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Monday, 23 October 2006 |
Thank you for the opportunity provided for the Parramatta Chamber of Commerce to comment on the City Centre Parking Plan.For our part the Chamber welcomes the provision of direct input and is committed to working with the Council in meeting its overall transport objective for 2020 and also seeks to assist where possible with reasonable proposals to increase the availability and turnover of short-term on-street car parking spaces.
The Chamber is, however, concerned with a potential weakness in the Parramatta City Centre Parking Plan in that it attempts to examine, effectively in isolation the issue of city centre parking, when in reality the context required is a total transport strategy, of which city centre parking and preferably parking in the Parramatta City area holistically are major linked components.
An integrated parking strategy will assist Parramatta City Council in achieving its seven (7) strategic outcomes summarised in the current Draft Management Plan for public exhibition.
In particular the strategic outcome for “Accessible City” which ties parking and public transport outcomes to the outputs needed in the shape of the Parramatta Transport Strategy (including the City Centre Transport Plan) is Parramatta City Council’s own strongest statement that parking should not be considered in isolation to the total transport issue.
Indeed whilst there is some interdependence between the seven strategic outcomes, some will actually perform the role of foundation strategies on which other strategies will be built. For example, if the Accessible City outcome is not achieved, other outcomes such as Enterprising City, Sustainable City, Distinctive City and Attractive City will be much harder to achieve, if at all.
In a strategic sense, in the above context, the City Centre Parking Plan might be regarded as another ‘bandaid’ measure and if a serious effort at improving city centre parking short-term turnover is a priority, then the total transport (including the parking environment in the City of Parramatta) needs are required to be addressed in the first instance.
If this is not to be the case, cynics may label the city parking plan a thinly veiled excuse for increased revenue streams and the disposal of assets which are considered undesirable for the council to maintain ownership (ie various carparks).
Indeed the city parking plan itself may suffer from an identity crisis. It is not strategic in long-term direction despite the background of the Executive Summary giving some hope.
It is not a plan of management either as it provides recommendations for actions not linked to a strategic outcome nor definite in their criteria, without target dates and without nominating responsibility or review mechanisms and ongoing consultative strategies.
The City Centre Parking Plan is not concerned with travel and parking demands regardless of its assertion to do so. Travel demand plans are established by examining the door-to-door journey of the transport user and identifying for implementation a number of strategies throughout the journey to plan for demand. The City Centre Parking Plan is rather a plan for limiting supply by pricing the user out of the market but having no other strategies in place to meed demand.
The comparisons to North Sydney and the Sydney CBD are not valid as the plan is comparing well developed public transport corridors to underdeveloped equivalents in Parramatta. Comparisons of public transport and parking data from well developed areas is spurious as the environments are not directly comparable.
Despite the above criticism of the context and structure of the City Centre Parking Plan, its objective in attempting to provide more short-term on-street parking turnover is admirable. However without public transport alternatives, including peripheral car parking options linked to transport, the approach appears to be to price people out of parking in on-street spaces.
The City Centre Parking Plan does not address viable options to supplement its recommendations regarding parking meters.
Issues that need to be addressed include:
· Transport corridors;
· Park and ride provision;
· Peripheral carparking.
There is no evidence of any consultations with the travelling public to ascertain their needs. Recent studies have shown that the four (4) factors that influence the use of public transport are, in order:
· Convenience
· Safety and security
· Comfort
· Price
Therefore the linking of options to increase short-term on-street parking turnover to an overall objective to achieve increased use of public transport needs to consult the travelling public and address their concerns if the aims are to be achieved. It also raises the question of how milestones in achieving the overall quantified objectives are to be measured and interpreted.
The City Centre Parking Plan does not to any extent address issues of safety and security and has no ‘night-safe’ commentary in particular. What does the Council intend to do to guarantee the safety and security of the proposed increased numbers of people requiring to use public transport? This is not limited to train transport but rather all types of public transport.
