Implementation of the city parking strategy

Summary

An increased level of efficiency in managing the parking spaces is sought by Municipality of Perugia. This should be done through the implementation of a new Parking Action Plan in an area close to the city centre.

Implementing sustainable mobility

The implementation phase has started by installation of 16 parking meters. It has been delimited the chosen area and all the elements of the system have been established (pay for parking, parking for a limited time, spaces reserved to disables and to lorries). The fare policy has been decided based on the analysis of the elements of the main parking strategy. The ex-ante evaluation has been performed at a level of accuracy to enable the assessment of the impact of the measures. In particular, before starting the demo phase, the ex-ante scenario has been assessed defining (1) the parking spaces supply level (number and type of available parking spaces supplied along the roads, free parking with/without road pavement markings), (2) the parking spaces demand type (surveying the plate number of parked vehicles and processing the data it has been defined the average length of parking and the typology of citizens using parking areas) and (3) the public awareness and acceptance level and driver/public attitudes (data from questionnaires). All outputs have been compared with the ex-post scenario.

The main objective of the measure was to implement parking strategies to support the improvement of the public transport network and to encourage the modal shift from cars to public transport. Such an ambitious objective had additional benefits in reducing cruising traffic in the selected area and contributed to a more fluent traffic. Moreover, the satisfaction of the residents in the selected area increased by restraining the on-street parking for non-residents and discouraging the long term parking in the key areas.

Progress

The implementation of a new Parking Action Plan had been decided by the City of Perugia. An area close to the city centre had been chosen for the implementation of the plan. In this area, free parking along the side of the main road was considered quite simple by the car drivers which access to the city centre by escalators. This way to park the cars caused traffic congestion and moreover, the cruising traffic due to users who tried to park free and reach the centre contributed to the increased traffic in the area. In addition, another category of users were the long-term parking users which were mostly the people who work in this area and in the city centre. Mainly, within this scenario, was almost impossible for the residents to find a parking space close to their houses and for the shopkeepers to offer any available parking space for their customers. These are the reasons that convinced the City of Perugia to implement a parking area close to the city centre which was already very well served in terms of public transport. Other places to implement similar Parking Action Plans have been already identified; the choice is related to parking spaces availability, according with the origin/destination point of view, general traffic conditions, the presence of an efficient PT network and comfortable pedestrian paths to reach the city centre.

Outcomes

The demonstration was the first PAA to be set up after the opening of the Mini-metro and provided the perfect opportunity to see what could be achieved with a stronger parking restraint policy. The chosen area was the Filosofi area, which starts on the edge of the Medieval walls and the escalator system, and passes through a mixed area of shops and radial access roads, with residential streets. The restraint measures introduced mainly brought to: 1) reduce the number of free parking spaces by 40% 2) increase the number of residential and disabled reserved spaces fivefold 3) increase the enforcement of illegal parking in the area with fines for illegal parking. The impacts of the measure have been striking and a major benefit for the city’s mobility management policy