayment. As adopted in the FY25 budget, the Parking Fund will begin repaying a $2 million loan from the General Fund in FY24. The loan specifics have yet to be finalized; however, staff anticipates recommending an interest rate for the loan equal to the City’s investment portfolio return for the month ended December 31, 2024.
This will allow staff to return to City Council in February 2025 with the requisite resolution formalizing the loan and repayment schedule.
3.Future Adjustments and Overhead Allocations. Overhead allocations are designed to reimburse the General Fund for administrative services provided to the Parking Fund, including program management (staff reports, meetings with members of the public, etc.), and financial reporting and analysis. Given the program’s newness, allocations are based on estimated support needs for both the subject year and an allocation of first year startup costs that were not booked to FY24 due to the timing of the City’s annual audit. A comprehensive cost review planned for FY27 will incorporate two years of stabilized program data to refine overhead charges and ensure they accurately reflect the resources required for ongoing operations.
Summary
In summary, the Paid Parking Program’s first phase has generated data that allows for this fiscal analysis. However, additional data is necessary to ensure that policy decisions preserve the intent of establishing the program as a self-supporting enterprise. With a projected cumulative deficit of $1.76 million by FY30, future budget discussions will be complicated by a need to subsidize the Fund absent an increase in parking revenues or other cost avoidance measures that obfuscate the program's true cost. City staff will return in early 2025 with recommendations on the General Fund Loan Repayment and whether to transition the Parking Fund from a self-supporting Enterprise to a Special Revenue Fund that receives General Fund backstops in deficit years.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
There is no environmental impact from this update.
RECOMMENDATION:
This is a Study Session, and no action is being sought. Staff seeks feedback from City Council on topics for further analysis and potential future action:
•Shorter intervals in the parking lots
•Revising the exempted holidays in the ordinance to match practice •Exempting Sundays
•Making all lots a single zone so that cars can pay once and move about the lots
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Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
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5 •Removal of some or all the paid parking requirements on El Camino Real •Seeking an alternative mobile pay solution/application •Rate adjustments based on the occupancy rates/goals
•Priority of enhanced wayfinding signage
ALTERNATIVES:
Not applicable.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Paid Parking Ordinance
2. Paid Parking Resolution
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ATTACHMENT 1
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ATTACHMENT 2
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