A related economic question is, has Parramatta City Council conducted any analysis to establish any trend in the reduction of people using Parramatta as a transport interchange with the advent of direct access from the north west sector to the Sydney CBD?
Whilst the intended introduction of parking meters may increase short-term on-street parking turnover, they may not if pricing strategy encourages meter feeding. There needs to be an economic disincentive to feeding meters and encouraging the use of long-term parking in off-street facilities. Parking meters will need to be complemented by a greater culture of enforcement. This begs the question in respect of enforcement. If the current objective is turnover provided by short-term parking signage (as opposed to revenue raising), how is the current enforcement regime expected to effectively enforce to any greater degree short-term turnover when the only change is that parking meters will replace a street sign? If the signed areas cannot be enforced now, how will parking meters increase the effectiveness of enforcement. Rather than merely accepting the transfer of parking patrol officers from State Government, has or will Parramatta City Council investigated the opportunity to outsource this function to a private contractor, putting in place all necessary safeguards to integrity?
Parking meters, to be a disincentive for meter feeding, should be the programmable type that allow for an increased hourly rate the longer you choose to stay there. An alternative is for Parramatta City Council to investigate, not only a time limit on the meter but restrict the number of times the meter can be fed or the on-street parking space used.
This raises the question of revenue from parking meters, which if properly enforced could be significant. The revenue from parking meters (excluding off-street parking revenues) should be quarantined for use in the provision of innovative transport and parking related strategies such as peripheral carparks which encourages user behaviour towards the obtaining of the overall objective. Whilst the guaranteeing of revenue to provide improved transport and parking related strategies is one end result, has Parramatta City Council carried out any analysis on current culture and the cultural change required regarding the introduction of payment for short-term on-street parking and also the socio-economic impact of charging for currently free short-term on-street parking.
Parramatta City Council needs to articulate its strategy in respect to meeting the ongoing needs of short-term on-street carparking given the increased development and employment population projected. Has Parramatta City Council considered any proposal to allow any current excess private longer term off-street parking to be used for commercial short-stay use?
There are concerns that reverting existing one-way streets to two-way streets may decrease the amount of short-term on-street carparking supply with the provision of right-hand and left-hand turn bays. Has any analysis been conducted to establish and quantify any such loss?
Recommendations
1. That Parramatta City Council suspend the finalisation of the City Centre Parking Plan pending the establishment of a Total Transport Strategic Planning exercise (as identified in the Accessible City strategic outcome in the Draft Management Plan currently on public exhibition), which includes city centre parking and other parking strategies, such as but not limited to, peripheral carparking and park-and-ride options.
2. That as part of (1) above, Parramatta City Council carry out detailed consultation with existing and potential public transport users.
3. That Parramatta City Council conduct analysis to establish trends, if any, that the provision of direct access public transport from the north-west sector to the City CBD may have had Parramatta as a transport interchange location.
4. That the issue of safety and security be included in detail in any Parramatta City Council strategic or management planning relating to transport and/or parking.
5. That Parramatta City Council investigate the options available for the contracting out to the private sector of parking enforcement, safeguarding the integrity of such an undertaking.
6. That in any introduction of parking meters, that the Parramatta City Council investigate technology and pricing strategies which act as a disincentive for meter feeding.
7. That Parramatta City Council carry out research as to the culture changes required for paid on-street short-term parking.
8. That Parramatta City Council investigate the socio-economic impact of the introduction of paid on-street short-term parking.
9. That Parramatta City Council investigate the opportunity for any surplus long-term private off-street parking to be used for commercial short-term carparking.
10. That Parramatta City Council analyse and quantify any loss of on-street carparking with the conversion of any present one-way streets to two-way streets and the need for right-hand and left-hand turning bays.
I re-iterate the Chamber’s willingness to work with the Council in alleviating any concerns raised and supporting matters on which there is wide agreement. The representatives of the Chamber look forward to continuing a positive dialogue.
David Osborne
President
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